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Such busy times for nurseries. With many new gardeners and the weather limiting availability, demand is such that the most popular varieties sell out within hours of being placed in inventory. Please continue to show the patience you have. Growers of heritage and old garden roses are smaller operations doing this for the love of preservation and the respect of history. It is hoped that the changes we are making this year contribute in some small way to preserve varieties for the future and satisfy a portion of the demand, however small that contribution may be. With the past year showing a resurgence in gardening our ability to maintain inventory has been less than ideal. There is some good news. Our second greenhouse is ready to have benches installed. Installation will be done over the next several months. This will offer 2 ½ times the space of the original greenhouse. It will also free up the existing space in the original greenhouse to start more plants. We start all of our plants from our own mother plants. As part of the expansion we have installed a rainwater collection system. The water is collected off the roof of our new greenhouse. It is providing all of the water for the existing greenhouse presently. This will provide the irrigation water for the new greenhouse with the use of an ebb and flow system. This system has the plant pots sitting in large trays (4'x24' and 4'x32'). The trays receive water from storage tanks dedicated to a particular group of trays. The water enters at the bottom of the trays, rising up around each pot. The level is held at the base of the pot for several minutes. The trays then empty automatically, with the water being filtered and returned to the corresponding supply tank for the next watering cycle. Controls will monitor the pH and conductivity to maintain proper growing parameters. This new system will avoid all overhead watering, which should minimize any foliar disease. This overall improvement will see a significant reduction in our use of the Florida aquifer. Peggy Martin Rose: Also known as the rose that survived hurricane Katrina. This once blooming display powerhouse is always in high demand in the Spring. We have about 45 well started plants. If this is a variety you missed out on in the Spring, or have been having trouble finding I would suggest ordering now for Spring flowering. Phosphorus, How Much Do You Need ?
The University of Florida has many
excellent YouTube videos regarding a variety of plant topics. I
found this video titled “Five Tips on Extra Phosphorus for
Flowering (and Other Myths)” to be very informative. It contains real world
examples of different plant varieties. My take away from
this is that rose growers may have been offered guidance which
resulted in over use. What are your thoughts after viewing this link
?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqEqBeZOjPQ
Don and Jan Rogers A Reverence For Roses Inc www.areverenceforroses.com Investing in the Present to preserve the Past for the Future.
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