Heritage Rose Conference
Hello Dear Rose Friends,
I guess you, like us, have noticed the mornings are dark? We’ll have a few months of this but ah, well, what you can’t change, you must accept and learn to live with. So, lights on when we get up and learn to sleep before the sun has truly set in the west - we’re a true example of ‘9 to 5’ers’!
A highlight during my early years of growing roses was attending a Heritage Rose Conference (1985-86?) at Castlemaine in Central Vic. We didn’t have adequate funds for me to stay over so I drove back and forth from Kilmore for the three-day event and I’ll never forget correctly identifying a rose, Gruss an Aachen in the company of noted rosarians David Ruston and John Nieuwesteeg.
No time to read novels back then, I took rose catalogues to bed instead! I was too absorbed studying Peter Beales, Classic Roses (an illustrated encyclopaedia and grower’s manual of old roses, shrub roses and climbers). When I was in Texas, USA in 1990 as the ‘rose lady’ on a team of women in a Rotary Group Study Exchange Program, I purchased a copy of Modern Roses 10 which is the world register of roses where I could learn the parentage of all our roses – fascinating research.
Modern Roses 12 is our bible now, right next to the dining table and it’s constantly being opened to learn about rose parentage!
To share my passion with those rose lovers who came from all around Australia was amazing and we’ve bumped into many of those people again at Rose Conferences around the world – a bond that never breaks.
Melbourne is hosting a (mini) Heritage Rose Conference and although we cannot attend, we highly recommend you consider attending because you will visit spectacular gardens and learn many interesting things about roses. I urge you to register your interest in attending as soon as possible.
For more information visit https://www.heritageroses.org.au
Last week we talked about Lucerne which is quite readily available at produce stores or, if you’re lucky, from a grower who may have some ‘spoiled’ bales available for garden mulch use (way cheaper)!
If you can put Lucerne on your garden beds just once, the soil will be immensely productive thereafter… if you can use it more often, results of using this highly nutrient-rich straw will be amazing.
There’s another fabulous herb which will add nutrients to your garden and which you can grow yourself – Comfrey! It contains 18 amino acids and is rich in protein, vitamins C, A, B12 and other B-complex vitamins. It has lots of fibre and minerals; calcium, potassium, phosphorous and iron.
Interestingly, there are only two plants containing Vitamin B12 in the whole plant kingdom – one is Lucerne and the other is Comfrey!
So, Comfrey and Lucerne contain all the essential nutrients which most plants love but roses particularly thrive on all these goodies!
If you want to grow Comfrey, always grow it in a large pot and trim the leaves/flowers to make a ‘herb tea’ or pop the leaves over your worm bed or chop them up and put them in the compost along with all other putrescible waste – like mint, if you plant Comfrey in a garden bed it will invade!
Lucerne Comfrey
A giggle for you ...
Q: What kind of garden does a baker have?
A: A flour garden!
Is It Possible to Keep Birds from Decimating Your Roses?
David shared this helpful information on how he prevents birds from getting to his roses.
The parrots at the start of the season were in front, now with these CD's I have beat them at their game!
Oh by the way, I tried having CD’s hanging all around the roses on about 6 poles, but it was too hard to keep organised. As I worked out that the parrots seemed to be targeting standards, I decided to put a pole up next to one standard, and another on the other side of the next standard. The emerging rose buds were always targeted by the parrots, so I put up one line of nylon fishing thread and tied a CD to each side of both standards. This enabled me to slip the fishing line up as the rose structures grew, so the CD’s were always just above the emerging rose buds.
It worked a treat this year – David.
Next week, I’ll share how David has found a way to stop possums eating his climbing roses along the fence so stay posted!
Another giggle ...
Q: Where do roses sleep at night?
A: In their flowerbed.
Climbing Rose Bundle
Normally, we understand our customers want to cover something unsightly when they purchase climbing roses. If that’s your desire and you also want no or almost no thorns, then get three of the most well-foliaged, free-flowering and easy care climbing roses.
They can all be mechanically pruned and they’ll flower continually for more than 9 months in most areas.
Purchase these three wonderful climbers and we’ll send you a FREE rose of your choice or trust us to send a gorgeous rose.
SENSATIONAL CLIMBING ROSES DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR – $160
We offer this buy 3 get 1 free because when we post roses we can send 4 roses in each pack. We can actually send 8 in one consignment and remain within the boundaries of Australia Post weight limits so if you want or need 8 roses, purchase them in one order to save on postage!
Now the summer holiday is over - it’s back to school for the kids and most of us are ‘head down and bum up’ into another year of work. May you all enjoy whatever it is you do and then, when you come home, enjoy the glory and peace of your garden!
Cheers from the team at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane