HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 414, 26 November 1991, Page 5

HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

Bea

Barnes

It is said (quote): 'The rain in Spain lays mainly on the plain'. Should the plain in Spain be suffering from any shortage of the commodity I think we in the Waimarino will be more than happy to send them some of ours. However, everything has its brighter side and with the sudden drop in temperature to wintry conditions I haven't seen so much evidence of aphids these last few days. It will only take a day or two of warm sunshine coupled with the damp conditions to produce the humid atmosphere in which these pests thrive and back they will come in their thousands. As soon as the weather fines up and hopefully in the absence of wind it will be as well to give your roses another good spray with a formulated rose spray. This will take care of the aphids and prevent the fungal spores which cause black spot getting a foot in the back door so to speak. Keep an eye on all your flowering shrubs and ornamentals. I noticed that something horrible has chewed the leaves and flowers on the Eriostemen. It should be flowering in profusion now with a mass of starry white flowers but it is definitely spoiled this year. I don't suppose a couple of hailstorms has helped. However, the same spray that you use for your roses will help to clear up any biting or chewing insects on other ornamental shrubs and plants. Providing that the ground is not too waterlogged and that hopefully these wintry storms have passed it will be quite a good time for planting out while the ground is still moist. I have just planted four new roses in my little rose bed. 'Landora' which is a good unfading yellow quite good for picking, 'Grand Nord' a highly fragrant creamy white, 'Epidor' another soft yellow with long stems which make it a good picking rose, and

farther down the bed 'Chateau de Versailles' which is quite a dramatic rose of brilliant red with a silver reverse, and 'Royal William'.a Kordes rose, richly fragrant and deep red. Tucked beneath a rather wayward 'Bloomfield's Abundance' I couldn't resist the little patio rose 'Rosabel' a pretty bright pink. One of the buds has since opened to show a delightful perfectly quartered flower. Patio roses are a smaller version of the larger bush roses (not to be confused with miniature roses) ideal for 1 planters and tubs on verandahs or patios hence their name. They are also very suitable where space is at a premium. Ideally roses should be planted about 3ft apart but if like me you try to get as many as possible into one small bed you can get away with a distance of about 2ft 6ins between them except for the larger stronger growing varieties such as 'Queen Elizabeth'. Of course the more plants you have in the bed the more goodness they take from the soil so it is important that you feed them. A good top dressing of well-dried-horse manure spread evenly over the surface of the bed will help to boost the food supply as the rain will gently wash the nutrients down into the soil. A few weeks after planting, a handful or two of balanced rose food around the base of each plant (not too close to the stem) will make up any deficiences, Just a word about the 'Old Fashioned' roses which deservedly are gaining in popularity. You must give them plenty of space. They come in varying sizes of course but most of them grow into quite large bushes, five or six feet in height and as much across. If you are looking for another flowering shrub not too large in growth the hybrid Philadelphus 'Buckley's Quill' is worth con-sidering.

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