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See what is new, explore the catalogue and read up on rose care and so much more!

Pre-order your bagged roses now for winter delivery!

Striped roses make an excellent feature plant in the garden with their splashes of colour, streaks and stripes. No two blooms are exactly alike. Plant three to create a great, bold massed display.

Beautiful and mildly fragrant, this eye-catching Hybrid Tea rose has large, classic, spiralled blooms of cherry red and white. As the bloom ages, some of the stripes evolve into pale cream with the vibrant stripes turning a deeper pink. The flowers are produced in clusters and will repeat all season until late autumn. The compact bush grows to 80cm in height and 120cm wide with healthy, matte green foliage and good disease resistance.
This Hybrid Tea rose makes a lasting impression.

Crown Jewels is a beautiful, very fragrant Hybrid Tea reflecting the shape and style of a bygone era. The full, large blooms have a nostalgic old-world charm, borne singly and also in clusters of up to five flowers per stem. The creamy yellow colour is at its best from early summer and into autumn. The free branching bush has frequent new shoots and great growth. A hardy, vigorous plant with glossy healthy foliage growing to 1.5m tall x 1.2m wide.
Crown Jewels is a sport of ‘Augusta Luise’® and creates a great display when planted in a group and paired with ‘Augusta Luise’®.

This highly fragrant, award-winning climbing Hybrid Tea rose produces a large number of classic high pointed blooms (17-25 petals) in a soft pink colour, repeating well throughout the season. It was awarded “Most Fragrant Rose of the Trial’ in the 2018 National Rose Trial Garden of Australia Awards. A climbing sport of the ever popular ‘Avon’, this rose grows over 2 metres tall and is ideal to train onto a trellis or pillar.

Roses are a favourite choice for the garden because they are easy to grow and maintenance is relatively simple. The balmy days, particularly later in autumn, are ideal for producing a magnificent autumn flush of high quality, colourful flowers. Here are a few tips to care for your roses.

Watering
For most of us, it has been a very dry season. Therefore, we must ensure our roses are still well irrigated. While we can reduce the frequency of water applications as day time maximums and evening minimum temperatures reduce, ensure your soil around the roses remains moist. Remember, next spring’s first season’s flush of blooms is being shaped within the rose buds forming on your plant now. These are the little 1mm buds being formed at the junction of leaves and stems.
The average March and April rainfalls are generally insufficient to maintain healthy autumn growth. Like summer, it is best to look at the forward weather forecast for the next 7 days. If the weather forecast is for warm to hot and dry conditions, watering roses with a weekly irrigation is recommended. If rain accompanied by lower-than-average temperatures occurs, irrigation may be halted for a period and recommenced when a dry, warm to hot period is forecast.
Generally, irrigation is needed up until the opening seasonal rains in late April – early May. If unsure whether watering is required, scratch down 3 to 5cm below the ground under a rose plant. If dry at this depth, apply water immediately.  Remember, the rose has many roots just below the surface and these can dry out.
Roses in pots also require regular watering during the autumn months.

Mulch
The mulch which was applied in spring or early summer will be breaking down in autumn and its thickness reducing. Providing sufficient mulch was initially applied, adequate cover will remain to reduce evaporation, cool the roots and feed the earth worms and beneficial microbes in the soil during autumn. However, if all mulch has disappeared, a fresh application of Neutrog’s Whoflungdung (a certified organic mulch) in early autumn is recommended. This mulch is biologically activated, nutrient rich and weed free. It comes in compressed bales and can be taken to and easily spread where it’s needed.

Flowering
Autumn roses are usually known for their excellent quality. A light, early autumn trim will ensure a great flush of flowers around 55 days later. This trim is simply removing the spent summer blooms and a portion of the stem down to a healthy pin-head sized bud nestled between the leaf and stem. Stem removed is generally around 15 – 30cm. Importantly, this is a “trim” and not a “prune” and sufficient foliage must remain to avoid exposing the stems to sunburn.
The summer – autumn trim is far more effective if it is completed two or three weeks after an application of Neutrog Sudden Impact for Roses. Don’t be concerned if autumn colours are different to spring colours of the same variety. The on-set of cooler nights and less sunlight through autumn often produces more intense colours in some cultivars.

Fertilising
If an application of fertiliser, such as Neutrog’s Sudden Impact for Roses, was not applied in February, ensure the rose plants receive it in March. Once applied, it should be “watered in”. If possible, apply just before forecast rain, which will assist in ensuring the fertiliser is taken to the root zone. If you can’t rely on rain or a sprinkler system, use Sudden Impact for Roses Liquid Fertiliser applied in fortnightly applications until the end of March. Neutrog Go-Go Juice will certainly provide an additional boost to plants after enduring a long hot dry summer and also “boost” any under-performing plants.

Pests and Diseases
Our autumn seasons are generally warm to hot and dry until the end of April and these are favourable conditions for rose growing. As far as pests and fungal diseases are concerned, usually no preventative or curative remedies are required.  With the change in season to wetter weather, cooler nights and even heavy dews, in late April or early May, some fungal diseases may emerge.  You can choose to do nothing and tolerate some infected foliage or apply a preventative organic oil or fungicide spray mid to late April to ensure plants remain clean well into late autumn and early winter.

New Rose Plantings
Autumn is the best time to commence soil preparation for new rose garden beds, including the removal of underperforming old plants. Where a rose plant is to be removed, commence the process in April or early May by removing the old plant. Endeavour to dig-up as many of the old rose roots as possible. If you can, take a half a barrow of old soil out and replace with soil from elsewhere in the garden which has not grown roses. To prepare the area, apply an application of 10cm of Neutrog’s Whoflungdung Mulch plus Neutrog Seamungus and Go-Go Juice to the area to be planted with the new rose(s). This should be dug into the ground to at least the depth of the spade or even deeper if possible. If the soil is lumpy from a high clay content, an application of gypsum maybe required.

Repeat the application of Go-Go Juice every few weeks until the end of May. Regularly dig over the soil to reduce weed growth and to encourage the earth worms and beneficial microbes to remain active.

New rose beds should be prepared in the same way, except the removal and replacement of soil is not required.  These should be in full sun and free of root competition from trees or shrubs.

Place your Rose Order early
Autumn is also the best time to pre-order new rose cultivars or some of the all-time great roses currently available. View our extensive catalogue online https://knightsroses.com.au listing many favourites and describing the varieties available. Order early to ensure you don’t miss out on the roses you wish to purchase.

With many years in the planning, the World Federation of Rose Societies 19^th World Rose Convention is coming to Adelaide, from 27 October to 3 November, 2022, at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Registration is now open. The event also includes a Rose & Garden EXPO open to the public.

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM & REGISTRATION BROCHURE at the website
www.wrc22.aomevents.com.au