Yay I won some roses in a competition and my bulbs are finally emerging

During my visit to the Melbourne flower and garden show this year I signed up to receive as many catalogs from plant / flower growers that I could. One supplier was from Silkies Rose Farm in Clonbinane Victoria Australia.  They have regular competitions they promote through their mailing list and I was lucky enough to win one of them. The prize was my choice of any 2 of their roses. Last year I learned how to prune roses for the first time but, until now, have never had any of my own. I chose a David Austin English rose called Munstead Wood (a shrub rose) and a hybrid tea rose called New Kleopatra. The garden bed I planted them in at my home garden in Macedon had previously had hydrophobic soil but I dug lots of mushroom compost through it some time ago and when I tested it today it was all over its fear of water. Also I have noticed that several bulbs have started to pop through the soil. Hopefully when the weather warms I will have lots of flowers.

also 

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!!!   to all those in the southern hemisphere who may be reading this post.

This is the tag on the New Kleopatra hybrid tea rose that I won. It has orange on the underside of its petals and red on the upper.

This is the Munstead wood rose. It is a small growing shrub rose with massive blooms and a strong perfume.

The next 2 pictures are the roses as they are planted and I hope they enjoy their new home. The soil there is looking really fertile now that I've spend some time and money improving it. I am a little worried because the location is not full sun. Hopefully there is enough sun for them to thrive.

These shoot are from some daffodil  (narcissus) bulbs my daughter planted about 2 years ago. Its amazing to see how they have multiplied and seem to be thriving in poor soil. You can see from the clay and moss that drainage in this part of my garden must be quite poor but these dafs have soldiered on nonetheless.

These shoots are nerines. I bought them at the Melbourne flower and garden show from Hancocks bulbs. Not sure what will come of them this year. You can see in the background the dormant top of another of the nerines.  I think they are possibly shooting at the wrong time (not sure why that would happen though).

 

Although not much of a picture this is a tulip bulb. I am crossing my fingers that all the tulip bulbs I planted will flower. I managed to get about 40 bulbs for free from a friend after they finished last season. They looked a little dry so I thought they may not shoot again but I have at least 1 of  them emerging. If only half of them shoot I will be happy.

 

When I received the roses Silkies rose farm also included a retail catalog. For anybody who is interested the roses there are really cheap. I have wholesale plant supplier accounts and the price of the roses from Silkies are basically the same as the wholesale supplier prices. If you are interested their website is

www.rosesalesonline.com.au