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ROSE RAMBLER 9.10.2014

ROSE RAMBLER 9.10.2014

Hello dear rose friends … are you a little lighter in the pocket after paying the kids to harvest snails, slugs, bugs … even worms got into my transactions – cost me $2.50 until Logan reminded me that we didn’t need any more snails because his lizards eat dog food anyway!!!  Laughed till I cried at that comment!

I so hope your garden looks as beautiful as ours … this is a season to beat all seasons with rose buds on so many early-flowering varieties and MRS. B.R. CANT (tea rose) in full bloom; lush, healthy green in every shade imaginable; blossom on the fruit trees.  How blessed are we to be caretakers of this small piece of paradise?  Very!!!

ROSE IDENTIFICATION LABELS …

Don’t you love to know the names of your roses when you’re showing somebody around your garden?  Many years ago I made great labels for each rose in the gardens at Kilmore by cutting 30cm lengths of conduit, with pop-rivets attaching 30cm lengths of venetian blind horizontally then hand-printing the rose name with oil-based black paint.

They were very durable and lasted well, however, several times our rose labels were returned to the nursery after being removed and tossed around the town so I gave up replacing them. I have often thought to make those again for our gardens here at Clonbinane but after planting a lovely new rose garden last week, I came upon this thought as a very sustainable gardening idea…

All our potted rose labels are now attached to a pink plastic ‘stick’ which is clipped to the side of each pot – great for the roses because the stem where we used to tie the plant label was stressed, the label now sits up from the pot and is nicely visible and looks sensational when you walk through the nursery because you see the labels ‘looking’ at you rather than them flapping wildly in the breeze.  When it’s time for trimming the potted roses, we don’t have to worry about re-attaching labels which was a very laborious chore!

As I was planting my new rose garden,

I unclipped a label from the pot and stuck it in the ground in front of each rose.  Then it occurred to me that Virginia (our assistant who thinks outside the square) did an experiment last year by painting rose labels with marine varnish to see if they would endure weather pressure when tied on the bush – a year later, those labels still look brand new.

Sooooo, in the new rose garden, each rose will be identified by re-using the ‘pink stick’ to which the plant label is attached.  I’ll buy a can of marine varnish and paint each label – durable, sustainable, identifiable … perfect solution to naming the roses in your garden – give it a go and check out the new garden when you visit us in the coming weeks!

GRA’S GARBLE …

been busy building a new shade-house area where I grow all my cuttings and seedlings as well as park my car – had to paint all the timber after I dug the holes for the posts – gawd, the things you do for love!  (I love my car and my seedling cuttings!)

Q.  Why did the man give up tap dancing?  A.  ‘Cause he kept falling down the sink! 

My Grandma used to call the sink the ‘zinc’ with a bit of her Scottish accent and this leads me to talking about the minerals we should be adding to the soil.  One of the simple ways we gardeners can provide a balance of minerals is by throwing MUNASH ROCKDUST around the garden.  Once you throw the ROCKDUST around, put ONE SMALL CAPFUL of MUNASH RENEW sea minerals in a watering can of water and pour that wherever you distributed the ROCKDUST.

We do this program over the potted rose plants in the nursery to keep a good balance of minerals up to the pots … amazing results which prevent the incidence of black-spot and mildew on the roses.  I don’t have any scientific studies to refer to our results – just know there are healthier plants when we apply these products.

If you grow vegetables, please, please use these products to mineralise the soil in your veggie garden because our OLD Australian soils are so deplete of a balance of minerals and we must ingest a good balance of minerals to stay healthy – since you don’t eat your roses, mineralise your veggies first and what product you have remaining, use on the roses and you’ll see amazing results!

DATES WHICH YOU MUST RESERVE …

We’ll talk more about in coming R/R’s :

YEA & DISTRICT OPEN GARDENS
SATURDAY – SUNDAY, 8TH & 9TH NOVEMBER

STATE ROSE GARDEN SHOW, WERRIBEE
SUNDAY, 16TH NOVEMBER

We wish you joy in your stunning spring garden …

~ Graham, Diana & Mooi (no, not mooey, moy!)

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ROSE RAMBLER 2.10.2014

ROSE RAMBLER 2.10.2014

Hello dear rose friends … yes, no R/R last week but there’s so much going on that sitting at the computer takes a back seat – while I’m out pulling weeds and ‘doing stuff’ I speak with you all constantly, telepathically, do you hear me speaking with you rather than typing the R/R???  Probably not!

We’ve enjoyed busy days in prime-time weather out in the garden with our heads down and bums up being close and personal with the magpies who had to be part of the action by getting worms and bardy grubs after the weeds were pulled and the last few days have been taken up with helping erect a school holiday building project – cubby-house with the pea-straw bales, Mooi’s first birthday celebrations and personal time-out … nice stuff!

Once read a beautiful Chinese proverb which told me that if I had learned something of value, I had a moral obligation to share it with others.  This email gives some insight to our online business which I think is great to share …

Hi Diana … I am VERY pleased to say that my beautiful roses arrived yesterday. They were a little bumped and bruised in the box, but otherwise all good and still very moist in their packaging. TINTERN is soooooooo cute. They all look VERY healthy and I can’t wait to plant them up this coming weekend.

I loved reading through the Newsletter too, and will follow your suggestion re the ongoing maintenance with Eco products.

One question if I may … You mention in the Rosarian just above the Maintenance suggestion that you “fertilise every 8 weeks with half a handful of fertiliser”, but you don’t mention the name of the fertiliser. I’m guessing if it’s “half a hand full” it must be in pellet form? Can you please clarify that part of your publication?

Also, you say NOT to fertilise until Spring, but we are currently IN Spring up here in Bris Vegas (Brisbane). Does that mean I should fertilise at the same time as I plant the new ones?, or just follow the mixture of Eco-Fungicide, Eco-Oil, Eco-Aminogro and Eco-Seaweed all mixed up together in the same watering can?  I don’t intend to over stress the plants by also spraying with Eco-Neem, so when should I do that and how often?

Sorry to be a pain. I should just buy your book ;>}

Chrissie xx

PS: It was so lovely to see your picture in the Rosarian. Now I can put a face to the name. Gra looks lovely too. In fact you both look like the loveliest couple. I’m so glad I stumbled upon your website via Googling.

Fertilising roses remains a constant area of concern for some customers – because of the weight constraints, it is impossible to send you the brilliant Complete Organic Fertilizer we use.  The best we can do is recommend that you take note of what you are buying, only buy quality and be mindful that organic fertilizer is beneficial to the soil.  Follow the directions on the pack as every product will have a varying recommendation.

When all else fails, just follow your gut instinct – think the plants need a feed, feed them, think they need watering, water them!  A whole lot of ‘good gardening’ is about allowing your intuitive power to prevail!

GRA’S GARBLE …

A pinch and a punch for a whole new month but most exciting is that your roses will be displaying lush, healthy foliage and some of you already have masses of flowers – here at CLONBINANE buds are starting to show colour so it will be an early season indeed!

Q.  What is a cow’s favourite film?  A. The SOUND OF MOOSIC!

One of the first roses to be flowering here will be JOSEPH’S COAT which is a climbing rose of immense beauty with a parade of all colours from warm-yellow buds which, as they age, go through stages of being apricot, pink and then crimson to finish.

In full flower, JOSEPH’S COAT is a sight to behold and I’m glad we remember to send budwood to the grower each season which means this robust old climber which was released in 1963 stays in production.

Our specimen of JOSEPH’S COAT is planted in a huge tub and scrambling over an arch in the centre walk-way of the nursery.  It’s planted with a mauve CLEMATIS and together they are a true spectacle.

Speaking of CLEMATIS – we now have a great range of HYBRID CLEMATIS in stock.  They are very suitable to plant alongside a climbing rose because the climbing rose shades the ground to keep the root-run of the CLEMATIS cool which is exactly what they need to flourish.

A customer gave some great advice about successfully growing CLEMATIS – plant them deep, throw heaps of compost and manure around them and let them get on with it and that’s exactly what we do here in the gardens and they appear to be more frost-hardy than some of the roses!
Treat yourself – plant a few CLEMATIS near the climbing roses in your garden and see for yourself how easy they are to grow.

Have a beaut week in your garden, get the kids to help you pick snails off the veggie seedlings … 10 cents for every snail – you’ll be broke but you’ll have a ball!

See you soon at CLONBINANE … Diana, Graham & one year old Mooi

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ROSE RAMBLER 28.11.2013

ROSE RAMBLER 28.11.2013

Hello dear rose friends … the last days of Spring, 2013 and it really doesn’t quite feel like we are ready for Summer – crazy weather but the roses are growing beautifully and producing lots of magnificent growth and blooms.  On the glorious days when the air is still and the sun is shining on the potted roses in the nursery it is blissful to walk around and be intoxicated by the heady fragrance of the roses.

Pick a day like that to come to the Rose Farm … when you go through the ‘booze bus’ on the way home, you’ll register zero but might still be asked to “Please step out of the car and walk in a straight line” … they’ll know you’re high on something.

MULCH … SO IMPORTANT …

There are two really important tasks to be carried out right now in the rose garden – the hot weather WILL come:

  1. Check and repair, as necessary, the watering systems; and
  2. Buy quality lucerne or pea straw mulch for immediate application

Once you know the watering system is all ok and before you apply the thick layer of mulch around the roses, give each rose a good handful of complete organic fertilizer which will be spread over the entire root-zone of each rose bush – definitely not ‘dumped’ at the base of the rose!

When the fertilizer has been liberally distributed over the entire soil surface, apply a nice thick layer of quality mulch – in order of preference :

  1. Lucerne (ask for second or third cut because it will have fewer weeds)
  2. Pea Straw (if it seeds, just see this as an opportunity for another layer of mulch and know that once you have pulled the ‘pea weed’ out, it will not re-seed)
  3. Any other mulch material

Remember last Summer when it suddenly got intensely hot and our plants were totally unprepared for the onslaught?  Avoid this type of stress on the roses in your garden this year and be prepared for all weather variables – give regular doses of liquid seaweed which should avail your roses of between 3-5 degrees of greater heat stress tolerance.

GRA’S GARBLE …

Did you know that lemons are like roses?  They need the same amount of food and an even amount of watering.  Both LOVE liquid seaweed poured over their leaves and if you add 2 caps each of Eco-Oil and liquid seaweed, you’ll deal with most bugs too!

Rose petals and lemons are loaded with Vitamin C so squeeze half a lemon into a cup of warm water first thing in the morning – the acid tasting lemon alkalises your system.

Use rose petals in salads to give the dish some pizzazz.

While I’m talking about food, use lots of Turmeric in your chicken, beef or lamb dishes;  add garlic and onions – said to be anti-inflammatory (ie reduce face wrinkles) and reduces swelling associated with rheumatoid arthritis – also an antioxidant.  Look out for the bulbs like mini ginger in green grocers now – it can be grown in the southern states from November through to May.

Q. What do you do if you break your toe?  A. Call a toe truck!

7 LITTLE WEE DO’S – WHY WE ARE SO DIFFERENT …

We guarantee our roses for 3 months after purchase
We grow roses without using chemicals
We are specialist rose growers
We can send roses around Australia in the post all year – except to Tassie/WA
We sell all Australian-made products
We are a registered Sustainable Garden Centre
We are not cheap but we sell all types of top quality roses!

Check out our quality roses and products at www.rosesalesonline.com.au

Hope to see you at Werribee this Sunday …
Graham

IN CLOSING …

Graham’s wish for his 70th birthday was to spend the whole day in the State Rose Garden at Werribee … he’ll be there for two whole days because we are celebrating with our children and grandchildren at the Werribee Zoo Slumber Safari on Saturday and then, (by sheer coincidence), we have a site at the State Rose and Garden Show on Sunday (Vasili will be there too! Gra and Vasili in the same place will be a hoot so you must come!)

See you soon …
            ~ Diana, Graham and Mooi (say: MOY … not MOOEY – silly me for not thinking!)

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BURGUNDY ICEBERG – AMAZING PICTURE

The roses are flowering at Clonbinane … jump in the car and come for a drive – just one hour from Melbourne CBD and 500metres from the Hume Highway at the CLONBINANE interchage where you can enter and exit the Hume Freeway from the north and south!

Here are a few pictures I took this morning …2013-11-03 07.38.30

This is BURGUNDY ICEBERG showing the fact that it is actually a ‘sport’ of the popular white Iceberg rose … one whole white petal and the petal beneath is as though a line is drawn in perfection right through the petal with one side pure white, the other deep burgundy – Mother Nature at her best!

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ROSE RAMBLER 10.10.2013

Hello dear rose friends … Did you have an adventurous and creative time in the rose garden this past week … sure hope so!  I planted my bean seeds – just to be pedantic, I did it on the no planting days and then came along, in the same soil zone, and planting in between those seeds on the moon planting days.  Yes, of course, I marked them accordingly!!!

Your feedback this past week has been amazing … thank you!  Here we go with what to do according to the moon planting for this week:

Best sowing and planting days:  tomorrow 11th and then best sowing/pruning days from 7.10am on 15th, all day 16th to 11.20am on 17th.  No sowing on 12th!

As an extension to this, do some of your own research into when to have your hair cut – I know for 100% that there are times when, after a hair cut, my hair grows faster and there are times when it grows more slowly – I’m sure it’s relative to the same principles as when to remove weeds or prune according to the Moon phases.

I’m too busy mowing lawns and pulling weeds to do the research – maybe if you’re sitting at the computer and curious, you might do the research for all of us and I will pass the information on!

STATE ROSE & GARDEN SHOW … Yes, of course you’re all right … I got the date wrong and it is definitely SUNDAY, 1ST DECEMBER – we’ll attach the poster to remind yourself to take a day out and visit the State Rose Garden at Werribee … we’ll be there!

GRA’S RAMBLE (another new name and one day, just for the fun of it, I’ll type it exactly as it is written for me – you can try and decipher it … the funniest joke you’ll ever read!!!  But meantime, I’ll correct it and make it legible for you to enjoy and take heed of … Diana)

Thinking of using manure in your compost or as a mulch for the rose garden?  Horse manure is readily available in country areas and if you’re taking a drive out here, go along some of the minor roads and you will see gate signs ‘HORSE POO $2.00 A BAG’ (sounds a bit like Mary Poppins!).  Q. What do you call a pony with a sore throat?  A. A little horse (hoarse).

Back to the compost … add all sorts of manures – horse, cow, poultry, pigeon, etc. to a mix of lawn clippings/straw/lucerne/leaf litter and leave for 4 weeks;  water every 3rd day to get the microbes and worms working!

This rapid time of Spring growth needs feed, feed, feed but in small amounts, often!  Liquid fertilizing is great and you can make your own ‘green manure brew’ by placing weeds and herbs in a hessian bag and plunging in a drum of water – dunk the bag up and down every day and within 4 weeks you can water this brew at the rate of one part to ten parts water over all plants – parsley is great to add because it adds calcium which plants need!  Add liquid seaweed to the mix and you’ll apply up to 70 minerals as well!

One of my favourite roses:  OKLAHOMA – what a perfume, big darkest red flowers, strong bush and great in a vase … everybody loves this rose and it will be featured on our new catalogue which will be available soon …  Enjoy brewing – Graham

A QUEENSLAND BEAUTY …  We are so lucky here in the southern states with regular rainfall since the end of the long drought … spare a thought for our northern rose gardening buddies who grow the most glorious roses in the toughest of conditions!  Laurel sent me this photo of the magnificent Maurice Utrillo

N CLOSING … Finger prune all the blind shoots caused by the cold nights and if you’re planning for a special occasion at your house in the coming months, remember to prune at least 45 days prior to the event and you will have a spectacular display of roses to show off!  Enjoy this week in the rose garden …

Diana & Graham at Clonbinane

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POSSUMS – HOW TO PROTECT ROSES FROM THEM

Hi Diana,
to get back to something that was under discussion a while ago, I’ve found a way to stop possums getting onto my climbing rose support and stripping the rose of all new growth and many leaves.  This rose has been absolutely crippled and able to make very little headway for a year.  Now, in just a month, it’s grown more than in all the previous 11 months combined, and even has some blooms.  it involves that black plastic mesh on a little roll you get at bunnings, for covering gutters so that leaves can’t fall in and clog them. my rose support is a made of 4×2 timber with two uprights.  I had put around this some of that anti-possum spiky black plastic that also comes on a roll.  it’s about 30cm broad and super-expensive for what it is, and it does nothing. the possums just walked across it on their way up to the food supply.  So I’ve got some of the gutter cover, placed it up flat vertical against the timber of the support and stapled along the bottom.  then, when i let it go, it flops over to roughly horizontal, forming a flexible barrier 15or 20cm wide and hardly conspicuous at all.  The possums could easily cross it if they were willing to risk the floppy, unstable structure that it is, but they do not trust it.  so far, so good.

I’ll attach an image.
POSSUM PROTECTION FOR ROSES

I hope that helps someone

best,
n

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ROSE RAMBLER 26.9.2013

ROSE RAMBLER 26.9.2013

Hello dear rose friends … Well into this magnificent Spring season and in some parts of Australia, you will be enjoying flowers on the roses … we’ve got buds on all the potted roses even here at cold Clonbinane and the garden is delightfully poised in readiness for the rose blooming … got my camera charged and ready so that I can take all the ‘missing’ photos for the rosesalesonline.com.au website.

It is imperative that I take the photos myself for this website – there are so many ‘doctored’ pictures on the internet … our integrity will not allow us to show you anything other than the exquisite true beauty of each rose.

In my experience of taking pictures of the roses, I bring the camera to the computer, download all the photos and name them.  I have gone back to those photos months later and would swear that I got the name incorrect!  Not so … every rose has a time when it looks very different – it’s not always ‘perfect’ and so my intention is to present a gallery where you can enjoy the variables of each rose – I’ve never set small tasks for myself and this is a huge one!

TESTIMONIAL … Got this lovely email the other day:

Diana, Thankyou so much for all your courteous assistance. What an asset you must be to your employer!!!  I have contacted greenroses, I will let you know how we get on.  Kindest regards, Donna

So excited I was, that I went and spoke to the boss/upper-level management, Graham and suggested I might be worthy of a rise ???  He told me to ‘get in the shed’ …?  I was laughing too hard to go there!

GRA’S GARDEN … DID YOU KNOW ???  (Different heading this week … must be stuff worth knowing … !  Ed.)

  • Using a broom is good for your body – great exercise and oh, by the way, why was the broom late?  It over swept!
  • Slugs and snails are on the march with all this wet weather and they will be hiding in the places we gardeners never think to look.  There are snail and slug pellets which are formulated to keep our pets, birds, fauna and earthworms safe!  I use the ‘Multiguard’ snail pellets because they’re garden friendly and eventually break-down as soil nutrients.   Read the ‘caution’ on the pack and take care when using!
  • CELEBRATE .. look out for our 30th birthday celebrations – yes, we started out 30 years ago and dreamed to create a totally organic business that inspired people to lead more sustainable lives.  We are a registered sustainable nursery – the 5th to be approved in Victoria and we sell (and use) all Australian made products, where possible!

SPECTACULAR ROSE EVENT …  Many avid rose gardeners have never afforded the opportunity to visit the State Rose Garden at Werribee – a rose garden renowned as being one of the BEST PUBLIC ROSE GARDENS IN THE WORLD!

You MUST plan to visit the State Rose Garden and an ideal time will be on

SUNDAY, 1st DECEMBER

11.00am – 4.00pm

when a host of rose growers/nurseries and horticultural exhibitors will be there – the roses will be at their absolute peak of flowering for the STATE ROSE GARDEN SHOW.

In a rather extraordinary turn of events, I booked for our family to attend a Slumber Safari at the Werribee Zoo to celebrate Graham’s 70th birthday on Saturday, 30th November – within hours of confirming the booking, I received an email about this Show which, obviously, we will definitely be taking part in!

See you at Werribee to celebrate with us!!!

SQUISHING APHIDS …  As of last night, I won’t be doing it anymore because I have learned that when I squish the aphids, I’m probably killing a host of predators as well – it all makes sense really because when I pulled a leaf that was hosting an amazing number of aphids, on checking the underside, sure enough, I saw the predator and a few minutes later, I had a tiny ladybird crawling on my jumper!

We did our regular spray maintenance program this morning – we know that we’re not harming any of the predators by using the Eco products … we’re just giving Mother Nature a gentle hand in controlling the aphids which are feeding on all the lush new rose foliage!

CHECK THE TIES …  If you haven’t already done so, please go and check all the ties on the standard roses – see that the weeping roses are well supported too!  We use and recommend the Velcro double-sided tape – can send it in the post if you’re frustrated trying to find a suitable tie material for your roses – $18.50 per 3 metre and $24.50 per 5 metre with pack and post a minimal extra.

IN CLOSING … Please continue to send your beautiful pictures of the roses at your place – I think it would be fun to organise a special ‘art show’ of Roses Only … will get something sorted and let you know when … meantime, enjoy the roses at your place and be happy!

Cheer from Diana & Graham Sargeant at Clonbinane

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Coir fibre as potting mix for roses

If you are inclined to grow your roses in pots rather than in the soil, it is IMPERATIVE that you use a very high quality potting mix in order to preserve moisture and supply adequate nutrients to enable you to enjoy the absolute beauty of the rose for the couple of years that it will be in the potting mix.

A recent email enquiry has led me to promote the use of coir fibre … interesting reading:

“Hi Diana, I’d just like to know if you have had any experience or opinion on the brunnings coir block that you add  water to and you end up with 15 litres of rose planting mix. My mother no longer drives and this is a product she can carry home on the bus. I love to hear your views. It looks very much like a mulch to me but states it is a potting /planting mix,
regards Debra”
and my response:
Hey Deb … give your Mum to OK to bring home the blocks of coir, soak them with a bit of liquid seaweed and she will grow the most amazing plants!  All our roses were potted in 75% coir and 25% bark last year … superior and don’t forget how hot it was last year!!! Cheers … Diana
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WATER IN THE ROSE GARDEN

WATERING YOUR ROSE GARDEN …
Unfortunately, the protracted drought caused compulsory water saving regulations – some water storage facilities were at critically low levels and it became illegal to use anything but a hand-held hose during very restricted hours to water the garden.

This has changed with water storage levels at all-time highs so now the media is having a field day and scare-mongering with reports of the huge costs which will be incurred if we use any more than minimal quantities of water – especially on our gardens!

During the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show I listened to many gardeners share stories of their roses not having bloomed since the early Spring and the overwhelming response to my queries about their garden watering habits was “No, we can’t water the roses” … let’s put this into perspective …

We readily line up at our local restaurant for a meal and drinks with an average cost of no less than $25.00 per person per outing. Yes, we deserve the treat and the pleasure is immense (we hope!) however, within 24 hours, that pleasure is flushed down your loo! If that $25.00 was spent on additional water for the garden, the pleasure would endure for a number of months because the actual cost of water on your account is almost equivalent to the daily rate of the water service fee … yes, get out your last water account and check it!

Our water costs $0.5300/kL and the water service fee costs $0.4259 per day – we watered 3,000 pots once a day, every day by hand and used sprinklers on the hot days to cool the plants. Plus, we watered the gardens immediately around the house for one hour each zone, once a week and the roses never stopped flowering! We are reaping the benefits of watering the fruit trees – hundreds of luscious, juicy nachi fruits shared between our family and friends! They cost $6.00/kilo in the supermarket right now!

The point I am trying to make is that YOU DESERVE to enjoy the flowers in your garden and to get the flowers, you MUST water the garden – there is plenty of water and when you break down the costs as I have done, you too will turn on the irrigation system and let your plants flourish rather than flounder!

Overwhelmingly too, the health benefits to you are immeasurable when you can revel in the pleasure of the flowers in your garden – turn the tap on NOW and enjoy the glory of the roses throughout the late Autumn! It’s not too late!!!