Adelaide’s Roses
Episode: SA Waterwise Special – Our Changing Climate
Presenter: Kim Syrus
One group of plants that have surprised everyone with their amazing waterwise performance have been the roses. While other plants are wilting, roses have revelled in the heat throwing up bloom after bloom and colouring even the most dry and dreary yard. It is amazing how something so beautiful can be so tough.
Drive through any town or down any street and you will see that gardeners in the state of Adelaide have had a long time love affair with the rose. Drifts of Standard Iceberg’s populate front yards from Gawler to Noarlunga while bush roses of every hue create a riot of colour throughout suburban gardens. Climbers, such as Pierre de Ronsard cover pillars and verandahs; there seems to be colour everywhere ever you look. Little wonder Adelaide is Australia’s rose capital.
Roses are even providing our public parks, gardens and streets with bright blooms and leafy growth from spring right through to late autumn.
New innovations and varieties are changing our streetscapes. Roses that need very little care are being planted in median strips along busy roads, covering roundabouts and filling up problem areas. A little water, no spraying and importantly a quick winter prune with snips, shears or hedge trimmer will keep them growing and blooming their best.
Some of the outstanding ‘street performers’ include the strawberry pink ‘Simply Magic’ rose, ideal for the home garden. The ‘White Meidiland’ rose with its old world blooms brimful of petals is a great ground cover along with new variety, ‘Fire Meidiland’, which never seems out of bloom.
Roses are an amazing survivor, the earliest record of cultivated roses date back 5000 years. Closely related to the blackberry, the rose has adapted over the years to many different conditions. No other plant comes in such a variety of growth habits from climbers right through to miniatures.
The traditional hybrid tea has astounded people by producing fantastic cut flowers throughout the heat. Varieties like ‘Fiona’s Wish’ are picture perfect and heavenly scented. ‘The Children’s Rose’ has been perfumed and wonderful while the ‘Sir Donald Bradman’ rose has hit this summer for six!
Adelaide even has its own rose - planted on the northern entrance to Veale Gardens is a wonderful display of the ‘City of Adelaide’ rose, a salmon pink bush variety constantly filled with flower and amazingly robust - what a great ambassador for our city.
Roses are once a week waterers. A mature rose needs the equivalent of one bucket per plant per week; that is about 10 litres. Apply through a dripper, hose or watering can so that the water soaks into the ground and doesn’t wash away. Combined with a good layer of mulch it will keep any plant topped up and blooming happy.
So if you are looking for a plant that is colourful, versatile, fragrant and importantly waterwise, then you can not go past a rose. There is a huge range of colours and styles to choose from, so take a visit your local garden centre or rose specialist, like Corporate Roses at Myponga, to get the best advice on the right rose for your yard.
Presenter: Kim Syrus
One group of plants that have surprised everyone with their amazing waterwise performance have been the roses. While other plants are wilting, roses have revelled in the heat throwing up bloom after bloom and colouring even the most dry and dreary yard. It is amazing how something so beautiful can be so tough.
Drive through any town or down any street and you will see that gardeners in the state of Adelaide have had a long time love affair with the rose. Drifts of Standard Iceberg’s populate front yards from Gawler to Noarlunga while bush roses of every hue create a riot of colour throughout suburban gardens. Climbers, such as Pierre de Ronsard cover pillars and verandahs; there seems to be colour everywhere ever you look. Little wonder Adelaide is Australia’s rose capital.
Roses are even providing our public parks, gardens and streets with bright blooms and leafy growth from spring right through to late autumn.
New innovations and varieties are changing our streetscapes. Roses that need very little care are being planted in median strips along busy roads, covering roundabouts and filling up problem areas. A little water, no spraying and importantly a quick winter prune with snips, shears or hedge trimmer will keep them growing and blooming their best.
Some of the outstanding ‘street performers’ include the strawberry pink ‘Simply Magic’ rose, ideal for the home garden. The ‘White Meidiland’ rose with its old world blooms brimful of petals is a great ground cover along with new variety, ‘Fire Meidiland’, which never seems out of bloom.
Roses are an amazing survivor, the earliest record of cultivated roses date back 5000 years. Closely related to the blackberry, the rose has adapted over the years to many different conditions. No other plant comes in such a variety of growth habits from climbers right through to miniatures.
The traditional hybrid tea has astounded people by producing fantastic cut flowers throughout the heat. Varieties like ‘Fiona’s Wish’ are picture perfect and heavenly scented. ‘The Children’s Rose’ has been perfumed and wonderful while the ‘Sir Donald Bradman’ rose has hit this summer for six!
Adelaide even has its own rose - planted on the northern entrance to Veale Gardens is a wonderful display of the ‘City of Adelaide’ rose, a salmon pink bush variety constantly filled with flower and amazingly robust - what a great ambassador for our city.
Roses are once a week waterers. A mature rose needs the equivalent of one bucket per plant per week; that is about 10 litres. Apply through a dripper, hose or watering can so that the water soaks into the ground and doesn’t wash away. Combined with a good layer of mulch it will keep any plant topped up and blooming happy.
So if you are looking for a plant that is colourful, versatile, fragrant and importantly waterwise, then you can not go past a rose. There is a huge range of colours and styles to choose from, so take a visit your local garden centre or rose specialist, like Corporate Roses at Myponga, to get the best advice on the right rose for your yard.
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