2000 Rose bushes have arrived - Jun 20, 2014
Dear Gardening Friends,
I told you we were potting up fruit trees last week and just when we had finished 2000 bare rooted rose bushes turned from South Australia!
We buy our roses from an Italian family, who has been growing roses for 50 years. Roses just grow better in South Australia and Italians really know how to grow the best plants.
We pot our roses into 200mm pots using the best quality potting mix we can buy. Because we grow them in pots we are able to pot them without cutting off all the roots. This means our roses come away faster. Yes you can buy roses cheaper in the chain stores but these are often one year old roses instead of two and they have had 90% of the roots cut off so they can fit them in those tiny bags. Come and see how thick the stems are on our roses, you won’t find better quality. Prices range from $15 to $29.99 depending on variety.
We have all your favourite perfumed varieties plus new releases. One variety that has caught my eye is called “Grandmas Rose”. I noticed when I was potting this rose up that it had hardly any thorns. This will make the soccer balls and balloons in your family very happy. This rose also has those old fashioned perfumed flowers that made us fall in love with roses in the first place.
We only have 20 of these so we expect them to sell out fast. This is a beautiful pink flowering rose bush that’s perfect for picking. It flowers non stop for 9 months.
If you are planting roses prepare the soil first by digging in Tim’s Cow Manure. Cow Manure conditions the soil, breaks down the clay, adds nutrients to the soil and encourages earth worms. Be careful because cow manure being sold in the chain stores is actually, green waste mixed with some cow manure. When you open the bag you will see that it is black instead of brown and it has no smell. Often they advertise on the bag that it is “composted” cow manure or “Deodorized”. They have deodorized it by taking out the cow manure and replacing it with green waste! This is false advertising and it really makes me cranky. Why do they do this? Cow Manure is expensive to buy while green waste is cheap.
We have had so many people coming in about their Broccoli plants not forming Broccoli. The autumn and winter weather has been so warm the plants are going straight to seed. There is nothing you can do about this except wait until the temperature cools down. The plants will produce smaller heads of broccoli later in the season so don’t pull them out. If you are planting Broccoli now look for a variety called Green Dragon. This is more tolerant to warm weather. If you have caterpillars eating your plants dust them with Yates Tomato and Vegetable dust.
This is a great product that kills caterpillars without killing you. You only need to apply it about every 4 weeks.
If you have a Buffalo lawn you will notice that it is turning yellow at this time of the year. Fertiliser won’t work when the weather is this cold so save your money. But it is a good time to look for Kikuyu. This often grows in your Buffalo lawn and it is hard to spot when the lawn is green. You can see it now because it stays greener than Buffalo during winter. Simply dip a paint brush in a Zero and water mixture and paint the runners. If you spray the runners you end up with a massive dead patch so use the paint brush. You can wear a rubber glove to be safe.
I was watching my son’s athletic carnival last week at Campbelltown Sports Stadium. I was almost blinded by this spectacular orange flowering vine spilling over the retaining walls. This tropical vine is called an Orange Trumpet Vine and it flowers all winter and early spring. It grows best in a hot sunny position. It will cover your fence in a couple of seasons. It grows so fast it could try and strangle you on the way home in the car! Better to put this one in the boot. Simon has found some beautiful plants for just $15.99.
Climbing plants just like hedging plants need to be pruned if you want to keep them tidy.
Thank you to all our friends who wished Blake happy birthday last week. A special thanks to the lovely lady who brought in chocolate coated pineapple lollies. Blake is so kind he shared them with the rest of us. Blake was amazed by the response and you really made his day.
Karyn is out in the garden today planting up the last garden for spring. She has special friends who stop and talk to her as they walk down Queen St. We often see Karyn involved in a big conversation solving the world’s problems. We don’t just offer gardening advice here so if have a rant come and see us. Pig is a good listener too.
I have been invited to speak at the New Zealand Nursery Conference next week so you won’t find me in the nursery. Simon, Ryan, Lisa, Ken, Karyn and Yvonne will still be here to help solve all your gardening problems.
Happy Gardening
Tim