From Little Things, Big Things Grow
How quickly our roses spring to life as soon as they’re potted into quality potting media or planted into well-prepared soil in our gardens. I find myself singing the ditty “… from little things, big things grow” and Julia sent through photos of her new roses which she’s astounded have grown so much in 9 days of her care …
... In a marathon effort, all the roses are potted now and you can be sure that we’ve done the 1/3 prune which we strongly recommend at winter planting. You might think you’re getting less than what you paid for but stand back and watch how beautifully dense your roses will grow as they push lots of watershoots from the bud union.
I’m quite sure you’ll never, ever, NOT prune a rose at planting again! In this picture, Twilight Zone was very damaged during transit so was drastically cut back on 6th August and potted into our quality potting media…
Not even one month later, this is Twilight Zone – fully recovered and shooting new growth which, within weeks, will start producing flower buds for flowering in November here in Victoria …
A giggle for you …
Q: How do you tell the difference between male and female zebras?
A: Males are black with white stripes and females are white with black stripes.
Relocating Roses ...
... whilst on the topic of pruning for rose recovery, if you ever need to relocate a rose, you MUST trim it right back down to almost nothing – no matter what time of year.
You trim the roots just as severely as you trim all the branches. Many branches should be completely removed to align with the bud union/crown to allow room for new watershoot development almost immediately.
When customers tell us how they failed at relocation, we ask lots of questions and they’re amazed at how severely a rose is pruned before, during and after being dug.
Very importantly, never let the plant roots be dry – have a trough of seaweed solution ready and once pruned right back, leave the rose in that solution for anything up to 24 hours if that works for you – otherwise, be sure to plant the rose with every root wet and then once planted, saturate the ground to a slurry and pour seaweed solution over the entire area as a final gesture to alleviate transplanting shock.
The first watering for any plant is crucial – every pocket of air must be expelled so wetting the soil to a slurry at planting is imperative!
A giggle for you …
Q: Why are piggy banks so wise?
A: Males are black with white stripes and females are white with black stripes.
There’s no rest for the wicked as commencing this Friday until next Thursday, 14th September is a weeding time on the Moon Planting Guide so we’ll be a busy crew during that time. Also, it’s a great time for fertilizing, pruning to reduce growth and mow lawns. Have your hair cut next week and it won’t grow back as quickly as if you do it during other moon cycles … believe me, it works – I’ve done this for years and I’m almost bald … hahaha! Have a happy week in your spring garden – cheers from us here at Clonbinane where it’s frosty in the morning but the days are sunny … glorious!