Hello Dear Rose Friends,
It’s been a testing week with Mooi having surgery last Monday … she’s home now and will be in a crate for the next 6 – 8 weeks so the cruciate ligament and patella can recover. She’s sure to be her ‘big-bossy-self’ by springtime when the nursery will be busy again with a stream of visitors.
The weather, despite dreadful predictions was mostly fine – yes, of course it was cold and damp underfoot. We had a shower of rain mid-way through the afternoon session and we were all pleased to jump into our cars and warm up after 4.30 close.
… It’s soggy and sopping wet here at Clonbinane which reminds me to tell you that when you’re working around your roses and the soil is sodden, have a bale of straw handy so that you can lay a ‘biscuit’ down BEFORE you stand on the garden bed because you will definitely impact the soil for a considerable length of time by causing compaction around your roses!
Where soil is compacted, these are the ramifications …
- There will be moisture run-off
- Healthy root-growth may be restricted
- Scale might form on lower branches
- Nutrient uptake is sure to be reduced
It is, therefore, extremely important after periods of soaking rain to be mindful of how you walk around your garden and since this is pruning season, do have ‘stepping-stones’ of some sort to reduce your footprint on a sodden garden!
HAVE A GIGGLE
Q. Why was the cat using the computer for hours on end?
A. She wanted to keep an eye on the mouse!
ROSE PRUNING DEMONSTRATION ...
Our Rose Pruning Demonstrations are now complete for 2024 and there’s no doubt that folks who attended a session, truly enjoyed the experience of consultation with Ken, Diana and myself while we shared our pruning knowledge.
There’s a micro-climate at Ken’s place, Seasonal Concepts, alongside the Goulburn River at Whiteheads Creek so we mostly enjoyed glorious sunshine throughout the demonstrations – stay tuned for our series of Rose Care Demonstrations once we start flowering this spring.
LAST BARE-ROOTED ROSES FOR 2024 ...
We are now ahead of schedule and lots of roses are now only available as ‘potted’ but if you trawl our website, you’ll find a good number of bare-rooted roses priced under $30 with standard roses also available for around $60 so make it a plan to go shopping NOW before all bare-rooted roses are unavailable until our store opens for pre-ordering later this year or early 2025.
SECURE THE VERY LAST BARE-ROOTED ROSE PACKAGE FOR 2024 NOW!
We’ll hold-off potting these three of my most favourite and highly recommended magnificent roses bred by the most esteemed and award-winning rose breeders …
- Dark Desire – Kordes, Germany
- Gertrude Jekyll – David Austin, UK
- Maggie – Meilland, France
FOR A GIGGLE
My friend went to the doc recently for a check up and was told he had too much sugar in his water.
The next day, to save money, he peed in his porridge.
Enjoy these last weeks of winter – freezing cold mornings, lovely sunny days – hopefully out there pruning your rose garden in winter sunshine and revelling in all the moments you spend with nature … love from us at Clonbinane as we wrap up an amazing winter season.Stay rugged up but be sure to get out and breathe in the fresh, cold air – take a brisk walk in your garden and we’ll talk again next week. Cheers from all of us here at freezing cold Clonbinane …