Hello Dear Rose Friends,
With a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month of this brand new year …
already!
We hope you enjoyed the holiday time with family and friends so now it’s back to work, back to school and whilst navigating all that, trying to work out this seriously weird weather?
Unpredicted, we had more than 20mls of rain this past week and our roses haven’t liked the humidity which, we’re hearing from our customers, is prevalent in gardens all around so here’s Graham to sort it out …
… if you’ve had regular rain during this past summer, you need to feed your garden NOW with quality organic fertiliser. Yes, you can buy bags of cow or sheep manure as I do when it’s left in bags at the side of the road I drive on to Kilmore. I leave the kids $$$’s in an honesty box and add this valuable manure to my compost heap or directly around plants in my garden.
All around our district, bagged horse poo is readily available at the side of the road so if you mixed different manures together with the old chicken manure from your chook pen, you would have a pretty good fertiliser!
Much easier, but way less fun, is to buy highly recommended Complete Organic Fertiliser (COF – RRP $42.50/20kg bag) which we use and you can pick-up here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane.
That’s not readily available to lots of you so if you take this picture of the label to your local garden centre, they’ll definitely sell you a comparable product.
Plants fed with organic fertiliser will only take up the food when they need it whereas, chemical fertilizer is water soluble meaning plants are forced to take the nutrients and this can lead to soft growth which is very much more likely to incur fungus/insect attack.
If you have time and the inclination, weekly/fortnightly applications of seaweed solution strengthens the cell-wall of plant foliage; also boosts microbes and earthworms in the soil. Adding weed/poo tea or worm juice to seaweed solution is very beneficial and remember, healthy foliage promotes lots of flowers!
PLANTING ROSES DURING SUMMER …
Gardeners often delay planting and shifting roses at this time of year as you’ll read in this email exchange between Tricia and Diana …
Hi Di and Gra, Is it possible to relocate a well-established 3+ year old LeMarque (Lamarque) rose? If so, should I wait until winter and trim it down to ground level before moving? Kind regards, Tricia, Port Macquarie.
PS It is in very sandy soil with regularly added organic matter and plenty of water in our sun-tropical weather. It performs beautifully at my north-facing front entrance.
MY RESPONSE: Of course, yes, you can relocate a rose at any time with what I say, ‘the head and the heart’ … trim the rose right back – down to around 60cms leaving just 6 canes or less, lift it out of the ground and at no time should it be left to dry out – have the new destination hole well prepared and wet. Once in its new location, pour at least two watering cans of seaweed solution over the entire area so the ground is sopping wet and then leave the rose to get on with the job of re-growing … don’t overwater at this point and if you think the rose needs water, deep soak each time!
If you don’t need to shift the rose at this particular time and can wait until winter, do that, but I believe your Lamarque rose may have potential of autumn flowering in the new location if you do it now. Hope this is helpful … cheers
Thanks so much Diana. As usual, succinct yet thorough advice and such a speedy response. Thanks again, Tric
A giggle for you:
Q: Why was it so windy in the tennis stadium?
A: There were thousands of fans!
THE RESTORATIVE POWER OF NATURE AND GARDENS
Because we sponsored Warragul Garden Club for this symposium to be held on 4th March, 2024, we have two event tickets to share. It would be great to give one ticket to a student studying horticulture or psychology but application is open to all of you.
Please send us a very short email outlining why you would like to attend the event ensuring you can set aside the date and travel to Warragul so the ticket isn’t wasted!
For more information and bookings, please visit warragulgardenclub.org website.
Another giggle for you:
Q: How do you make a tissue dance?
A: Put a little boogie in it!
TWO ROSE SPECIAL
Many roses tolerate all sorts of weather conditions and here are two which look amazing despite lots of other roses around them falling prey to black-spot and mildew…
Note in the pictures taken last Sunday, 28th January, 2024, that neither of these roses is suffering from black spot despite current weather conditions!
Plant them in your garden NOW and they’ll both flower continually right up to winter – special price: $63.75 (RRP $85) plus pack and post.
We send our best wishes to all the young folks returning to school and the little ones who are just starting their school adventure! Good luck to the parents too … have a happy week at your place …