ROSE RAMBLER 14th NOVEMBER 2024

14th Nov 2024

Edition 14th November, 2024


Hello Dear Rose Friends,It’s been an absolute joy to watch our roses bloom … finally! The fragrance on a still day is immense, there are ladybirds in abundance and it’s simply great to be alive and doing what we do!
Thank you to all of you who support our business with kindness and mindfulness as we all share a connection through our love of gardening and in particular, of course, roses!

When something doesn’t grow quite as you expected it to or if the wrong rose was sent as a bare-rooted plant during winter, just stay in touch with us and we’ll sort things out to the best of our ability – we are human and mistakes do happen.

Very recently a few people have elected to place hurtful and spiteful negative reviews in Google when working with us would be a way more productive and satisfying means of solving any problems. The rose in this picture is obviously quite dead when due care was not taken to ensure its survival …
It’s extremely important to maintain an area of approximately 1 metre around a rose plant free of weeds or understorey ground-covering plants. This will ensure the rose gets adequate ventilation.

This soil should be mulched with any appropriate mulch … we use pea straw around the actual rose plants and eucy-mulch on paths through the garden. Some customers prefer to use a ‘GUARD ‘N’ GROW’ coir-fibre weed mat or sugar-cane mulch, some prefer oat-straw or lucerne.

The most important thing is that the soil is covered to conserve moisture, maintain soil temperature and keep worms and micbrobes protected from hot sun!
HAVE A GIGGLE ...
Q. Why is a flower like the letter ‘a’?
A. Because a bee goes after it!

WHICH BUG IS WHICH?

Following are a few emails which clarify which bugs might be visiting your garden this season …
Hi Gra and Diana, I've attached a photo of one of my rose blooms. They all seem to have dried brown edges on the petals. My two varieties are Blue Illusion (the one pictured) and Blue Moon. What do I need to do to fix this?

Thanks, Sue
MY RESPONSE
Simply wait for the frosty /cold/ wet nights to end! Trim them so the recovery of new growth and flowers is quicker!

Cheers …

Then, as an afterthought and another peek at the photo, I sent Sue another email …

On another note and looking more closely at the picture .. you have had thrip … they’re pesky and not really able to be managed under our organic management program – they come in and go out on hot northerly winds … just cut the blooms as I said in earlier email …

cheers, Gra

On another note, there’s this email asking for advice too …
Hi Team, my Silkies roses have all been planted and are looking healthy and well with lush new growth.. thank you.

May I ask for some advice about thrip? I’ve noticed that a few roses have them (my neighbour has been battling them for a few years apparently), and I was wondering how I can deal with them.

I am concerned about using products that will harm beneficial bugs such as ladybirds, parasitic wasps, hoverflies etc.

What would be a better course of action to deal with them? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you kindly, Victoria
MY RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE EMAIL
Now firstly, let’s clarify whether you have thrips or aphids? So many folks call aphids ‘thrips’ … they’re distinctly different and the damage they incur on rose flowers / plants is also different …
THEN VICTORIA RESPONDS ...
Hi, thank you for your reply. Yes, it’s definitely thrip. I am very familiar with aphids and used to apply a homemade spray of soap flakes and water with good results on my old rose garden in Western Australia many years ago.

Back then, I never encountered thrip, so this is the first time I’m dealing with them here in our new home in Ballarat. If only it were aphids, I would hose them off and let the ladybirds/hoverflies/wasps etc. do their job, but the thrip seems to be very difficult to control.

I have not resorted to off the shelf products as I had hoped to avoid them, but I might be losing that battle. Hence my call out to you for advice.

Thank you kindly, Victoria

MY RECOMMENDATION WHEN THRIP OCCUR IN YOUR GARDEN …

One day of hot, blustery northerly wind will almost certainly carry pesky thrip insects into our rose garden and is very evident on light coloured blooms where all the edges go brown and the rose will fail to open.

Since our (gentle) organic rose management program is mostly about making contact with insects and suffocating them in order to interrupt their breeding cycle, thrip bury themselves deep within the bud of a rose so our spray will be mostly ineffective!

We don’t suggest you resort to harsh chemicals but rather, remove the affected blooms into a bucket of water so the thrip drown.

The sooner you remove affected blooms, the quicker you’ll have healthy, fresh foliage and buds for the next round of flowers …

JUST ONE MORE BUG WHICH SOME GARDENERS MIGHT HAVE NOW …

Hi Diana, Need your advise please. These bugs which we have never seen before, are eating & destroying our roses. Any idea what they are & how to destroy

Eagerly await your response.

Thanks & regards, Rose
RESPONSE WITH HELP FROM STEVE AT O.C.P. ...
Ok so these are nectar scarab beetles and as the name suggests they like nectar ? They aren’t eating the petals but can cause damage as they push petals about whilst trying to get to the nectar.

The juvenile stage is a small curl grub in the soil which mostly feeds on dead organic matter and not typically considered harmful.

Note that the flower has signs of grey mould (the small dark pink spots) so it’s possible the browning of the petals is actually from the fungus. Another consideration is whether thrips have been present and caused the browning (can’t see any in the photo though).

Nectar scarab beetles tend to arrive in a large number, hang around for a bit, and then disappear again. My personal preference is to just let them do their thing but if someone wants to kill them eco-oil is not the answer. eco-neem is better for chewing insects and has some repellent properties but I’m unsure whether it would make a difference with this beetle. I’d expect a broad spectrum chemical insecticide will kill them on contact so getting good coverage would be key.

ON A HAPPY NOTE …

Hi rose family. Thought I would share some photos of my beautiful climbing roses purchased off you guys about three years ago. Some days I can cut off two hundred older blooms to allow the emerging buds to thrive. I have a worm farm and the roses love the worm tea. Thank you again for my beautiful roses.

Shane
HAVE A GIGGLE ...
Q. Did you hear about the famous pickle?
A. He was a big dill!

SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK ...

We’ve received fabulous feedback from customers who are using these new products and encourage you to use them on your roses too … SEAWEED GOLD as a tonic for healthy foliage and BLOOM BOOM for lots more larger flowers!

Each one litre bottle makes up to 200 litres of liquid tonic and fertilizer – super economic and your roses will love it!

REMEMBER … the healthier your roses are, the more efficiently they will recover if there is pressure from insects or disease so continue to treat them to at least fortnightly applications of these wonderful Aussie products – the rewards are immense!
Have an amazing week in your garden picking bunches of flowers for vases in your home or trimming spent flowers for the compost …

Graham, Diana and the beautiful people who work with us …