“There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
There has been so much excitement in and around the garden centre, so much so that you may have realized October news is slightly late, apologies! So here goes October and November!
October has been Rose month at Greener Tidings and all our roses are still full in bud. If planted now, in two weeks time you will have an explosion of colour with long lasting flushes up until Christmas.
The most popular roses so far have been:
Tips for planting and caring for Roses
One of the most important aspects of growing roses successfully is the planting thereof as well as positioning.
Roses require sun most of the day, the Floribundas eg, Icebergs will tolerate dappled shade and you would just need to keep an eye out for powdery mildew.
Once you have your position ready, dig the hole at least 40cm x 40cm x 40cm, add a generous amount of compost and a handful of Bonemeal. Be careful not to damage the roots when removing the plant bag, a good idea is to cut the bag from the plant. Once planted, make a deep soil dam around the rose and water well, at least 10L per bush.
Roses love to have cool roots, so mulch at least every 6 months.
Most people tend to think Rose gardens are a lot of work, well they can be if you don’t give them the monthly TLC they need. Follow these simple rose care tips after planting–
Week one – Fertilize with ROSES 8:1:5 or Vigorosa
– Spray with Ludwigs insect spray of Aphids
Koinor is also a fantastic product to use for aphids on roses and it lasts for around 4 months.
Week three- Spray with a good fungicide like Orius or Chronos– this will keep out the black spot and powdery mildew.
Water your roses at least once a week and keep dead-heading old flowers and you will have long lasting colour for 10 months of the year.
Read more about general rose problems
