It's really quite easy to be negative but hey, Helen Keller was
blind and she lived the adventure of life (*quote above)
when something
dies in your garden, rip it out and see it as an opportunity to plant
something new and maybe better than what was there in the first place.
Have another giggle!
GARDEN OVERHAUL …
I got greedy and used the first rinse water from the washing machine
here at work the tea towels are soaked in Napisan (bleach!) and I
burned the foliage on a few plants in the front gardens. It looked
shocking and depressing so I turned that episode into an opportunity!
We're now replanting the front rose garden with all the newest varieties
of roses. We dug the old roses out (many of them we haven't stocked in
years but I couldn't bear the thought of ripping out good roses!!). The
beds are now mulched very heavily and we'll wait a few weeks and proceed
with replanting. At that time, we'll pull the mulch back at each planting
hole, blend our home-brewed compost with the soil and then plant the new
roses. Very exciting because there are some absolutely fabulous roses
which were released last year and there are some rippers coming through
this year!
The new varieties we're planting will be :
ASHRAM Large bronze-orange, slightly fragrant blooms, free
flowering and disease resistant.
ELLE Classic highly fragrant blooms of soft pink/peach/gold adorn
this healthy medium bush.
AUGUSTA LUISE Wavy petalled apricot/pink, fragrant blooms on a
large healthy shrub rose.
FIONA'S WISH Elegant buds of cherry-red/gold reversed highly
fragrant blooms where one is planted, I'll plant two more to make an
even greater statement! This is a great rose!
SIR DONALD BRADMAN Darkest red, highly fragrant again, I'll
plant two more!!
We'll leave space for some of the Delbard roses we cut some for a
vase from our home garden and wow, they lasted incredibly long and were
very rewarding in the vase!
WERE TAKING A SUMMER HOLIDAY ...
The Café staff are all overdue for holidays and there was
such moaning each time we told people when the Café was closed
for holidays and we stayed open in the Nursery, that we've decided
we're all taking a holiday (this is my excuse and I'm sticking to
it!!!). For the first time in 23 years,
THE NURSERY AND CAFÉ WILL BE CLOSED
FOR ONE WEEK
From: TUESDAY, 13th FEBRUARY, 2007
Re-Opening: WEDNESDAY, 21st FEBRUARY, 2007
From the date the nursery reopens, ie. Wednesday, 21st February
through to Wednesday, 28 th February we are offering you, our special Rose Rambler' subscribers ONE WHOLE WEEK to call
into the nursery to take advantage of this special offer
bring your
coupon and
BUY ANY 1 ROSE AND GET 1 FREE
Yes, it's a crazy offer
and yes, of course, you can buy more than
one rose! It's a crazy time to be in this industry and we want to
reduce our water consumption here at the nursery. Each rose planted in
your garden will require just 10 litres of water per week and it will
flourish. Here at the nursery, that same rose in the pot consumes
approximately 40 litres of water over the whole week!
THIS IS NOT A SALE it's an opportunity for us to
lessen the impact we have on the dwindling water resource of our area
it's part of our commitment to our precious environment!
If you have a spot for a few roses in your garden, take advantage of
this offer and plant the roses NOW
there's no value to either of us
if you buy the rose and then leave it in the pot it MUST be planted
in your garden!!! Our 100% guarantee applies to all roses sold when
they are planted to our recommendations so there is no risk to you!
SUMMER ROSE CARE ...
It's vital that you continue with your regular rose management
program remember that using Natrakelp Liquid Seaweed will give the
plants up to 5 degrees greater heat stress tolerance and that's
extremely important in this hot weather! Continue to add the Eco-oil
and Eco-rose to the liquid seaweed spray/feed applications.
When trimming the roses, leave more foliage and branches on the plant
so that it sort of shades itself where normally we would cut the
length of a long-stemmed rose, we now recommend half that
i.e. about
4 inch or 10cm stems. With reduced soil moisture, some roses may enter
a summer dormancy where the recurrent growth and flowering is slower
and the flowers may be smaller.
Continue with your fertilizing every 8 weeks but now apply half
the rate you would normally apply. Our usual recommendation is around
½ handful per plant; use that between two plants.
PREPARING YOUR NEW GARDEN BEDS ...
Now is a really great time to start getting the beds ready for
Autumn and Winter planting and we know from watching the lifestyle
programs on television how really easy they make this look. You just go
to the local soil supplier and have a truck load of soil' delivered,
you then lay it out over your own soil or lawn, decorate with a bit of
a garden edge around it and whack the plants in the ground! Voila,
instant garden make over. WRONG!!!
Seriously, please don't believe a word of this! Unfortunately, too
many gardeners have succumbed to this lazy gardener' style of
developing their new gardens and the results have been catastrophic!
For long term successful results, the soil should be prepared in the
following way:
a. check that the site of your dream garden is not
being interfered with by overhanging tree branches or the potential
invasion of roots from established trees; that the area has adequate
sunlight (roses need at least FIVE HOURS of sunlight to flourish), make
sure the garden can be easily accessed so that you can enjoy it! Most
importantly, ensure that you can view this new garden from the windows
of your house.
b. lay out the hose (or other flexible cord) in the
approximate area you wish to develop stand back and have a really
good look at this .. is it big enough? Is it maybe too big? Once you've
okayed the layout, you might spray paint the border. Now the fun begins
c. digging the soil over is usually not an option
however, pushing a fork in just to break up the top layer of soil would
be an advantage if possible! Spray or pour a soil wetter over the area
(we use and recommend Eco-Hydrate) and top dress with any of the
following listed in order of preference: Home-made compost which
should smell and look good enough to eat, lucerne, pea straw and animal
manure (all/any type except putrid chicken manure) all these can be
added in layers and newspaper can be used as a weed suppressant under
and between the layers.
d. keep the area moist by whatever means you invent grey water over this area would be ideal! The area should be ready to
plant into within 6 8 weeks
simply pull back the layers and dig the
hole where you intend to plant. There is no need to dig the whole area!
There has been a significant increase in problems associated with
roses being planted into imported soil' usually a blend of sand, a
trace of soil and mushroom compost (a by-product of mushroom growing
which is very alkaline, loaded with chemicals and has very little
nutrient value). When this product is used the plants are generally
oomed so we urge you to create' energetic soil from whatever exists in
your yard and yes, it's the long way around but in the long term,
everything you plant will survive and flourish beautifully!
WHEN THE RAINS COME
and believe me, they will!
We have already heard news reports from different areas where flooding
has occurred after flashes of heavy rain. In our gardens, especially in
areas where there is no mulch, the water will tend to run off because
the soil is very hydrophobic, ie. it's been so dry for so long that the
moisture cannot penetrate.
To prevent problems in your garden, we suggest that you check for
potential drainage problems and apply a soil wetting agent and mulch
all your garden beds even if they haven't yet been planted! Never let
rose plants sit in boggy soil lift them into pots, correct the
drainage of the garden bed and replant the roses when the bed has been
allowed to dry out a little.
Because of the humidity, continue to be diligent with your spray/feed
program there are already brown-rot' (fungus) warnings in the weather
reports. All your plants will be protected with a spray of Eco-oil,
Eco-rose and Natrakelp liquid seaweed if you start to notice an
increase of mildew and black spot, a 7-10 day program will keep fungus
problems under control. Do stay cool' while you endure the rest of
this summer which none of us gardeners will ever forget!!! I love it
that we're in such good company
thank you to each one of you for
doing your part in the preservation of our beautiful country
the land
of "drought and flooding rains".
Hope we see you really soon do try and be here for one of the
Autumn Seminars commencing with Biodynamics on 3rd March
see enclosed
leaflet ..
Regards from all of us at Silkie Gardens Rose
Nursery & Café
Previous Newsletter - SPRING/SUMMER 2006
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