WHAT TO DO IN EARLY AUGUST
- Feed fruit trees now to encourage next year’s fruit with sulphate of potash
- Feed your beech hedging now, we find the organic brand called osmo excellent as it is dust free and will not scorch the foliage
- Plant the seeds of turnips, carrots, swiss chard, kale and spring cabbage now
Choosing roses. Part of the fun (and frustration) is caused by the vast assortment from which you have to choose. Each rose can be placed in one or other of 6 classes and a somewhat bewildering array. Here’s how you can tell them apart. For this week here’s the top three that are typically grown. The most popular class are hybrid tea roses, their flower stems are long and the blooms are shapely. The typical hybrid tea bears blooms which are medium-sized or large, with many petals forming a distinct cone. This group of roses are a flower arrangers dream, often heavily scented. My top 3 from this group would be Warm Wishes, Fragrant Dream & Loving Memory. Next are Floribunda roses which are an unrivalled class of rose for providing a colourful, reliable long lasting display. Flowering in clusters with several blooms opening at one time, which make them the rose to choose for a large bedding display or border. My top three are Trumpeter, Freedom and the Rose of the year for 2012 Moment in Time. Climber and ramblers are roses which if tied to a support can be made to climb. Ramblers have long pliable stems which flower in large trusses of small flowers whereas climbers have stiff stems which bear flowers which are larger. My choices from this group are Dublin Bay, Aloha and Wedding Day.
