SPRING NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2024
POTTED ROSES NOW AVAILABLE
Shop online at Knight’s Roses – we still have many potted roses available for sale from our extensive collection with delivery Australia-wide.
To order roses either contact our office by phone (08) 8523 1311, email retailsales@knightsroses.com.au or visit our website https://knightsroses.com.au and place your order online.
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROSES - A QUICK GUIDE
With so many rose varieties, the world’s favourite flower can be confusing. There are 3 main categories of roses. There are species (wild) roses created by nature, Old Garden Roses and Modern Roses.
The rose has become the flower most hybridized and improved over time. One American database lists over 10,000 names. Wild roses are species found in the northern hemisphere. Old Garden Roses (both climbing and non-climbing) are those groups that were established prior to 1867, when ‘La France’ was seen to be the first of a group of Modern Roses. Well known Old Garden roses include Gallica, Damask, Centifolia, Moss, Alba, China, Tea, Portland, Bourbon and Hybrid Perpetual. Indeed, many rose groups, including Tea Roses and Hybrid Musks, performed better here than in their countries of origin as the hot, dry, low humidity environment ensured reduced fungal problems.
Modern Garden Roses are the predominant roses of today and new releases are launched each year around the world. The main groups are Hybrid Tea (also known as Large-flowered); Floribunda (also known as Cluster-flowered); Polyantha and Shrub roses which are described as David Austin English Shrub Roses; Hybrid Musk, Hybrid Rugosa and other shrub roses. Modern roses also include Ground Cover and landscape roses; Miniature roses and Climbing Roses. The Climbers can be Large-flowered, Cluster-flowered or Miniature.
Whatever garden design you are thinking of roses can deliver the range of colours, scent and disease tolerance required. Many varieties are exceptionally tough, suitable for our climate and are easy to grow. When you have them, they last for many years.
HYBRID TEA - Large flowered Roses
Daniel Morcombe
Remember Me
Just Joey
Kardinal
FLORIBUNDA - Cluster flowered Roses
Always Remember
Firestar
Iceberg
Gold Bunny
SHRUB ROSES
Chippendale
Black Caviar
William Christie
Graham Thomas
SOME THOUGHTS ON GARDEN DESIGN
No other flower is loved as much as the rose. Roses can be placed in just about any landscaping situation and look great in formal, informal, cottage gardens and traditional gardens. What is succeeding for all of us is our ideal climatic conditions to grow roses.
Formal rose garden with English Box hedges
The formal garden is ideal for massed plantings. Orderly garden beds with border plants and shrubs. Roses usually have pride of place in formal gardens, sometimes in an oval or circular bed. For a really formal look, plant low borders such as English Box (Buxus), Dwarf Nandina or cottage perennials like Erigeron ‘Seaside Daisy’, Stachys ‘Lambs Ears’ or lovely white Alyssum Carpet. The right height for a border is all about the scale compared to the rest of the garden. Keep it simple. In garden design we really try to avoid straight lines.
Border with roses and perennials
Harmonise the colours. Pinks go very well with mauve and blue with a touch of white and can be complemented by grey and silver foliage plants. Shrubs and trees that have a neat, classic shape are best for a formal garden. Don’t fail to prune any of these if they start to dominate where they shouldn’t. Order, grace and proportion are the important elements.
For small areas such as patios, consider growing roses in pots – but remember they need regular watering and feeding. The containers can be highly decorative, glazed terracotta pots, wooden tubs or concrete urns. Choose two or three or more attractive pots and group them in one area where they look like a patio garden on their own. A sculpture should be in a position where it adds impact to the scene.
The charm of a rockery lies in the pleasing combination of different shaped rocks with an attractive blend of plants – this is where landscape and ground cover roses can look amazing. When building a rockery for plants, it needs to be well drained and filled with top quality, weed-free soil, then select ground cover roses to give colour for many months of the year, such as the well-known Flower Carpet collection.
Showing Cottage Garden elements
The next style is a Cottage Garden. More or less, they have always been in fashion, can look very beautiful and offer great scope to the enthusiastic gardener who can make a great cottage garden on a tiny plot or large space. Cottage gardens came from humble beginnings. In bygone years these plots had vegetables, fruit trees, herbs and plants grown from cuttings and seeds, often brightened by roses, lilies, hollyhocks, foxgloves, lavender and forget-me-nots providing beauty with usefulness, all grown together. The plants were trained to be eye-catching – roses were trained around verandahs and along fences to appreciate the scent in the air. The cottage garden is not rigid, it’s a manner of gardening flattering to a modern house as it is to an old one.
ROSE GROWING ADVICE FOR SPRING
Fertilising Your Roses in Early Spring
It’s time to feed all your roses with an organic-based fertiliser. Fertiliser is best applied twice a year, in early September and February. Four times per year in sandy soils. We recommend Neutrog ‘Sudden Impact for Roses’ be applied when the young shoots are around 2cms in length. Application prior to forecast rain is helpful, as this will take the fertiliser to the root zone as it soaks in. Otherwise, water the pellets in after application. Sudden Impact for Roses in its pelletised form will break down over next 2 to 3 months and, slowly but continuously, feed the plants.
It is important to note that the higher Potassium and other trace elements in Sudden Impact for Roses is designed to increase resistance to fungal diseases and improve flowering. If plants are not performing well, supplementary applications of Neutrog Seamungus and GoGo Juice should boost the plant back into strong growth or try the latest updated product ‘POPUL8’ containing a wide diversity of bacteria and fungi to enhance plant growth.
Watering
Water your rose bushes deeply. Generally, watering will not be required until October. The exceptions are newly planted and potted roses which may require regular watering commencing September. These should not be allowed to “dryout”.
Irrigation systems should be checked in early September to ensure they are working effectively and fix any leaks or problems.
Young, newly planted roses will benefit from alternate, fortnightly applications of Liquid Seamungus and GoGo Juice as part of their watering regime.
Mulch is essential
It is recommended that you top up your mulch now, rather than wait for the hot weather. This needs to be completed in early spring to ensure new growth is not damaged. Currently most soils are still moist and mulching will keep that moisture in the soil.
A generous layer of mulch will help conserve water and prevent the soil and plants drying out rapidly, it cools the surface, breaks down to feed the root zone, enables good microbial activity in the soil and also helps to smother weeds.
Neutrog’s ‘Whoflungdung’ is an excellent mulch recommended by the Rose Society. It’s a certified organic mulch which is biologically activated, nutrient rich and weed free. It comes in 20kg compressed bales and can be easily spread. Spread a layer about 5cm in depth and water in to reduce odour and settle it down.
Removing Spent Flowers
To encourage repeat flowering, remove dead blooms. Generally, remove the old bloom and a portion of stem down to the second five-leaflet leaf. Occasionally, some ‘blind’ spring shoots stop growing and don’t produce flowers and these can be trimmed to encourage a new shoot. A non-performing rose bush is a sign that it is lacking fertiliser or may be diseased.
Pests and Diseases
Unfortunately, pests and diseases can frustrate rose growers who want clean, healthy bushes. There are now many natural remedies for pests. These include the presence of predatory wasps to control aphids and bacterial laden sprays such as ‘Success’ or ‘Dipel’ to control both bad insects and grubs. Some initial outbreaks of aphids can be severe and these should be washed off or sprayed with a natural product, such as Yates ‘Nature’s Way Natrasoap Pest Spray’. Pest Oils can also be used to control insects and will also assist in fungal treatment.
Fungal issues, if left untreated, can severely impede the performance of rose plants. Prevention is better than acure and applications of preventative fungal sprays a fortnight apart in early spring will certainly stop major outbreaks of Mildew and Black Spot. Natural oil sprays, such as Eco Oil, and milk spray (1-part full cream milk to 10 parts water) are good “gentle on the environment”, preventative sprays. Mancozeb or Triforine sprays offer chemical treatments which have proven very effective. If a major outbreak occurs, regular fungal spray treatments will be necessary to get these diseases under control.
To contact Knight’s Roses – phone +61 8 85231311 or visit our website www.knightsroses.com.au