Gosh, it's just about Autumn!

I'd better dust off my rose lists and catalogues and work out orders for this year.

Sometimes I hate making decisions...!

How long is the list for everyone else this year?

Long, I have already but in an order, but not sure wheather I want to buy any for the risk of someone taking them

I have around 10 to buy this winter and around 500 to dig, place in 8"pots and activate the buds. Then in June cultivate around 500 or 600
understocks for November budding.
Rose sales have been rather slow and people are continually asking for honey so may have to concentrate on bees and build them up for next season. I think our local rose growers have been battling this season and some have started growing herbs and natives.
Councils have insisted developers plant dry or low water useage plants so natives are selling well in Sydney. Tea roses require very little water once established but are too large for most Sydney Townhouse developements.
Just thinking out loud and planing for the next season.

My list is long and no place to plant them....bummer

Hi,
I'll probably be after a few more tea roses. I haven't had much luck with cuttings, so I'm just going to get a few each year.
Barbara B

NONE!!!!!

LOL Well, aren't we a stingy lot this year??


I'll admit my garden expansion has slowed down now and I'll be thinking more of filling in the odd gap or replacement.

Wendy, my list is any rose catalouge as they all have one's I want, not need. I think I have it sorted and along comes another one. Some from HMF and others from RHA, they have a lot to answer for.
I know this is a out of left field, does everyone stay with the same nursery or order from the nursery that might have a better reputation than say another.

My preference is rose plants one to two years old, field grown with fine roots. These are dug so the roots are around 10 to 12 inches long when received. They must be virus free, grafted to an understock that is approximately 6 months old when grafted.

The ones I avoid are field grown roses 3 years or more with three or four thick roots cut 5 to 6 inches long and no feeder roots. These take ages to recover from transplanting and should be planted in pots for a further year to encourage feeder roots.

It is impossible for nurseries to have all roses at a perfect age for sending bareroot in winter. Some varieties are slow sellers and others sell out quickly. One would expect to get best age plants from nurseries selling latest releases but be more tolerant when ordering Heritage, species and earlier bush roses.

Order your roses from any good nursery that has the variety wanted and be aware to group them where possible to reduce freight costs.
My order this year is for 15 plants, 6 from one nursery and the other 9 from 4 nurseries. Unfortunatly if one needs them then that's the way it has to be.

Wendy

Love to be able (and afford) to fill the remaining 3 or so acres with heritage roses but firstly we don't have the money and secondly the garden is currently taking just about all of my time and thirdly we cannot afford it.

When thinking about my post above I figured that there must be some mathamatical formula the defines the size limit of ones garden.

something along the line of Area =kX

Where X = $available x time available ; where X is a value in dollar hours (ie $HR).

k is a factor applied to type of garden and is in $HR per square metre.
The value of k is high for high maintenance gardens (ie roses that need spraying and pruning) and lower for lower maintenance gardens.

So the area of ones garden is proportional to the value of kX and reaches its upper limit when one runs out of time and money and when ones partner decides they have had enough and would like to see you in the house occasionally.

If you have $100 to spend and 2 hours per day to put into the garden then X = 200$HRs

If k = 100$HRs /sqmetre (ie high maintenace garden) then you have

Area = (X/k) = 200/100= 2sq metres

Sound reasonable?

Ozeboy wrote:My preference is rose plants one to two years old, field grown with fine roots. These are dug so the roots are around 10 to 12 inches long when received. They must be virus free, grafted to an understock that is approximately 6 months old when grafted.

The ones I avoid are field grown roses 3 years or more with three or four thick roots cut 5 to 6 inches long and no feeder roots. These take ages to recover from transplanting and should be planted in pots for a further year to encourage feeder roots.

This makes sense. I suspect I'll be employing your "plant in pots first" tip...

I've been very disappointed to note this season which of my established roses have RMV. I suppose I should send a letter to the nursery to register my concern.

Sound reasonable = yes
Hired gardener = ?
Lady of house cost = Ziltch, yes I know they are worth more than they receive, so cost is lesser. If it keeps a harmonious house, cost = nothing.
The landlord of said house = whats his folly = cost.

Wendywrote this below,

I've been very disappointed to note this season which of my established roses have RMV. I suppose I should send a letter to the nursery to register my concern
For my 20 cents worth I would phone them, emails do not always get to the owner/managers.
Regards David.

We have discussed viruses specially RMV at length and know it is difficult to control. Reason being understocks like Multiflora very seldom show the typical water mark signs so can trick one into thinking it is virus free. Even when stressed very few leaves or none show the virus signs. It is easier to detect in rose plants grafted onto these infected understocks. I had a 1945 'Peace' which I thought was virus free because it didn't show signs over 2 years. When stressed it did show the signs in the 3rd year. Large nurseries that have operated for a long period appear to have more infected stock. The good news is they very aware and are trying to eradicate the problem so as David mentions let them know if you receive an infected plant. There is no excuse for a nursery that knowingly sells infected plants hopeing the gardener won't recognise it's infected.

Last season I propagated around 500 roses of which three varieties seem to have come from virus infected clones and not understocks.
I would think I have exceptionally clean mother plants but am in the process of replacing all with seed grown Multiflora. The three infected varieties will be discarded even though they are not showing virus at the moment. During hard times when stressed these will show the signs again. I am fortunate to operate a small boutique nursery, specially when it comes to virus control.

I'm not getting any by mailorder this year because I can't afford it and I have a test bed full of seedlings with this year's crop of hips ripening well with another anticipated few hundred seedlings appearing next spring including blotched hulthemia seedlings so I figured I will just sit back and get rid of the ones I don't want anymore, grow my seedlings and enjoy what I have more. If I see some in the local nurseries this winter that I want I'll probably get one or two but that will be about it. I have about 100 roses in pots waiting to go in to the ground too so I need to stop getting new ones and concentrate on getting the ones I have established. I'll be selling off a few roses in winter as well (about 300 roses I reckon) to help me fund my addiction. I think I'm going to get rid of most of my miniatures as well. I'll put up a list of my HT/DA/FL that I'm moving on more towards winter for people to claim for the cost of postage. At this stage it looks like 'The Children's Rose', 'Kardinal' x 2, 'Papageno', I no longer have 'Peace'... I peaced it off a while back, 'Red Intuition', 'Sunny South', unknown yellow, 'Winchester Cathedral', 'Carmagnole', 'Othello', unknown red Austin that I saved but is still poorly... someone might be able to breath some life into it, 'Abraham Darby', 'Happy Anniversay', 'New Iceberg' (will probably just throw this one out as it just hates life), 'First Gold', 'Alicante' (minitaure with HT form that is for some reason the size of an HT, both in flower size and plant size), 'Ebb Tide', 'Jardins de l'Essonne', 'Paul Cezzane' x 2, 'Christopher Marlowe', 'Dainty Bess', 'Golden Emblem', 'Madame Isaac Pereire', 'Old Port', 'Route 66', 'Sympathie', 'Twin'.

Please don't respond to this wanting me to reserve any because I may throw them out instead or change my mind... it's just an interim list.

Sounds like a firesale or a downsizing exercise