AUGUST TO-DO LIST
• If you haven’t sprayed with copper and oil, do it now, and remember to spray thoroughly, including underneath the bush. Repeat after two weeks. This is so important that I repeatedly nag about it. • The big spring feed is looming at the end of the month so think about methods of enriching the soil enough to keep the roses blooming happily until Christmas!
Here in New Zealand we often buy roses bred by the great German and English nurseries
and, apart from the great and prolific Sam McGredy who is credited with introducing 270 varieties, we are apt to forget our own very good rose hybridists.
Bob Matthews of Whanganui is well known for producing healthy and beautiful roses. As well as ‘Akaroa’, which I keep raving about, I grow his rose christened ‘NZ Gardener’ to celebrate the 70th birthday of the magazine. It’s a very pretty creamy apricot with a tint of pink and is one of my longest-flowering and healthiest roses. The rich mauve-pink ‘Waimarie’ is a rose he introduced some years ago but it is still a favourite of mine
Last year Mike Athy won an award for ‘Caroline Bay’, judged the most fragrant rose of the year at the Pacific Rose Bowl festival in Hamilton. I haven’t seen it yet but it looks to be an interesting deep purple.
His ‘Hi-Ho Silver’ is a fragrant silvery lilac with a touch of pink in the bud. It’s healthy and repeats well. Mike markets his roses world-wide and keeps on winning prizes. ✤