Three pruning methods for roses

Pruning roses will not reward you with more flowers nextyear. However, it will control shape and maintain health. Wild (species) roses and hybrid shrub roses need no pruning — just the removal of dead wood.

• Bush types Large-flowered (hybrid tea) and cluster-flowered (floribunda) roses are pruned annually in early spring. Remove all weak growth and reduce remaining strong stems to 15-20cm/6-8in above ground level. Cut to outward-facing buds. Make sure centre of each bush is free from growth: shape bush like a vase.
• ClimbersAllow a framework of permanent stems which are trained to their supports. From these stems side shoots grow, which produce the flowers. To prune, cut back old side shoots to within one or two buds of their base in early spring. Tips of main stems can also be cut back, if becoming too tall. Read the rest of this entry »

A shroud of confusion which few gardening books and journals succeed in penetrating. As a result, many gardeners prune incorrectly or indiscriminately. It is wrong to think that all shrubs need a “good haircut” every year. The truth is, most shrubs do not need any pruning; all you need to do is look over them occasionally and if necessary cut out any dead or dying shoots or branches. Conifers need pruning only when grown as ornamental hedges; ornamental trees do not need pruning at all; most climbers are happier if left alone, and so are most roses — although some, such as bush roses, need severe pruning every year. Read the rest of this entry »

Given a sunny spot and fertile, well-drained soil, most fruits are easy to grow. The greatest problem is damage from birds, which can wreak havoc on ripening crops unless you provide protection. Certain fruits, such as plums, cherries and bush fruits, need defending during the winter, as birds, especially bullfinches will attack and devour overwintering buds.

Bird repellents have a low success rate. Small fruit trees and bushes are better protected by draping them with lightweight nylon or plastic netting. Strawberries should be covered with netting on 45cm/18in high posts. You can safeguard individualfruits by securing paper, muslin or perforated polythene bags or sleeving around them, provided that the tree or crop is not too large. Cardboard collars around the stalks of tree fruits will prevent birds from perching close enough to peck the fruit — again, only feasible on a small scale. Read the rest of this entry »

sheila’s perfume

A cheerful red and cream-yellow two-tone rose that offers beauty, vigour and fragrance. The small to medium-sized flowers are elongated when young, opening wide to display pretty colours. Growth is bushy, upright and fairly dense, with particularly lustrous foliage that is reddish-purple when young

Southern sun

Urn-shaped buds are borne individually or in large clusters and unfold into large, full blooms with attractive blends of gold, orange and red. The medium-high bush is vigorous and extremely floriferous, with slightly arched canes carrying heavy clusters of flowers. Very good for growing in containers and on Standard stems. Read the rest of this entry »

pretoria

This new rose is able to produce multiple new stems, each bearing a long, pointed, cut-flower bud. In early spring, ‘Pretoria’ blooms a good week before most other varieties — a distinct advantage for exhibitors when the season is late. Buds open slowly into a loose wing formation, and are long-lasting, both on the bush and in the vase. The colour is deep red-pink, maturing into an attractive carmine. The fragrance is sweet and distinct. The tall-growing bush is clothed with lush, green leaves. ‘Pretoria’ also grows well in large containers

pink crinolene

This rose admirably combines the old with the new, and is aptly named for the graceful, wide-skirted dresses of yesteryear. Globular-shaped buds are carried on wiry stems and stiff peduncles, both singly and on huge, candelabra-like flowering spikes. As layer after layer of petals unfold, attractive, nostalgia-inducing blooms appear, silver-pink on the reverse of the petals, and glowing, deep pink on the inside, which intensifies in the sun. Read the rest of this entry »

nicolette

This sport is, like sisters ‘Leana’, ‘Lisa’ and ‘Vanessa’, in every respect as good a performer as the mother plant, ‘Esther Geldenhuys’. The colour of ‘Nicolette’ is not easy to describe: a mixture of soft apricot and buff, intensifying during cool weather, and softening in the summer heat. Excellent for cut flowers

oklahoma

A third hybrid that resulted from a cross between ‘Chrysler Imperial’ and ‘Charles Mallerin’. The other two are ‘Papa Meilland’ and ‘Mister Lincoln’. Large round buds open slowly into huge, full, highly perfumed blooms, with 55 petals of a deep velvet-red. ‘Oklahoma’ is a strong-growing, prolific and healthy bush with a well-rounded shape. Read the rest of this entry »

karoo rose

The Karoo: a long, hot, inland stretch of semi-desert? Those who really know the Karoo tell of its rich cultural legacy, interesting plant life, wonderful people — and its heritage of splendid roses. The colour is variously described as ‘a summer sunset in the Karoo mixed with cool, fresh watermelon’ or as ‘crushed strawberry’ — but it is not as simple as that. Buds start as deep orange-red, lighten into a strawberry-red in the shapely half-open stage, and finally pale to the colour of a cool watermelon, after which the petals drop off cleanly, without bleaching and looking unsightly. The bush grows easily and quickly into a well-rounded specimen, clothed with dark- green, tough foliage. Basal shoots as well as side shoots appear constantly, each carrying a cluster of shapely blooms. These not only perform admirably on the bush during the heat of summer, but are also excellent, long-lasting cut flowers for informal arrangements Read the rest of this entry »

Collegiate 110

Named in commemoration of the 110th birthday of the Collegiate Girls’ School in Pietermaritzburg. The clear-yellow, semi-double Floribunda blooms appear in great abundance on a neat, medium-high, rounded bush. They are ideal for borders, edgings, to fill open spaces in front of shrubs and even in tubs and large pots.

courvoisier

Pointed, shapely buds and very fragrant blooms come in clusters or individually on a stem. An abundance of pleasing, buff, straw- yellow flowers often covers the glossy foliage of the vigorous, healthy, well-branched bush.

durban july

The name evokes a pageant of horse racing, fun, colour and fashion, and gives a good idea of the spirit of this new beauty. Clusters of medium-sized, deep- golden buds continuously bedeck the entire bush. As they burst into maturity, they display new apparel of vibrant orange, and eventually scarlet-red. To accelerate the natural repeating ability, old, spent blooms should be removed regularly to make space for new shoots, which start developing below the colourful petal Umbrellas. Read the rest of this entry »

English Bush roses have the upright and formal growth habit of conventional Bushroses, e.g. ‘Peace’ and ‘Queen Elizabeth’. They should be planted in beds or rows and can be mixed with Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses. Their blooms are of the cup, quartered or cabbage shape associated with yesteryear’s roses. Blooms are produced on good stems and can be cut, when fully opened, for arrangements. Petals of several varieties start dropping within a few days, particularly the fragrant varieties.

Winter pruning is carried out as with all other bush roses: thin out completely and leave three, or preferably four, basal stems, cut back to about 60 cm. Read the rest of this entry »

picaninni

Des Wright, past president of the Federation of Rose Societies of S A, and an amateur rose breeder, created this new Miniature rose. The blend was shrewdly composed, and ‘Picaninni’ inherited the super- healthy, glossy foliage and sweet fragrance of ‘Bella Rosa’ with the bright orange-yellow tones of ‘Little Jackie’. The truly miniaturised blooms are of superb exhibition shape. The plant grows vigorously into a fairly substantial bush and is covered with pickable stems

pierine

A perfect Miniature companion for the Hybrid Tea, ‘Esther Geldenhuys’. Urn- shaped, pointed buds open into deep, coral-pink blooms of classic rose shape. These are carried on long stems and make superb little cut flowers for table arrangements. The bushes are very vigorous and dense, growing to about 60 cm high and wide, and always decorated with masses of pickable blooms. Read the rest of this entry »

St John nonacentenary

The bush is hardy, vigorous and healthy, and flowers profusely, in dense clusters at the tip of each firm stem. White, pointed buds unfold slowly into shapely, open blooms, revealing a soft apricot-cream in the centre. At the point where other roses would shed their petals, the blooms of this novelty expand further to the next stage of a quartered centre, and finally the firm petals reflex down-wards, creating the effect of an old-fashioned, immaculate white bustle. This excellent, multipurpose garden rose of medium height will supply an abundance of long-lasting ’spray roses‘ (cluster-flowering roses)

Isidingo

In our search for new climbers that produce Hybrid Tea-shaped, pick- able blooms and that flower more or less continuously from springinto winter, we were most impressed by a novel rose in our trials, bred by Messrs Orard of Lyon in France. The name suggested itself. The tight, full bud is green-yellow with an attractive rosy pink on the edge of each petal. As the bud expands and unfolds into a large bloom of extraordinary exhibition shape, the pink^-intensifies into a luminous coral, contrasting and intermingling with deep gold rising from the centre. Read the rest of this entry »

During the last three centuries, rose breeding has resulted in tens of thousands of new varieties. Not all of these have proved to be extraordinary, but a few have set new standards. Here is a small selection of some of the latest releases.

Even after thorough testing during the ten-year trial period from cross-pollination to release, a breeder cannot be certain as to how good a new rose really is. We now know that ‘Crimson Glory’, bred in 1935, represented a breakthrough in fragrant, velvet-red Hybrid Teas and today, all the popular red Hybrid Tea roses are derived from that variety. ‘Peace’, created in 1937 and released in1945, was another breakthrough in terms of vigour, health and colour. ‘Super Star’ arrived in 1960 as the first vermilion-orange rose.

Although this variety was found to be susceptible to powdery mildew, it became the basis for the creation of a wide range of orange roses. Read the rest of this entry »

The satisfaction of growing your own fruit and vegetables comes in being able to pick and eat them at exactly the right moment. Citrus fruits make very handsome tub plants and if you live in a frost free climate they can be left outside all year round; otherwise give them glass protection over the winter. Some varieties of citrus have variegated foliage.

Containers can give small gardens the extra space they need for growing fruits and vegetables. If edible plants are chosen carefully for their size, cultural needs and appearance, they can bring both decoration and harvest to the patio. Many fruit trees are quite ornamental, especially when in blossom and when they are bearing their fruits. And the more attractive- looking vegetables certainly do not seem out of place on a patio. Most herbs are compact, pretty plants that look quite at home in containers.

Patio Fruits

Many fruit trees can be grown in containers. Wherever possible choose dwarf trees. Varieties are budded or grafted by nurserymen on to special dwarfing rootstocks that keep the trees small and compact. Make sure you check which rootstocks the trees have been grafted on to when buying — ask for ones suitable for container growing. Read the rest of this entry »