Off topic a bit , footy nearly over , back to the garden after this weekend

Much to my dismay , the footy is nearly done and dusted , my team didn't get in the grandfinal , sigh , sigh , but its now time to get back into the garden , i updated the rose garden beds at the start of winter , pulled out old roses and after soil alkalinity problems , i finally got my new roses planted , they are looking okay , but are still only babies , PJP11 has buds , and its only a tiny bush , such a good performing rose , this one , just got to wait now for the rest of the roses to bloom and if i remember how i'll put up some pics ...... in the meantime i'll just look at everyone else's...

Bad luck about the Cats Maree (if my memory serves me right, please excuse me if I got it wrong). The Pies also fell off towards the end. Oh well...
Now's the time we watch and wait as buds form and bushes fill out. It's hard being patient. I've also got so many new babies starting, having overhauled a lot of the backyard. Lots of buds showing. Other things coming up too. Lilies are reaching for the sky, Flanders poppies are beginning (month early), iris about to bloom. I was enjoying watching heaps of butterflies in the sunshine today, pairing off and resting on flowers. Admirals mainly but some beautiful swallowtails too. It's such a great time to be in the garden. Looking forward to your pics, it's fun looking at other people's roses. There's always something new to see and drool over.

Silky , yes your memory is right , Cats are my team , Pies are on a rebuild , like us Cats , good luck for next year , Silky your garden sounds beautiful , Flanders Poppies , love them , clever you , and butterflies . Have got a small garden bed that i can plant some roses in for next year , so will be improving that , do you have any space left n your garden ?

Thank you Maree. My garden has some nice bits but it's a work in progress. Somehow I manage to find more room in the garden Lol. As soon as I finish one little bit I start casting a critical eye and before I know it, something presents itself as a possibility. Plans constantly change, as if the garden itself is suggesting the change - a bit of wildness here, continue the curve there, repeat that colour further down. I drive my self crazy but I love it.
Do yourself a favour Maree and scatter some flanders poppy seeds around where you want them. Easy to harvest seed when they finish, the flowers look fabulous in a vase, but the plants can look messy when they flop over and then die off. They self seed readily, especially on any cultivated soil. I've got them in lots of areas. They look magical when the sun shines in the petals - red silk. Bees get intoxicated I think, often several in each flower.
What roses are you planning in that new bed? Will you be planting anything under/around them?

Mmmn Silky , i have space for three standards , its the narrow bed between the front veranda and the driveway , so it has to be standards , i'm thinking Aoteroa , Barbara Streisand , Jardin de Bagatelle , i've also got a trial Deanne Ross in a pot , so if its good maybe that one , it seems to be a thorny rose so far , no buds yet , Jubilee Celebration too in a standard , i've got a spot for a bush Amazing Grace too , will probably put lavenders in between . What time of the year do you plant the flanders poppies Silky , better try some of those ...

Maree your plan of Aotearoa, Babs and Jardin sounds lovely. Gorgeous colours and the fragrance should be fantastic for anyone passing that way. What a welcome for visitors. Lavenders underneath should set them off beautifully. I"ve just put in a row of Lavenders (Hidcote purple) to edge along a bed down the back. Tiny plants still but very small compact silver plants with very intense blue/purple flower spikes.
One day I may try standards. I've never grown one so am a bit tentative. I'll be asking for your advice when that day comes!
As for poppies, it's probably a bit late but I think you could scatter some around now and have flowers end of spring. Some of my poppies are huge (about 80cm)
and beginning to bloom but got blown over in the wind a bit. I've noticed quite a few new tiny plants as well so they have germinated just recently, so seeds scattered now should be OK.

Maree and Silky, excuse me for budding in, but I just want to tell you both how wonderful your gardens sound. Isn't it lovely to have the Forum to share ideas.
Our code of Football is not over as yet this Sunday is our Grand Final.
Enjoy your Gardening...  

Thanks Dianne on your kind words. Please don't apologise, there's no butting in here, the more the merrier. Yes it's great sharing our garden thoughts, the ideas we get, our successes and our frustrations too at times. Not to mention getting expert advice here as well.

Agreed there Silky , feel free to jump in any time Dianne , this is a friendly forum , and we all have the same goals , roses , and the garden that surrounds them  

Maybe some silly questions - Can you tell me - Do you water by hand, sprinklers, or irrigation? With which ever method you use, do you do it morning or night and do you wet your Rose Bushes. I am interested to know as I am wandering if watering in the morning by hand will cause me to get more or less Fungal Disease. Because I have Cottage Gardens I have a lot of other Perennials in & need to get them watered as well and my Roses with get wet, I have only just started planting the Roses into the Cottage Gardens. I do have a Rose Only Garden as well, so that one is not a problem.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.  

Diane , i water by hand usually first thing in the morning with a long handel wand thingy on the end of the hose , i don't water the roses , just the base and surrounds , i water by hand cause i haven't gotten around to putting in a watering system yet . I think a low sprinkler system would be best , because then the mulch and other plants are getting watered as well .....

Dianne I haven't got a watering system either. I water by hand, like Maree, and water the area around the base of plants, or leave the hose on really low for a few minutes and then move it. Not ideal. Last year I tried a soaker hose where the water droplets ooze through. That was much better so I want to buy more of those and snake them around the plants. Much less wastage.

So Silky, what will you do, will you sit the soaker hose on the mulch & do ants get into them like irrigation (that is way I don't use irrigation pipes & sprinkler heads anymore, got sick of sucking up ants).
We are not really allowed to use soaker hoses here. But we may be able to use weeper hose here but I was told the recycled rubber could be toxic, have you heard anything about that.
Maree, I am going to get one of those long handle wands to water, (can you tell me, do you know which rose head you have on the end of yours?)
Do you have water Tanks & Restrictions in your area?  

Dianne the hose (really a weeper rather than soaker) works well under the mulch. Haven't heard anything about toxicity.

Thanks for the info Silky, Have just ordered a Watering Wand from Forestry Tools, I get as much as I can from them as their prices are great & products top of the range as they supply the Forestry Industry & Orchards etc. It is so good when you get onto a good supplier. So thanks again the wand is going to help me out a lot as I am having trouble watering in my predicament at the moment.

Diane , we have three water tanks , two 3.5 and one 2.00, not enough though , next year i'm going to put a slim line up the side of the house as well , we do have water restrictions , not as bad as they used to be , they were pretty horrid during the drought years , which is still etched in my memory , this year has been fairly wet so far ,which is good , down side is , it has been incredibly windy , gale force winds , i was sure the garden would be destroyed , but so far so good ...

So pleased your garden is holding up Maree, and I hope Silky you are not having too much wind where you are. We desperately need rain, but not this week end as we are filling in some low spots on the lawn (grass more like it). We are still pretty good with our water as we too can't forget the almost 10yrs of drought, worst we have ever had here, we have 3 tanks as well total 10,000 ltrs but as you say not enough. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you see the last of those winds very soon..  

Wind! Well the house is still standing. No major storm damage although a tree next door came down and pulled down our phone line. Thank god we had some major trees removed earlier this year, most of which were on the way out. Cost a fortune though but better than a flattened house I suppose. Today no wind but hail at the moment.

Thanks for sending to us you Melbournites