That`s dedication for you

Rose shows aren't for the feint hearted. Selecting varieties that are winners, growing healthy, robust plants, cutting the perfect blooms with clean foliage, arranging them artfully and presenting them for judging. Phew, enough to make my nerves bad for a new C grade have-a-goer. Not to mention putting the right rose in the correct category or getting up at dawn to `bench up` on time.

 

 

But this wasn`t just another regional show, this was the BIG ONE. Members from Australia wide were invited to participate in the 2013 Australian Rose Championship. And so they came.

Serious competitors came by plane, train and automobile.

Carefully packing their fragile blooms in foam boxes, eskys and all sorts of containers packed with ice, they travelled with the hope of attaining a Championship ribbon - proof that they are the master of growing and showing the perfect rose!

 

 

Of course the weather went and spoilt all of my carefully grown and groomed roses just in time for me to have nothing to show - 40 degree temps with gale force winds will do that!

So I helped with the show, was a steward for the judging and gnashed my teeth at all my rotten luck.

 

 

Well, there`s always next year, so they tell me. There was one saving grace for the day though -          I won the photo competition!! This is my winner - can you work out how I did it?

 

 

OK, I`ll tell - the rose was submerged in a vase in a pond .Then I chucked a handful of petals on the water. The clouds are a reflection of the sky.

 

 

 

So now I`m pruning, feeding and watering in hopes that I will eventually grow

THE PERFECT ROSE

 

Spring went straight to hell...

Only a matter of six weeks ago, spring had finally arrived after a long but mild winter.The soils were moist and warming, lush green shoots emerging, flowers opening in soft pretty colours. Daily I would wander about marvelling at the perfection of a pansy and watching the magic of wisteria unfold. We didn`t get any rain during winter, just one or two light showers to clean the dust off the leaves - not enough to deeply water. As spring progressed, the rain water tanks levels got lower - still no rain.

And now, a mere 6 weeks later, this is what my garden looks like....

Water is the life force and without it drought overcomes. What little water is left is used to keep the established trees and shrubs alive.

Very smokey from the Blue Mountains fires which have come within a few kms when the fires jumped the Nepean river last week.

We still have another 5 weeks left of spring before summer hits. Gale force winds with temps over  40 degrees has taken it`s toll. My rainwater tanks, all 40,000 litre,s are empty now. We must use tap water which is slow and painful as we are at the end of a very long driveway, past three other acreage properties, so water pressure is low, especially if the neighbours are using their water. 

This is the part of gardening that takes it's toll and unfortunately we cant control the weather, so we will just battle on and try and keep the bones of the garden alive.

Rose Championship woes

Seven days to go and we've had the hottest windiest spring just in time to ruin my prize roses!
Next weekend is the Australian Championship Rose Show - yes, that's right, the best of the best...but

Forty degree temps and gale force winds have taken their toll, burning foliage and scorching unfurling buds. I am sad and frustrated and cranky. All the love and care, pruning, feeding and spraying - just to end up with burnt flowers right when I need them looking their best.

I suppose a week can make a difference and I'll find a rose here and there that might make the grade, but I don't think I'll be winning any major prizes this year.