• Trim long stems to the perfect height for your vase.
• Remove any stems that are past their best in the same way, to encourage repeat flowering.
• Regularly feed with Yates Thrive Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food for many months of fantastic flowers.
There are two lovely new Inca alstroemerias arriving in garden centres this month, including Inca Smile which is a lovely white with a bright yellow throat, and Inca Noble which has a fantastic dark mauve flower.
Collect them in your favourite colours and have a ready supply for your own home or as a gift to give a friend at a moment’s notice.
Spring rosesSpring roses are in full bloom across the country now, so enjoy the colours and scents that they bring to our gardens.
Maximise your chances of good follow-up blooms by keeping your roses healthy. Deadheading spent flowers, applying regular water (at the base of the plants) and fertiliser encourages new growth, and promotes new flower stems and foliage, for repeat blooms well into summer.
Liquid fertilisers are taken up quickly by plants through their foliage and roots as you water. Yates Thrive Roses and Flowers Liquid Plant food is great for roses grown in both pots and gardens. It’s also ideal for promoting flowers on many other plants, so water it onto your potted patio bloomers like impatiens and geraniums and flowering annuals too!
Regular control of fungal diseases using a thorough spray of Yates Rose Gun Advanced keeps diseases like black spot and powdery mildew from weakening and defoliating your roses. Good foliage cover not only looks appealing, but protects the stems from sunburn during hot weather. Yates Rose Gun Advanced also contains insecticides to control sap sucking aphids and chewing caterpillars.
Potted roses are widely available to purchase during spring. A good tip to remember is these are planted just the same as any potted plant, and there’s no need to disturb the roots at planting time. Roses are long lived plants, so soil preparation is important. Dig the area over well and incorporate a handful of Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food into the soil per rose. Water newly- planted roses daily or every other day until their roots establish.
The popularity of Flower Carpet Roses is ever increasing. These versatile and very easy-care roses flower frequently and for a very long time. They repeat flower quickly, with clusters of small blooms, and the bushes are self cleaning, (so there’s little deadheading) putting on a long lasting display in gardens, pots on patios, mass plantings, and in commercial landscapes.
The foliage is glossy dark green and the plants are low, dense and compact. Applying a rose fertiliser high in potassium like Yates Dynamic Lifter Plus Flower Food improves flowering and disease resistance. Flower Carpet roses don’t need fancy pruning, just cut back by one third annually in late winter.
As well as the original pink, there are lots of lovely colours to choose from including: Amber, Apple Blossom, Red, Coral, Gold, White and two-toned Pink Splash. — Courtesy of Yates
