Cemetery Roses

Thanks Rosemeadow. I'm really looking forward to meeting everybody down there. It's going to be a real eye opener and i'm looking forward to learning as much as you can teach me. I'm having a few dramas here with these hot, dry NW winds. They're really gusty at times. I have been very busy and haven't been keeping my eye on my roses as much as i normally do. Today i found quite a few broken shoots, particularly with my potted roses. I shifted them late this arvo and tomorrow morning i'm erecting some shade-cloth screens around the ones in the garden to shield them from the wind. I told my wife and she said "Oh no, not your little babies" !!!

Wedge, if you look under each members call sign, it gives you a title as I call it, show Wendy when she is home, it won't take long and she will notice that yours will change to "addict in making" then "addict". Yes they are like babies, Wendy will only have to ask any of the members, Wendy will think you have become this.

I didn't have to grow roses for Wendy to suspect this....she's known for a very, very long time Roseman !!! Honestly tho, i'm already addicted....head over heels !!! Sssshhhhhhh !!!!!!! Everything i do, i tackle with a passion. My ol' dad taught me when i was a kid....do it right...do it once !!!! So it is with growing roses. I got caught unexpectedly when the wife bought this first lot of roses. If i'm going to grow roses, then i want to know how to do it properly from the start and it's folk such as yourself who will hopefully help me to that end.

Hi Wedge. There is a lady that grows rose near Darwin with a lot of success. She was on the ABC gardening show once, it might still be on their web site.

Hi Rosemeadow. I went onto the ABC site and searched but couldn't find anything. While i was in there i found a mountain of topics that i read and as a result, the morning is grinding on and i've got nothing achieved !! It certainly seems a good site for my needs so i've bookmarked it. Another site i've come across is this one...
http://scvrs.homestead.com/index.html
Thanks for the help !!

Wedge, Rosemeadow has been talking about a lady called Jenny Ward. ABC's "Gardening Australia" showed about Jenny Ward growing roses in the tropics on 28/10/2006.

Here's the link to that article on their website. http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1774356.htm

She has been growing hundreds of roses in her garden at Berry Springs, just south of Darwin.

Jenny is also the President of the Darwin and surrounding districts Rose Society.

Here's the link to the Rose Society with contact details. http://www.sa.rose.org.au/Branches.htm

I spoke to her in 2008, she's very friendly and helpful.

Thanks Alee. Nice to hear from you again !! I will most certainly follow those links. I'm hoping to meet up with Rosemeadow in a few weeks time when i visit Roseman. I can't wait and i wish you were coming too !! By the way, Angel Face, although still not well, is hanging in there. I'm starting to realise that roses can be very resiliant. We have been getting strong NW winds here lately that have played havoc with my roses and it forced me to erect a couple of screens around several of my climbers but they are all doing well with flowers everywhere !!

Hi Rosemeadow and Alee. Well guys, i took your advice and tracked down the lady concerned and sent her an email. I have recieved a reply from her and she was very friendly and informative. She gave me a lot advice as to growing roses in hot climates, fertilisers, pests and diseases, flowering times etc etc. A most helpful amount of advice. To all you rose experts on here i offer this one piece of advice...move over, Dave's on the way up !!!

Wedge, I am so pleased you have spoken with Jenny over the internet.
Alee, thanks for giving the right information to making this happen.
I a, looking forwarding to talking roses with you too Wedge.
How much area do you have to grow roses in ?

Hi Rosemeadow. I'll take some phos of my yard and post them in this thread so keep watching this space. I also can't wait to meet up with you and Roseman and talk roses.

Rosemeadow and Wedge, you're welcome. It was a pleasure. I also love to meet the rosarians on this forum. Wedge, make the most of your meeting with Roseman, Rosemeadow, Ozeboy and the rest. I hope someday I'll be able to go Australia and meet you folks.

Hi Rosemeadow. Well, here i am back again with photos as promised. I have a lot planned here for next year, so when i get back from my trip down to see you guys, i'll have to get really busy up here. Ok, i'll start with photo #1. This is our front yard (we have 2 front yards as we are a corner block. The shrub you can see in the middle of the yard is an ixora and it's coming out to make way for a triangular garden that will fit nicely into most of this area with room to walk around all sides.

Photo #1


Photo #2 is a shot taken to the right of photo #1. You can see the edge of a small clump of palms and my new roses behind. I have placed temporary screens around 2 of the climbers due to the strong winds we are having here at the moment. The rest of the shrubs in that garden are going too and more roses planted in their place.

Photo #2


In photo #3 you can see our other front yard. The grass is "Sir Walter". The garden you can see along the front of the house contains an ixora and several hibiscus. The ixora is going and the hibiscus' are being transpanted to the other side of the house. There is also a Sheena's Gold shrub in there and it's going too. They're cows of things as they have very small prickles on the stems that break off in your skin and quickly get infected. I have a hedge 60mtrs long made from these !! You can also see the lattice in the background where i hope to plant 2 more climbers. I'm widening the garden to accomodate more roses.

Photo #3


Photo #4 is a photo showing a garden at the other end of the front yard (photo #3) You can see the pots with our minatures that we have had for some time. They are as hardy as old boots and flower their little heads off for most of the year. The palms behind them are hopefully going (i hate them !!) and more roses are to be planted.

Photo #4


In photo #5 you can see our back yard ...or what's left of it !! I had a bobcat in to shift a 5000 gal. water tank which we gave to our son for his farm and then i built a 3 bay shed. As soon as i get back from my trip, i'm building an awning along the front of the shed and a carport where the car is parked in the photo. I would have it built by now but the steel company i bought the steel off went broke the day after i paid for the steel ($1000) and i had to save up for it again. After i have built it, there will be steel mesh along the 2 sides of the awning/carport where i'm hoping to grow several climbers.

Photo #5


Photo #6 shows the rest of the backyard where i'm open to suggestions. More roses do you think ?? Lol. The bobcat made quite a mess but i'm hope to transplant the grass that i will remove when making the triangular garden at the other end of the yard. As you can see by the grass in my neighbours yard, it's quite dry up here. I water the Sir Walter and fertilise it regularly to keep it thriving.

Photo #6


Photo #7 show's our front gate where i'm hoping to make an archway and grow 2 climbers over it. All areas i have shown are reasonably sheltered from the wind except the northern side that gets a bit this time of the year, hence the temporary screens. All garden recieve at least 5hrs plus of sunshine per day.

Photo #7

Alee wrote:Rosemeadow and Wedge, you're welcome. It was a pleasure. I also love to meet the rosarians on this forum. Wedge, make the most of your meeting with Roseman, Rosemeadow, Ozeboy and the rest. I hope someday I'll be able to go Australia and meet you folks.

Alee, the door is always open here !! Any time my friend...any time !!

Dave, your garden looks great, plenty of scope for roses! Your lawn is wonderfully green isn't it? You must look after it really well. All your plans sound excellent for your future rosebeds and an archway over the front gate will look fantastic!

After having read this topic on Cemetry roses, i decided to detour a little on the way back from my son's farm today. I visited a little cemetry just outside the small township of Mirani in the Pioneer Valley west of Mackay and is about 10km from my home. I thoroughly searched the cemetry but to no avail. Instead, i started reading the many old headstones which gave a positive insight into the early days of the early pioneering families who ventured this far north to try their hand at farming etc. I may not have found my elusive rose but came away feeling the better for my visit.