ROSE RAMBLER 30.5.2019

View this email in your browser

ROSE RAMBLER 30.05.2019 …

ROSE RAMBLER 30TH MAY, 2019 – Hello dear Rose Friends as excitement builds here at Silkies Rose Farm in anticipation of a great bare-rooted rose season when these heel-in beds will be filled with supreme quality roses once the plants have been graded, labelled and sorted.

GRA’S GARBLE …

GARDEN ACTIVITY AT THE BEGINNING OF WINTER

If your garden hasn’t had a new layer of mulch for a while, there’s still plenty of time to place a layer over the garden beds so soil temperature stays a bit warmer for longer. NOTE: all the deciduous trees are providing mulch NOW so please do not put those leaves in your waste bin – use them around your garden or if you find them untidy, take them to someone who will use them. You’re more than welcome to bring them here!

Recent rain means the soil is moist so start preparing holes ready for bare-rooted roses … using a garden fork you’ll be less likely to slice the worms who are breeding NOW, lift soil into a wheelbarrow to create a hole approximately 50 x 50 cms. To this soil, blend a few decent shovels full of compost/well-rotted manure and once you’ve forked holes into the base and side wall of the hole, (if your soil is heavy clay, apply gypsum at this point), return all the soil to the hole and water over with seaweed solution and a light straw or leaves mulch over the top. Yes, there will be a mound – it will settle with fortnightly applications of seaweed solution.

Remove spent rose blooms – they’re puff-balls of mould and don’t look so great so removing them will make the plants look neat. We don’t recommend pruning yet! Wait until all the foliage is gone – makes pruning so very much easier!

If you’re planning to pot-up your new roses this winter rather than plant them in a garden bed, organise pots at least 35-40cms diameter, quality potting mix, seaweed, fertilizer and the eco-products for organic rose management (eco-oil, eco-rose/fungicide) so you’ve got everything ready for when your roses arrive. NEVER LET THE ROOTS DRY OUT – leave them in a bucket of water rather than in the packaging we send them in and plant as soon as possible.

Q. Why did the fish blush? A. Because it saw the ocean’s bottom!

MY FAVOURITE RED ROSES …

I am seriously biased and LOVE red roses – especially when they’re fragrant! Add one of these beauties to your winter order …

Mr. Lincoln

Tatjana (See the white stripe on the petal!)

Kardinal

and you’ll save lots of $$$’s because these favourites of mine will very soon become your favourites too because they continually produce buckets of flowers suitable for vases inside your home!

Q. Why are A’s like flowers? A. Because bees come after them … have a giggle! GRA

View this email in your browser

ROSE RAMBLER 30.05.2019 …

ROSE RAMBLER 30TH MAY, 2019 – Hello dear Rose Friends as excitement builds here at Silkies Rose Farm in anticipation of a great bare-rooted rose season when these heel-in beds will be filled with supreme quality roses once the plants have been graded, labelled and sorted.

GRA’S GARBLE …

GARDEN ACTIVITY AT THE BEGINNING OF WINTER

If your garden hasn’t had a new layer of mulch for a while, there’s still plenty of time to place a layer over the garden beds so soil temperature stays a bit warmer for longer. NOTE: all the deciduous trees are providing mulch NOW so please do not put those leaves in your waste bin – use them around your garden or if you find them untidy, take them to someone who will use them. You’re more than welcome to bring them here!

Recent rain means the soil is moist so start preparing holes ready for bare-rooted roses … using a garden fork you’ll be less likely to slice the worms who are breeding NOW, lift soil into a wheelbarrow to create a hole approximately 50 x 50 cms. To this soil, blend a few decent shovels full of compost/well-rotted manure and once you’ve forked holes into the base and side wall of the hole, (if your soil is heavy clay, apply gypsum at this point), return all the soil to the hole and water over with seaweed solution and a light straw or leaves mulch over the top. Yes, there will be a mound – it will settle with fortnightly applications of seaweed solution.

Remove spent rose blooms – they’re puff-balls of mould and don’t look so great so removing them will make the plants look neat. We don’t recommend pruning yet! Wait until all the foliage is gone – makes pruning so very much easier!

If you’re planning to pot-up your new roses this winter rather than plant them in a garden bed, organise pots at least 35-40cms diameter, quality potting mix, seaweed, fertilizer and the eco-products for organic rose management (eco-oil, eco-rose/fungicide) so you’ve got everything ready for when your roses arrive. NEVER LET THE ROOTS DRY OUT – leave them in a bucket of water rather than in the packaging we send them in and plant as soon as possible.

Q. Why did the fish blush? A. Because it saw the ocean’s bottom!

MY FAVOURITE RED ROSES …

I am seriously biased and LOVE red roses – especially when they’re fragrant! Add one of these beauties to your winter order …

Mr. Lincoln

Tatjana (See the white stripe on the petal!)

Kardinal

and you’ll save lots of $$$’s because these favourites of mine will very soon become your favourites too because they continually produce buckets of flowers suitable for vases inside your home!

Q. Why are A’s like flowers? A. Because bees come after them … have a giggle! GRA

View this email in your browser

ROSE RAMBLER 30.05.2019 …

ROSE RAMBLER 30TH MAY, 2019 – Hello dear Rose Friends as excitement builds here at Silkies Rose Farm in anticipation of a great bare-rooted rose season when these heel-in beds will be filled with supreme quality roses once the plants have been graded, labelled and sorted.

GRA’S GARBLE …

GARDEN ACTIVITY AT THE BEGINNING OF WINTER

If your garden hasn’t had a new layer of mulch for a while, there’s still plenty of time to place a layer over the garden beds so soil temperature stays a bit warmer for longer. NOTE: all the deciduous trees are providing mulch NOW so please do not put those leaves in your waste bin – use them around your garden or if you find them untidy, take them to someone who will use them. You’re more than welcome to bring them here!

Recent rain means the soil is moist so start preparing holes ready for bare-rooted roses … using a garden fork you’ll be less likely to slice the worms who are breeding NOW, lift soil into a wheelbarrow to create a hole approximately 50 x 50 cms. To this soil, blend a few decent shovels full of compost/well-rotted manure and once you’ve forked holes into the base and side wall of the hole, (if your soil is heavy clay, apply gypsum at this point), return all the soil to the hole and water over with seaweed solution and a light straw or leaves mulch over the top. Yes, there will be a mound – it will settle with fortnightly applications of seaweed solution.

Remove spent rose blooms – they’re puff-balls of mould and don’t look so great so removing them will make the plants look neat. We don’t recommend pruning yet! Wait until all the foliage is gone – makes pruning so very much easier!

If you’re planning to pot-up your new roses this winter rather than plant them in a garden bed, organise pots at least 35-40cms diameter, quality potting mix, seaweed, fertilizer and the eco-products for organic rose management (eco-oil, eco-rose/fungicide) so you’ve got everything ready for when your roses arrive. NEVER LET THE ROOTS DRY OUT – leave them in a bucket of water rather than in the packaging we send them in and plant as soon as possible.

Q. Why did the fish blush? A. Because it saw the ocean’s bottom!

MY FAVOURITE RED ROSES …

I am seriously biased and LOVE red roses – especially when they’re fragrant! Add one of these beauties to your winter order …

Mr. Lincoln

Tatjana (See the white stripe on the petal!)

Kardinal

and you’ll save lots of $$$’s because these favourites of mine will very soon become your favourites too because they continually produce buckets of flowers suitable for vases inside your home!

Q. Why are A’s like flowers? A. Because bees come after them … have a giggle! GRA

In closing … a picture of our Supervisor, Guard Dog Supreme, toy poodle MOOI perched high up on top of the mound of eucy-mulch which we were barrowing around the gardens for paths … no doubt about it, there’s happiness when you’re working in your garden so rug up and pull some weeds or trim spent roses – you’ll feel great when you come back into your warm house … enjoy the winter months ahead!!

Until next week, we wish you happiness in your garden …
The team at Silkies Rose Farm,

In closing … a picture of our Supervisor, Guard Dog Supreme, toy poodle MOOI perched high up on top of the mound of eucy-mulch which we were barrowing around the gardens for paths … no doubt about it, there’s happiness when you’re working in your garden so rug up and pull some weeds or trim spent roses – you’ll feel great when you come back into your warm house … enjoy the winter months ahead!!

Until next week, we wish you happiness in your garden …
The team at Silkies Rose Farm,

In closing … a picture of our Supervisor, Guard Dog Supreme, toy poodle MOOI perched high up on top of the mound of eucy-mulch which we were barrowing around the gardens for paths … no doubt about it, there’s happiness when you’re working in your garden so rug up and pull some weeds or trim spent roses – you’ll feel great when you come back into your warm house … enjoy the winter months ahead!!

Until next week, we wish you happiness in your garden …
The team at Silkies Rose Farm,

Rose Rambler 9.5.2019

ROSE RAMBLER 9th MAY, 2018 …
Hello dear rose friends as we celebrate with you – the rain finally arrived just when you thought it might NEVER rain again! We hope the rain continues so that farmers can sow their crops – the soil was parched this past summer and we know feeding stock became financially unviable for many … may that all change now!

I read this yesterday and I think we can all action this statement by Peter Guber:

“The great majority of that which gives you angst never happens,
so you must evict it. Don’t let it live rent-free in your brain.”

May all you beautiful MUMS, GRANDMOTHERS and GREAT-GRANDMOTHERS enjoy special treats from your loved ones this Mother’s Day … remember I told you this when you get brekky in bed .

WORRIES ARE LIKE BREADCRUMBS IN THE BED …
THE MORE YOU WRIGGLE, THE MORE THEY SCRATCH!

ROSES IN MAY … it’s that time of year when the roses are ready to have a break – their one means of losing foliage to become hardened up for winter pruning, is to potentially incur yellow leaves with black spot so the foliage cannot photosynthesise. The foliage drops, the plant becomes bare, you prune it, it rests for winter and the next minute, it is sprouting foliage again and then very soon after, it’s flowering!

This is a cycle with a whole lot of ‘stuff’ in between – most awesomely, beautiful flowers pretty consistently for around 7-9 months depending on the climate where you live. All very, very special SO, ENJOY THE LAST BLOOMS BEFORE WINTER!

GRA’S GARBLE …

Perth had significant rainfalls weeks prior to our arrival so we saw great expanses of GREEN when it’s been a long time since we saw that anywhere in our locality despite the patches of green which the kangaroos enjoyed. We loved riding bikes all about the area where we stayed and we also visited rose nurseries – so very, very interesting how different WA is to our eastern states.
WA gardens are mostly grown on straight sand – to get a rose established requires almost daily deep-soaking watering; in hot weather, twice a day is best. We saw roses in nearly every garden on several kilometres of the road where we walked each day … we felt quite at home and could have stayed for weeks but, the Rose Farm will become a very, very busy place in a few short weeks and there are tasks requiring our input … darn!

Here are pics of a few glorious roses which are flowering beautifully despite severe
frost last week:

HOMMAGE A BARBARA

Delbard Couture Collection Shrub Rose which produces one of the most durable flowers of any rose we stock.
Raised by Delbard, France, this extraordinary double rose has intense deep blood-red blooms with the most striking fluted and outward curved petals which age to almost black and then fall cleanly from the bush.

THANKYOU

produces masses of lightly fragrant deep mauve blooms in clusters all over a very healthy, well rounded shrub continually throughout the season – a lovely rose to gift when you want to say a significant “Thank You” to somebody special!
THANK YOU has been dedicated to TRANSPLANT AUSTRALIA.

MOLINEUX

is a David Austin Rose of immense charm because it’s variety of colours in yellow, gold and cream – a beautifully rounded shrub with complimentary mid-green, very health foliage makes this a stand-out rose on a border of the rose garden.

MOLINEUX is particularly happy in a very HOT SPOT in your garden where it will produce masses of blooms continually throughout the flowering season.

We wish you pleasure in your beautiful autumn garden – be sure to rake the leaves and pop them all over your compost heap!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to you all … I’ll be at Melbourne radio 3CR from 7.30 am until 9.15 am this Sunday morning while Diana slumbers on her special day! You will find 3CR at 855 on the AM band – call in with a question … talk to you then … GRA

Best wishes from all of us here at Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane .

Cheers from us all here at SILKIES ROSE FARM, Clonbinane
Within 500 metres of the CLONBINANE INTERCHANGE
on the Hume Freeway, 60 kms north of Melbourne
and open every FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY and MONDAY
9 – 4 PM – PH. 03 5787 1123 …

ROSE RAMBLER – 2ND MAY, 2019

Hello dear rose friends as we recover from a lovely holiday in Perth … we walked along the Canning River, rode bikes for kilometres around the area of Shelley and generally had a beautiful time together along with family and friends! It will only be a couple of weeks before we have this seasons bare-rooted roses arriving at the Rose Farm so perhaps this timely Rose Rambler will incite you to place your winter rose order sooner rather than later as some varieties are already SOLD OUT!

Seriously consider these NEW RELEASE, 2019 beauties…

LOVE SONG

Mauve – Loads of big beautiful blooms can nearly cover this bush of rosiness. The profusion is only matched by the surprising duration of the display. Those lovely lavender old-fashioned flowers just seem to last and last.

Underneath all that beauty is a bushy rounded plant clothed with great rich green leaves. Go ahead…bury your face in those beautiful clusters and burst into song. It’ll be love at first sight.


OLIVIA ROSE AUSTIN

Pink – Regarded by David Austin himself as “a rather special rose; in fact, it is possibly the best rose that we have introduced to date.”

Named for David Austin’s granddaughter, it commences flowering very early in the season and continues well into autumn. Medium to large fully cupped roses of an even mid pink which have a good fruity fragrance and sit on a very healthy, well balanced bush.


MADAME DELBARD

Pink – an absolutely stunning rose, with flowers that hold well in a lovely pale pink shade and a sweet seducing fragrance. Its foliage is very disease resistant and lime in colour which adds to the showpiece that is MADAME DELBARD. Great for pots or in the garden.


RECENT RELEASE FROM 2018

Perhaps you missed out on one of these beauties from last season so treat yourself NOW as many customers who’ve planted these roses are so very, very impressed with their performance and health – VIEW PICTURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THESE GORGEOUS ROSES AT: https://www.rosesalesonline.com.au/

 

The stunning rich pink colour of these double blooms will adorn this free flowering bush from October through to May, coupled with a strong sweet rose perfume. DREAM CHASER is ideal as a cut flower or simply enjoyed in your garden for mass display.
Fragrance: Strong – Height: to 100cm

 


PER-FYOOM PERFUME

This international, multi-award winning bush rose has cupped shape blooms in a beautiful fairy floss pink, and a gloriously intense fragrance of myrrh and apple blossom. With bushy dense healthy growth patterns, it will perform extremely well in most soil and weather conditions. Fragrance: Intense – Height: to 140cm HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!


 

THE LADY GARDENER (David Austin)

The large, full petalled blooms display an attractive rich apricot colour then fading to clotted cream with a strong, delicious tea scent. A repeat flowering rose which is very healthy and has excellent disease resistance. Fragrance: Strong – Height: to 120cm

REINTRODUCING THESE BEAUTIES

Roses come and go – some should never be forgotten and deserve a place in every rose garden for their spectacular qualities and display so we’ve decided to whet your appetite with these beauties …

PERFUME PERFECTION

This lovely floribunda/modern shrub is one of the parents of GRA’S BLUE so we want you to be able to grow this gorgeous rose in your garden too. Easy to understand why GRA’S BLUE won such accolades for fragrance – a gorgeous rose!


SUMMER OF LOVE

Such continual perfection is hard to find in roses – throughout the flowering season this beautiful roses continues to produce glorious single-stemmed blooms which are magnificent in a vase – truly lovely rose!


WARM WISHES

Was one of my Mother’s most favourite rose in her front garden at Kilmore – we planted the garden with her 25 years ago – she was watering pots at the Rose Nursery one day and commented on how much she loved the blooms of WARM WISHES so
I went and slipped one into her garden about 15 years ago! It is a real beauty!!!


GRA’S GARBLE

I’ve enjoyed this past few weeks as I planted hundreds of daffodils – some in tubs and pots, lots in the ground and I cannot wait for the glorious display we’ll see again this spring. In the next few weeks when the soil gets cold, I’ll plant tulips … this year they’ll have special meaning for my dear Mother-in-Law, Miep.

Q. Why was the piano on the front verandah? A. Because he forgot the keys!

My compost heaps are all built and ready to host the plethora of worms who will enjoy my heaps as their breeding ground over the next few months – as long as we don’t get rain, I’ll continue watering for at least one hour once a week with a sprinkler. I tested the compost recently and it’s heating up after I applied a few bales of green lucerne since there were no lawn clippings to add … it’s imperative to have raw materials!

We hope you enjoy trawling through our online store www.rosesalesonline.com.au to select some more beautiful roses to add to your garden this winter … notice how prolifically the roses bloomed despite the fact that we’ve had very little rain? Yes, indeed, roses are most definitely one of the most drought-hardy plants for your garden – they’re extremely water-wise and require just 10 litres of water per rose per week as long as it’s delivered at one watering session!

Enjoy your roses as they start to produce the last beautiful blooms for this flowering season and we’ll talk with you again next week …


Graham, Diana and Mooi from Silkies Rose Farm, Clonbinane