As a relatively small cog in the big wheel, we here at Silkie Gardens Rose Nursery will continue to inspire you to get on the bandwagon and make it happen!!!  Very importantly, get your kids enthusiastically involved with you … for their health and your sanity!

A ROSE GIFT … SUITABLE FOR ANY OCCASION …

Almost daily, we get a phone call from customers wanting to know if there is a rose named, for example, “Bob” or “Robert” for say, an uncle who passed away.  More often than not, we unfortunately advise “No, sorry, but there is …..”  Here are some suggestions for when that occasion arises for you:

• MANY HAPPY RETURNS – Obviously a birthday rose!
• REMEMBER ME – Very appreciated when someone passes away.
• THE CHILDREN’S ROSE – Any occasion relative to somebody’s child
• PLAYBOY – Every woman should have one – especially in the garden!
• PLAYGIRL – Every man would love one – not only in the garden!
• MEMOIRE – Special pure white rose for someone special
• MOTHER’S LOVE – Every mother deserves to have this rose
• IN APPRECIATION – When ‘Thank You’ really matters!
• BEST FRIEND – The RSPCA gets the royalty for the sale of this rose
• HAPPY ANNIVERSARY – When they write “No Gifts Please” on the invite!
• JOY OF LIFE – Any occasion really!
• SPIRIT OF PEACE – A very special memorial rose
• SWEET MEMORY – Released for Alzheimer’s Australia
• SCENTIMENTAL – A fragrant reminder of any occasion!
• HEAVEN SCENT – Maybe as remembrance of a new baby in the family
• LOVELY LADY – For a special woman in your life
• FIRST LOVE – Definitely not when they marry for a second time
• WARM WISHES – When a card just doesn’t quite say it all!

A REALLY GREAT READ … “BACK FROM THE BRINK” …
I love to watch “Australian Story” on the ABC and when Peter Andrews was featured last year, I had to know more and so bought his book titled “Back from the Brink” and it is a truly inspiring and enthralling read.  With such a focus on the environment, it has been interesting to read about one man’s experiences in many facets of caring for the earth and his animal husbandry wisdom.  The book is very easy reading!  Peter’s principals can be employed on a small or large scale … certainly very highly recommended reading!!

ROSE CARE SEMINARS

SATURDAY,  30TH JUNE  -  2.00 PM

THURSDAY,  5TH  JULY  -  10.00 AM

MONDAY,  9TH JULY  -  1.30 PM

SUNDAY,  22ND  JULY  -  10.30 AM

Don your winter woolies and spend around an hour and a half with Graham talking about the following:

• Winter rose care and pruning roses – bring your secateurs for a check-up!
• Rose care made easy and the environment in your backyard
• Composting and companion planting with roses
• Cost:  $20.00 per adult

CHILDREN’S  SEMINARS

FRIDAY,  6TH  JULY  10.30 AM

FRIDAY,  13TH  JULY  10.30 AM

Due to popular demand, we are again inviting a limit of 6 children per seminar to come along to Silkie Gardens Rose Nursery and learn about how to have fun in the backyard, make compost, care for chickens, pot some seedlings, prune roses and then pop into the Rose Café and make scones with Chef, Ben.  Mum-to-be, Justine will make a drink for the children to enjoy with their scones!  Cost of the Seminar is $18.00 per child.

Wolf Tools have sponsored the Seminars and all attendees will go in the draw to win a pair of Wolf Secateurs and during June and July, there is a 15% discount on all Wolf Tools (excludes electric tools) purchased at Silkie Gardens Rose Nursery. 

* *  NATRAKELP  * *
AUSTRALIA’S  OWN  AND  BEST  LIQUID  SEAWEED

WINTER    SPECIAL

BUY  1 Litre  BOTTLE
GET 2ND BOTTLE -  ½  PRICE
SAVE  $8.75
OFFER EXPIRES  31ST JULY, 2007

ROSES ARE DROUGHT TOLERANT PLANTS … PLANT ROSES NOW!

THIS WINTER IN THE ROSE GARDEN…
It’s been raining while I’ve been putting this ‘Rose Rambler’ together and there’s a whole lot more rain expected so it’s time to get planning for the bare-rooted planting!!!  Over the past couple of years, we’ve been communicating with the Principal Breeder at Kordes-Roses in Germany (Kordes bred the famous ‘Iceberg’ rose!) and he recently told us that due to the fact that there is a limit on the amount of chemical sprays allowed to be used in Europe, breeders are now compelled to breed extremely disease resistant roses … how great is that for all of us?  And you know, we can now see clear evidence of this fact!  The newest release roses are indeed the most healthy foliaged plants we’ve ever seen in the nursery and it’s time to dispel the myth that “…. but none of the new release roses have a perfume”!  Most definitely not true because you will see from the enclosed brochure, most of the newer roses are, in fact, very highly fragrant – in some cases, they have far more fragrance than lots of the ‘oldies’!

I suggest that you take a wander around your garden and take a note of the rose varieties which you seem to have a constant battle with … either they don’t grow well or they are disease magnets – get rid of them and treat yourself to a few of these new beauties!  I promise you, you won’t be disappointed!!!

If you’re going to remove some old roses (or other shrubs which succumbed in the drought), do it now and remove a couple of good shovels full of soil at the same time.  Refill the space with a good quality compost and mulch over with some lucerne, douse with Natrakelp liquid seaweed and then, in the Winter,  plant a lovely new bare-rooted rose!

WHY VIRUS-TESTED? …
More and more customers are telling us that their ‘Silkie Gardens Roses’ are doing better than their ‘other’ roses!  Our roses are grown on virus-tested understock and this means the health and vigor of the roses is guaranteed.  Although rose virus is not seriously harmful in your garden, it has a debilitating effect and the rose will never be as vigorous as one grown on virus-tested understock.  The most common indication of virus is mottled, bright yellow ragged lines on the otherwise dark green foliage.  If you have a rose with virus, you might wipe your secateurs after pruning that rose – only as a precaution – because the virus is limited to vegetative propagation.  If you don’t like the idea of having a rose with virus in the garden, remove the rose and plant a new, healthy variety!

NEW-LOOK NURSERY …
All the internal gardens and lawn have been removed and the back block has been sold!  We can still accommodate 3,500 roses at any time and our growers hold potted roses all year so we can re-stock the nursery continuously … so much easier for us to manage only now I’ll have to walk the dog further each day or the developing ‘love handles’ might remain a permanent feature!!!  Can you believe that we averaged around 6kms of walking per day when the nursery was so big? 

Call in soon and check out the changes in the nursery and take home a bargain …  throughout May, you can …

BUY ANY 4 POTTED ROSES  & GET 1 FREE

So, get gardening … and know that EVERY bit of ‘green-life’ which you plant now is a step in the direction of cooling our planet … one backyard at a time.  Hope you enjoy browsing through the new Rose List and that we have inspired you to order a few new roses for this Winter!

See you soon … meantime, happy gardening …

Diana, Graham, Wayne & all in the Café! 

Previous Newsletter - SUMMER/AUTUM 2007