ROSE RAMBLER 31.3.2016

Already another month ending and we’re busy packing up to head off to
TESSELAAR’S PLANT EXPO this weekend – tickets at www.gardeningandplantsexpo.com.auGraham is meeting our grower at Dunkeld today to collect buckets and buckets of flowers for a magnificent display of roses cut directly from the field – lots of the 2016 RELEASE varieties along with more recent release varieties of roses will be on display in vases at our site so do come along and have a sniff!Pop a teabag or sachet of coffee beans in your bag – once you smell a really glorious fragrance, the others will pale to insignificance unless you clear your olfactory glands in between sniffing and tea/coffee offer clearance between sniffs – yes, it works!

You’ll have a beaut day out – this Expo is about PLANTS where you’ll have an opportunity to speak with specialist growers like ourselves.  Graham will do a presentation at 10.00am on SATURDAY MORNING.

There will be presentations throughout the weekend with Steven Ryan as compere and you can enjoy a leisurely stroll through the sites without hustle and bustle – a drive in the Dandenong Ranges is so worthwhile at this magnificent time of year!

The food and coffee at this event is superb too so with the weather set to be autumnal splendour, jump in the car and come see us with our magnificent roses at TESSELAAR’S PLANT EXPO THIS WEEKEND – you and the kids will have a ball!

GRA’S GARBLE …

Q.  What has two hands but no fingers?  A.  A clock. 

Thank goodness we’ll be changing our clocks this weekend as its dark until after 7 am here and we love to get an early start with watering the potted roses – yes, I’ve been known to hold a torch in one hand, hose in the other impatient for daylight!

Q. What kind of shoes don’t go on your feet?  A.  Tissues! 

I’ve been busy planting lots of winter veggies and gathering cow manure for composting to make my own biodynamic preparations – I’ll tell you all about that in following Rose Ramblers as there’s lots going on here at the rose farm preparing for more than 200 people to visit during the weekend of the Art & Roses tours – hope we see you at Tesselaar’s this weekend …. Gra

ART & ROSES TOURS …

If you are wishing to book more than 12 people to receive a $10 travel subsidy for visiting this event on Saturday, 9th or Sunday, 10th April – please call me NOW as today is the last day for bookings!

STAYING OVER FOR A WEEKEND …

You might like to stay where you can hear the breeze in the eucalypts, see kangaroos grazing – right in the hills just above Silkies Rose Farm at…

CHOOKERY NOOK
BED & BREAKFAST

695 Spur Road, Clonbinane

Your very own sanctuary in the mountains.

Peaceful, private & pet friendly. Self-contained, modern farmhouse, sleeps 7, tastefully decorated with a “chookie” theme!

Phone: Cathy 5787 1561 or 0416 391 085

DON’T OVERLOOK THESE BEAUTIES …

We have stunning potted specimens of these roses which, when planted in your garden this autumn, will be absolutely spectacular come spring flowering – these are all very highly recommended roses and suit some of the most difficult situations when planning where to plant roses … these three roses are super healthy, very continually free flowering and afford you a most reliable rose …

JEANNE LA JOIE
One of the first climbing roses I ever planted which was a constant pleasure right outside our bedroom window of the cottage at Kilmore.  I now have it planted in obelisks here and it is ALWAYS flowering in massive clusters which are glorious to place in a vase of mixed roses
KNOCKOUT
Stunning colour, awesome disease resistance and magnificent display of blooms from first flowers in spring and well into winter.  This rose is a great ‘filler’ in mixed garden borders, very low-maintenance

IMP, CLIMBING – DINGO ROSE
Super long-lasting blooms and very healthy foliage on this rose which was originally planted in many Australian gardens as a floribunda during the 50’s.  As a climbing rose, it can be used as a pillar or the 3mtr long canes can be tied to a fence to create a magnificently colourful display …

Yes, it’s a busy time here at Clonbinane and we promise more detailed rose management and garden bed preparation for winter roses in forthcoming issues – enjoy the glory of your autumn rose garden

… cheers, Graham, Diana & Mooi  

 

ROSE RAMBLER 31.3.2016

ROSE RAMBLER 31.3.2016…

Already another month ending and we’re busy packing up to head off to
TESSELAAR’S PLANT EXPO this weekend – tickets at www.gardeningandplantsexpo.com.au

Graham is meeting our grower at Dunkeld today to collect buckets and buckets of flowers for a magnificent display of roses cut directly from the field – lots of the 2016 RELEASE varieties along with more recent release varieties of roses will be on display in vases at our site so do come along and have a sniff!

Pop a teabag or sachet of coffee beans in your bag – once you smell a really glorious fragrance, the others will pale to insignificance unless you clear your olfactory glands in between sniffing and tea/coffee offer clearance between sniffs – yes, it works!

You’ll have a beaut day out – this Expo is about PLANTS where you’ll have an opportunity to speak with specialist growers like ourselves.  Graham will do a presentation at 10.00am on SATURDAY MORNING.

There will be presentations throughout the weekend with Steven Ryan as compere and you can enjoy a leisurely stroll through the sites without hustle and bustle – a drive in the Dandenong Ranges is so worthwhile at this magnificent time of year!

The food and coffee at this event is superb too so with the weather set to be autumnal splendour, jump in the car and come see us with our magnificent roses at TESSELAAR’S PLANT EXPO THIS WEEKEND – you and the kids will have a ball!

GRA’S GARBLE …

Q.  What has two hands but no fingers?  A.  A clock. 

Thank goodness we’ll be changing our clocks this weekend as its dark until after 7 am here and we love to get an early start with watering the potted roses – yes, I’ve been known to hold a torch in one hand, hose in the other impatient for daylight!

Q. What kind of shoes don’t go on your feet?  A.  Tissues! 

I’ve been busy planting lots of winter veggies and gathering cow manure for composting to make my own biodynamic preparations – I’ll tell you all about that in following Rose Ramblers as there’s lots going on here at the rose farm preparing for more than 200 people to visit during the weekend of the Art & Roses tours – hope we see you at Tesselaar’s this weekend …. Gra

ART & ROSES TOURS …

If you are wishing to book more than 12 people to receive a $10 travel subsidy for visiting this event on Saturday, 9th or Sunday, 10th April – please call me NOW as today is the last day for bookings!

STAYING OVER FOR A WEEKEND …

You might like to stay where you can hear the breeze in the eucalypts, see kangaroos grazing – right in the hills just above Silkies Rose Farm at…

CHOOKERY NOOK
BED & BREAKFAST

695 Spur Road, Clonbinane

Your very own sanctuary in the mountains.

Peaceful, private & pet friendly. Self-contained, modern farmhouse, sleeps 7, tastefully decorated with a “chookie” theme!

Phone: Cathy 5787 1561 or 0416 391 085

DON’T OVERLOOK THESE BEAUTIES …

We have stunning potted specimens of these roses which, when planted in your garden this autumn, will be absolutely spectacular come spring flowering – these are all very highly recommended roses and suit some of the most difficult situations when planning where to plant roses … these three roses are super healthy, very continually free flowering and afford you a most reliable rose …

JEANNE LA JOIE
One of the first climbing roses I ever planted which was a constant pleasure right outside our bedroom window of the cottage at Kilmore.  I now have it planted in obelisks here and it is ALWAYS flowering in massive clusters which are glorious to place in a vase of mixed roses

KNOCKOUT
Stunning colour, awesome disease resistance and magnificent display of blooms from first flowers in spring and well into winter.  This rose is a great ‘filler’ in mixed garden borders, very low-maintenance

IMP, CLIMBING – DINGO ROSE
Super long-lasting blooms and very healthy foliage on this rose which was originally planted in many Australian gardens as a floribunda during the 50’s.  As a climbing rose, it can be used as a pillar or the 3mtr long canes can be tied to a fence to create a magnificently colourful display …

Yes, it’s a busy time here at Clonbinane and we promise more detailed rose management and garden bed preparation for winter roses in forthcoming issues – enjoy the glory of your autumn rose garden

… cheers, Graham, Diana & Mooi  

ROSE RAMBLER 24.3.2016

 

ROSE RAMBLER 24.3.2016 …

Hello dear rose friends who are regular readers and sincere welcome to those who are new to our ramblings – we hope you enjoy all the ‘stuff’ we share to make your gardening experience happy and fruitful!

GRA’S GARBLE …

Q.  How do you make a goldfish old?  A.  Take away the ‘G’ …

if you take the ‘G’ away from my name, you’d call me ‘RA’ – my new rose ‘GRA’S BLUE’ wouldn’t quite be the same called ‘RA’S BLUE’ – glad I’m not old or a goldfish!!!

So, you’re planning a new rose garden?  Before you do ANYTHING, take a good look up, down, all around; check where the sun is throughout the seasons (yes, it is always different and daylight saving also needs to be considered).  Most importantly, will the sun shine for NO LESS THAN 5 HOURS on your roses throughout the flowering season?  This is SO important!!!

Equally important is to check where large trees are growing around your garden … out on the nature strip maybe?  Don’t even contemplate trying to establish a new rose garden where there is a huge tree within 5 metres of your planned garden because the established tree will take all of the water, nutrients and sunshine – here is a copy of email consultation this past week …

“Thank you for your wonderful newsletter which I look forward to! I have a question that’s been on my mind for some time! This winter I planted several bare rooted roses, all of which are flourishing except the ones in my front yard, beside each other. They have blossomed only a couple of times and they are verrrry slow to grow unlike the others in the back. We do get sun in the morning, and I have been using seasol and rose fertiliser but I have no idea why they aren’t growing more. Is there anything I can do?  Many thanks!”My response:  “Hi Vanessa … I’ll bet there’s a large tree somewhere close by … maybe on the nature strip???  If the roses fail to perform with all your caring, lift them, dig way, way, way larger holes this winter and replant or take them out the back to enjoy them there!  Please let me know whether this is right …”

Conclusively from Vanessa:  Thanks Gra. They’re probably about 4-5metres away from the tree on the nature strip.  I thought maybe it was the soil because we have two other roses nearby out the front and those have been in longer and blossomed profusely this spring and summer but the bushes themselves are very small and haven’t grown much either. I was hoping the two I mentioned in my email (which are climbers) would be able to climb up the facade of my house. Thanks for the suggestions I’ll try replanting in winter!”

My response:  “It is the result of tree root competition!  The older roses and tree ‘grew up together’ and adapted … don’t move those oldies just don’t expect newly planted roses to grow in that location and perform robustly … the tree is now the DOMINANT in that location!

Here’s a picture of a magnificent rose we sent this past winter – DUBLIN BAY, the most magnificent red climbing rose was planted at the foot of a huge eucalyptus tree … didn’t have a hope of growing in that location …

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a camera above ground which showed exactly where those tree roots are, indicate an ideal space where we could plant a new rose so it would be happy to get on with growing between the tree roots … now there’s an invention for somebody to work on!?!

Q.  How do you stop someone eating your last chocolate?  A.  Eat it first don’t eat too much chocolate this Easter weekend – buy a rose instead!  Enjoy the time to catch up with family and friends, have a bit of time in the garden or maybe take a drive out here to Clonbinane … Gra

ART & ROSES TOURS …

If you’re planning a visit to our region on the weekend of 9th/10th April and you have a group, please contact me NOW so that you are eligible for the TRAVEL SUBSIDY of $10 per person when more than 12 attend in a group.

Bookings for this great weekend close on WEDNESDAY, 31ST MARCH – please call Diana 5787 1123 or email:  info@rosesalesonline.com.au to register your booking.

MORE NEW RELEASE ROSES FOR 2016 …

These three will definitely excite you with their intense colour and extreme health and vigour …

CLIMBING FLORENTINA

EYE OF THE TIGER

FEARLESS

Descriptions of all the NEW RELEASE 2016 roses are available at www.rosesealesonline.com.au and you can always call the Rose Farm any FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY and MONDAY to discuss your order or for design consultancy which we will discuss in greater detail next week!

Lovely to see that lots of customers are taking advantage of the great special offer
EVERY ROSE ORDER OVER $100 SELECT ONE FREE ROSE – ENDS 31.ST MARCH
Winter roses will be posted from late May until end August so get your orders in NOW!

Have a happy Easter time with friends and family, enjoy the school holidays too …

We are closed on GOOD FRIDAY
but open the usual 9am – 4.30pm on
SATURDAY, SUNDAY & on EASTER MONDAY!

see you soon at Clonbinane …

 

ROSE RAMBLER 17.3.2016

ROSE RAMBLER 17.3.2016

ROSE RAMBLER 17.3.2016 …

Hello dear rose friends from a rather cooler Clonbinane!

We enjoyed out day at Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show yesterday – it was lovely to see so many familiar faces during our venture through the displays.  Can you believe it’s the FIRST time I’ve actually walked through every part of the gardens during MIFGS … for 17 years I was there at the crack of dawn, busy at our display site all day then drove home – they were exhausting days so it was especially lovely to see MIFGS from the ‘other side’!

Most exciting for me was the huge display of New Release Roses for 2016 – to see the public sniffing every rose, gasping at their beauty while the poor roses wilted under the intense heat of the lighting!  So glad I could take these lovely pics on the first day of the show …

A DAUGHTER’S GIFT
Truly magnificent long-stemmed blooms of darkest crimson with silver reverse will make a wonderful lasting specimen in a vase – strong, healthy foliage and a light, sweet fragrance too …

DARK DESIRE
(Kordes) With a HUGE fragrance there is no doubt this will be very, very popular and it was easy to see the durability of the flower despite the hot lighting – this is indeed a superb rose!

BELLE PARFUM
(Delbard) indeed a magnificently fragrant rose with a perfect bud which opens to reveal a swirling mass of petals and again, the roses on display were holding up beautifully under the hot lighting …

There were some of my favourite recently released roses which we now have planted in our gardens and urge you to consider purchasing these to add to your collection …

FATHER OF PEACE
(Meilland) is incredibly beautiful with amazing fragrance, extremely healthy, robust growth and flowers which last particularly well in all weather …

BRIEF ENCOUNTER
Huge flowers with magnificent fragrance which last longer on the bush than any large-flowered hybrid-tea I know – strong, healthy grower in all climates!

THANK YOU
(Kordes) Large clusters of fully-petalled blooms which retain their deep mauve colour despite the heat and are sweetly fragrant.  The shrub is nicely rounded – perfect for mass planting.

With www.rosesalesonline.com.au now open for winter bare-rooted rose ordering, be sure to get your orders in early to select A FREE ROSE when the order value is over $100*


*This offer is available until 31st March.

NOTE:  WE ARE STILL POSTING POTTED ROSES
AND GIFT ROSES! 

ALL 2016 NEW RELEASE ROSES WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE AS BARE-ROOTED ROSES THIS WINTER!


GRA’S GARBLE …

Here are a few tips to get your potted roses looking super beautiful through the last hot weather:

  • When watering pots, water over the entire surface of the pot and fill until water leaches out the drain holes;
  • Yes, you can put a large saucer under the pot without causing disease issues;
  • Use seaweed solution at least once a fortnight – you can add liquid fertilizer to the seaweed and pour over the foliage too;
  • Sprinkle granulated fertilizer lightly over the surface of the potting mix at least every 6 weeks.
  • Pots require DAILY WATERING and can be mulched with milled lucerne to retain moisture!

Q.  Where do you find lots of keys that don’t open anything?  A.  On a piano!

I’ve been attending a course with Australia BIODYNAMICS – Vic at Toolangi for the past six weeks and will have some very interesting information to share in future issues – meantime, if you haven’t already got a compost heap happening, get one started NOW as you’ll soon have autumn leaves to collect – such a valuable resource for compost!

Q.  What happened to the man who sat on a pin?  A. He got the point! 

Have a beaut week in your autumn garden …
Cheers from Graham, Diana & Mooi at Clonbinane.

We’ve been asked to place a recent pic of Mooi here for you –

She’s nearly 3 now and loves to let you know she’s here when you visit
– so you pick her up for a cuddle!

ROSE RAMBLER 10.3.2016

ROSE RAMBLER 10.3.2016

 

Hello dear rose friends from a very hot, very dry Clonbinane in autumn when I was looking forward to crawling under the doona at night – not yet, obviously!  Our roses are enjoying the dry heat and flowering magnificently – amazing plants they are for sure!

I’d like to share this quote I read recently:

It’s all about attitude… Some people complain because there are thorns on roses,
while others praise thorns for having roses among them.

We are still frequently asked to supply thornless roses – not even our growers are budding the ‘smooth touch’ roses which were released many years ago – seems that a rose without (some) thorns just isn’t a great, enduring rose for planting in our gardens.  Graham trialled several thornless ‘smooth touch’ varieties and established that they were generally disappointing both in pots and in garden beds.

There are several highly recommended roses which have few or no thorns on the flowering stems which makes them an absolute pleasure to cut and put in a vase.

FIREFIGHTER
One of the most highly fragrant, abundantly free-flowering, tall and healthy bushes which produces THORNLESS long-stemmed, darkest crimson red blooms ideal for placing in vases …

THE CHILDREN’S ROSE
Perfectly formed pale pink THORNLESS-stemmed, highly fragrant blooms on a very robust, healthy bush continually throughout the season – one of our most highly recommended roses …

MONICA – THORNLESS
Long-stems of pure dark orange with yellow at the base of each petal and glossy, dark crimson new foliage on a tall, robust bush which flowers freely all season providing bunches of blooms which last for days in the vase …

The list goes on and on but I think it is imperative that whenever you are working in the garden, you must take care – quality gloves protect your hands from contact with biting insects, spiders, and thorns!   When you’re visiting Silkies Rose Farm, please take time to FIT a pair of our recommended garden gloves which afford you the ability to FEEL what you’re doing because they fit snuggly to most hands and are wash ‘n’ wear durable quality!

Gloves available in small (7), medium(8), large (9) and extra large(10)
@ $14.50 per pair

GRA’S GARBLE…

This weather isn’t funny but this joke is …

Q. What do you get if you cross a chicken with a cement mixer?  A.  A brick-layer!

Some varieties of roses are amazing performers in very hot weather – here is my absolute stand-out selection –

PLAYBOY
What a rose!  Strong healthy, glossy dark crimson foliage which turns dark green with age – there’s slight fragrance in the single-petalled gold/bright red blooms which are produced in clusters with amazing continuity – one of my favourites!

DOUBLE KNOCKOUT
A really handy performer that maintains flowering through intense heat and well into colder months.  Masses of darkest hot-pink blooms on an easy-care, very tough and disease resistant bush – amazing rose!

EDGAR DEGAS
One of the most stunning Delbard roses which performs by free-flowering on a lovely rounded shrub which has mid-green, very healthy foliage.  Most delightful for me is that the flowers are always different colours so there’s a surprise every time you look!

One more joke, but before I give you that, please, please use seaweed solution over your roses at least every couple of weeks – add foliage fertilizer like AMINOGRO once a month and you’ll have beautiful blooms right into winter – this weather is definitely no joke … Gra

Q.  What sort of nails can you find in shoes?  A. Toe nails

ART & ROSES TOUR 2016

Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th April

Get your group bookings in as soon as possible – with a $10 per person travel subsidy for groups of 12 or more, gather some friends to car-pool with or hire a mini-bus; come along and visit our region – you’ll be spoiled with Devonshire Tea and walk and talk in the gardens with Graham here at Silkies Rose Farm, entry and catalogue for the Art Show – just pay for lunch and morning or afternoon tea at the delightful Hidden Valley Country Estate – we promise you a great day out!

Hope to see you at MIFGS next Wednesday 16th March when I will be giving a presentation ALL ABOUT ROSES at STAND 41B for Scott’s Australia – stay cool meantime!

Cheers from Graham, Diana & Mooi at Clonbinane

 

ROSE RAMBLER 3.3.2016

ROSE RAMBLER …  3.3.2016 …

Hello dear rose friends and welcome to autumn which we consider to be the most beautiful season in our garden because the colour in the roses is intense and true; the season when all our deciduous trees turn magnificent colours and we start preparing new rose garden beds for winter planting.  It’s also the season when we get cooler nights and can snuggle-down under the doona again … lovely all-round.

www.rosesalesonline.com.au is

NOW OPEN for
bare-rooted winter roses!

Which will be posted/available for pick up from early June
with a very special offer of one of the following roses available

FREE with every purchase over $100
– this equates to BUY 4 GET 1 FREE!

It’s been easy to select the FREE varieties because every one of these roses is highly worthy of planting in your garden!  You’ll see them growing beautifully in gardens all around Australia and have proven to give enormous pleasure to rose gardeners year in and year out!

We’ve chosen varieties from the colour spectrum of roses which are sure to please; importantly all these varieties are very hardy, easy-care and will give you years of abundant blooms!

Now, which one will you choose???  Enjoy this gift from us to you …


APRICOT NECTAR

BONICA

DUET

ELINA

GOLD BUNNY

HOT CHOCOLATE

LA SEVILLANA

MEMOIRE

PARADISE

VALENCIA

 

www.rosesalesonline.com.au will continue to post
POTTED ROSES and GIFT ROSES until the end of this flowering season.

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER & GARDEN SHOW …

MIFGS starts on Wednesday, 16th March when I will be giving a presentation ALL ABOUT ROSES at STAND 41B (close to front entrance gate – SCOTT’S AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD.)  commencing at 10.30 – 11.30 so get there early!

Graham’s beautiful, Multi-Award Winning rose: GRA’S BLUE will be featured in Kerri Heron’s garden on the AVENUE OF ACHIEVABLE GARDENS.  Kerri is a horticultural student at Melbourne Polytechnic and when she won the honour of presenting her garden design, she wanted a highly fragrant rose for her ‘picking garden’ and selected GRA’S BLUE as it met all her criteria!

As a very special tribute to this fabulous rose,
during March we are offering…
BUY ONE GRA’S BLUE
– GET ONE FREE!
This is a wonderful opportunity to create a garden border of continually flowering, highly fragrant blooms of the most easy-care healthy rose which grows to around 50cms tall. GRA’S BLUE is also ideal to grow in large tubs on a sunny balcony/patio where the fragrance can be enjoyed!

Q.  What do you call an angry chocolate bar?  A.  A Violet Crumble.

EASTER IS AROUND THE CORNER …

Here are a few appropriately named roses which you can gift instead of chocolate –

HOT COCOA
A highly recommended rose for health, vigour and truly amazing change of colours from deep chocolate brown paling to mauve as the flowers finish.  Stunningly glossy foliage clothes the bush which grows to a height of 1.2 metres –

HOT CHOCOLATE
Stunning orange blooms which, as they age, change to rich chocolate-brown.  The foliage is glossy, dark green and the bush grows quite tall to 1.5 metres and is very eye-catching and interesting amongst other coloured roses –

Q.  How do you say “Richard and Robert have a Rabbit” without using the ‘R’ sound?  A.  Dick and Bob have a bunny!

VERY IMPORTANT SUMMER ROSE CARE …

We’ve had several customers email pictures of their poorly roses this past week – an infestation of RED SPIDER MITE will rapidly spread on the underside of rose foliage in areas where there is poor air circulation and very dry conditions.  The tiny insects will be visible using a magnifying glass – there is usually signs of webbing on the foliage as well.

To control RED SPIDER MITE we recommend immediate action by spraying ECO-OIL with NEEM OIL added (if available).  NEVER SPRAY plants when temperature is expected to be 30 degrees or more – as has been the case this past week!

To minimise the spread of RED SPIDER MITE while the weather is still too warm for spraying, wash affected bushes with the hose – particularly the underside of leaves – MITE hate being wet!  This kind of watering will protect the rose until you can commence spraying with ECO OIL (which suffocates them) and ECO NEEM (tells them to stop eating).

Clear around the base of each rose to improve air circulation and deep-soak the affected roses – this is most important to stop reinfestation!

IT’S BEEN DRY … most issues with roses are due to lack of adequate, deep soaking moisture so give the roses a light prune, turn the hose on and you’ll have a spectacular show of blooms throughout autumn and into winter.

See you at Clonbinane soon – Diana, Graham & Mooi