As I take an insane number of pictures, I thought it best to start my own thread, rather than clutter up any other... if anyone is looking in, thank you, and I hope you see something of interest... I aim to keep this going for maybe 5 or 6 weeks... My roses are not for everybody, but I have some unusual ones this year, so let's see how that goes. I do not spray roses and tolerate just about everything that's living here...
Some years are best forgotten, this is one... I'm trying to pretend it never happened.. maybe you are too.. ? I love these lavender Tulips, they've been in flower for exactly a month.. they might be called 'Alibi', but label gone missing.. 'Zephirine Drouhin' [Bourbon 1868] just starting main flush.. growing over a Daphne bush.. 'Desdemona' and 'Anne Boleyn' roses.. ..another shot of 'Anne Boleyn'.. 'Mme. Lauriol de Barny' [Bourbon 1868] ..with 'Kew Gardens'... full flush in about a week I think.. ..more to follow..
@Marlorena With regards to tomato feed.. is there a reason you use tomorite specifically? I had a huge carton initially but I’ve run out and I bought a couple of generic tomato feed (non levington brand) from supermarkets as that’s all they had and the garden centres were still closed then.. the NPK ratios are reasonably similar to Tomorite (6-3-9) except they don’t have any added seaweed extract. What do you think?
..that sounds a nice one Adrian, I've not seen it, but I don't go out, and so I have to get whatever online... beggars can't be choosers at the moment, and some supermarket brands I didn't like too much, too low in nitrogen, that one I would buy though.. but I'm happy with Tomorite, I like the seaweed extract, it makes me feel good about it..
...I use a mix anyway because of my hard tap water, but I prefer a 3-1-2 ratio [not NPK] which translates the opposite way round to your new one, i.e. NPK 9-3-6... I can usually get a NPK 7-3-5 Miracle Gro which is similar but it doesn't last 5 minutes but using this ratio greens up my roses early - it's force feeding really, but that's what we do with potted plants.. then I intersperse with Tomorite seaweed NPK 4-3-8...
...this year I'm having great results using a balanced acid liquid soluble feed too, which keeps the foliage green [my tap water is the hardest in the country and quickly turns foliage chlorotic]...
..just look at this lovely rose just waiting to bloom.. very rounded shape, beautiful leaves, given the above treatment..
..my Vanessa Bell rose shown earlier upthread got the same liquid feeds and the senior rosarian at David Austins said it looked ''superb'' on Instagram, so I was delighted about that..
I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled today... my first bloom on 'Wilhelm'.. an older hybrid musk rose, that I've been wanting to grow for 35 years but oddly never got around to doing so... ...it's small double red/pink with flecks of white, and I can't wait till it grows up some more.. good hips in winter too.. bred by the original Mr Wilhelm Kordes - a famous breeding family in Germany..[they bred Korresia, Lavender Lassie, amongst zillions of others and their roses are famous today, like Austins are]..
..I can understand that Lizzie .. it's not fully open yet so I shall give it a chance and it's supposed to be strongly scented... sometimes I like a Neon flashy arrangement and I think this will be one... I'm looking forward to it opening fully later today...
Posts
I might have shown it before...
...I use a mix anyway because of my hard tap water, but I prefer a 3-1-2 ratio [not NPK] which translates the opposite way round to your new one, i.e. NPK 9-3-6... I can usually get a NPK 7-3-5 Miracle Gro which is similar but it doesn't last 5 minutes but using this ratio greens up my roses early - it's force feeding really, but that's what we do with potted plants.. then I intersperse with Tomorite seaweed NPK 4-3-8...
...this year I'm having great results using a balanced acid liquid soluble feed too, which keeps the foliage green [my tap water is the hardest in the country and quickly turns foliage chlorotic]...
..just look at this lovely rose just waiting to bloom.. very rounded shape, beautiful leaves, given the above treatment..
..my Vanessa Bell rose shown earlier upthread got the same liquid feeds and the senior rosarian at David Austins said it looked ''superb'' on Instagram, so I was delighted about that..
...it's small double red/pink with flecks of white, and I can't wait till it grows up some more.. good hips in winter too.. bred by the original Mr Wilhelm Kordes - a famous breeding family in Germany..[they bred Korresia, Lavender Lassie, amongst zillions of others and their roses are famous today, like Austins are]..