ROSE RAMBLER 1.9.2016

WELCOME TO SPRING 2016

Dear rose friends!
Just in time, the sun is shining and the garden is green, soooooo green.  Camelias and daffodils are flowering – the pansy border so pretty; roses bursting forth.

Spring is such a spectacularly special time for we gardeners – the soil is moist so digging a hole for planting something new is not a chore but a gleeful, happy experience.  Weeding is also not so bad – get it done sooner rather than later though as once the ground is dry, the weeds are way harder to remove!

There are always emails requesting advice … here are a couple of conversations from this past week … hope you learn from this information sharing …

Hi Di – A moment of your time please…I desperately need some advice.  Most of our roses are upside down…drooping.  The bushes seem quite healthy, the flowers are beautiful, but are all facing towards the ground.  I think they’ve got the right amount of water and I use Seasol.  Suggestions please?  Many thanks, Jen from Port

My response:
Hello Jen … I think you’ve been putting way, way too much NITROGEN FERTILIZER on the roses!!!  What have you been using and how frequently have you applied ANY PRODUCT to your plants?  I need to know EVERYTHING so that we can get to the bottom of this!

It is almost certain that with all the heavy rain we’ve had recently, previously applied fertilizer is now being released so apply very light application of low nitrogen, high phosphorous and potassium fertilizer – definitely no animal manures!  Talk soon – Diana

Hi Diana, recently we purchased some David Austin roses from you & have planted them in the past week – they are looking fantastic!  On your website, you have an organic fertiliser product in 25kg bags.  


As we are in Adelaide it wouldn’t be practical to post, so can you please suggest an alternative that we can source locally?  Many thanks, kind regards, Ruth

My response:  (which applies to all of you who are looking for quality fertilizer)… Lots of customers cannot drive to the nursery to collect this complete organic fertilizer … many seem happy with SUDDEN IMPACT FOR ROSES.  Otherwise, go to your trusty local garden centre and see what ‘local’ product might be as good as or perhaps better than that!  I don’t like the smelly fertilizers and recommend an all-purpose type so that you can use it freely around the whole garden.  Also, select a fertilizer which has minerals and trace elements!  Good luck with that and glad your roses are great!  Cheers – Diana

We love to receive emails about your gardening experiences – I do all the typing but believe me, Graham is the brains behind a lot of the responses as he is our ‘plant manager’ and is a font of information about soil, fertilizer, organic spray management, composting, etc. etc. and is always good for a joke too …

GRA’S GARBLE …

Do you remember the days when milk and bread were delivered to your doorstep every day?  Here are a few funny notes which were left in empty bottles for the milkman …

  • Dear milkman:  I’ve just had a baby, please leave another one.
  • When you leave my milk please knock on my bedroom window and wake me because I want you to give me a hand to turn the mattress. 
  • My back door is open.  Please put milk in fridge, get money from cup in drawer and leave change on kitchen table in pence because we want to play bingo tonight.
  • Pease leave no milk today.  When I say today, I mean tomorrow, for I wrote this note yesterday.

The list goes on and on and you would laugh till you cried – these are actual ‘real-life’ stories!  Getting back to roses, I wanted to tell you about our fabulous range of TREE ROSES … I hear you ask?  What are they?  Lots of people refer to STANDARD ROSES as in some countries, they are actually called TREE ROSES … the joys of internet!

Because the rose bush is actually growing on a stem 90cms (3 foot) above the ground, they are very easy to prune and care for … yes, to smell the flowers, you don’t have to bend too far so they’re great for old blokes like me!

Some of the unusual varieties we have are:

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL
Purest white David Austin rose with delicious fragrance.

FIRE-FIGHTER
Exceedingly highly fragrant, darkest red, almost thornless
flowering stems are outstanding features of this lovely rose …

THE CHILDREN’S ROSE
Stunningly fragrant, free-flowering, very robust bush … delightful!

One last joke … Q.  Why does your Dad jump up and down before taking his medicine?  A. Because on the label it said “shake well before using” …


HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the wonderful Dad’s
– we’ll see you at Clonbinane soon …
Graham, Diana, Mooi and Tova

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