Roses with meaning

"Firestar" is an award winning rose. The first rose to represent the CFA.

Firestar Rose- The first in the series.

We fell in love with the first 'Firestar' rose (pictured above) and planted a whole heap on our property in Murray Bridge. It's performs really well and the flowers change colour constantly.

 

"Phoenix" is the second rose in the "Firestar Series"- The official rose of the CFA.

About Phoenix Rose- New 2013

Phoenix Rose is a new release rose for 2013. It follows the first in the series 'Firestar'. Phoenix is a very fragrant shrub rose growing to 140cm. Pink petals meet a yellow orange hue reminiscent of early morning sunrise. Phoenix is a hardy rose that will tolerate Australia's harsh conditions. It is another great symbol  that conveys a sense of solace and quiet beauty, and embodied both a sense of hope and renewal, and the energy of re-generation.

 

Phoenix Rose is in store now!

Proceeds of these two roses go to the CFA. Image via The Age

 

 

 

 

 

 



Grow This:

Pierre de Ronsard is one of the worlds favourite roses. This pretty climbing rose was inducted into the Rose Hall of Fame in 2006. It's a wonderful rose to grow over an archway or to cover a not so pretty fence.

Growing Tip: Plant climbing roses in winter when they are dormant and at their hardiest. Prepare the soil with Richgro Rose Marvel. Use a seaweed solution such as Seagold to help establish the roots of the rose and condition the soil.

Images via Manon 21

To Oz....

We love all things quirky here at Serenity Nursery and these galv boot planters are one of our favourite quirky items in at the moment.

 

Perfect for planting flowering bulbs or little dandy geraniums.

They also remind me of the Tin Mans Boots...Oil Me!!

 



New Release Plant...

Look out in the garden centre for the new range of  Hellebore's. This one pictured here is " Penny's Pink" also look out for "Winter Sunshine" and " Ivory Prince" all @ Serenity Nursery now!

With their domed shaped flowers and soft muted colours, these hellebore's are they perfect way to add elegance to your winter garden. Plant these low growing plants in a shady nook or under tree canopies. Create a magnificent effect by planting them in glazed or earthy pots.

Check out our new pots for inspiration here.

Image via Plants Management Australia

Wake up Maggie

White Magnolias

Hi there, I have had a wee time away from the computer over the last couple of months, so I haven't been posting as much as I would like to. During my time away I managed to travel to Victoria twice, mainly for business but also to have a break from the garden centre and do some sight seeing. I always love exploring Melbourne and I had a chance to visit many remarkable garden centers and I have come back with loads of inspiration. I particulary liked Botanical Creations Plants Plus. The crew there gave us some great ideas for Serenity.

The one thing that always stays in my mind about visiting Melbourne in winter is the magnolia plants I see growing everywhere. I mean it seems every second suburban house has a magnificent flowering magnolia teetering over the front fence. Bright pink, maroon red, white I don't care what colour I love them all. The way the flowers form on bare branches before foliage just adds to the visual drama.

It's just that you rarely see magnolias here in Murray Bridge, mainly for the fact they they thrive in acid soils and our soil is quite alkaline. Of course there are ways to make alkaline soils more acid, mixing in peat and organic matter will help sweeten the soil. A more dramatic way to make alkaline soil more acidic is to add aluminium sulphate or Yates Acetone to your soil. If you want to see the awesome magnoliage blooms for yourself pop into the nursery over the next week or so we have some coming in including one of my favorites called Black Tulip. Oh and how can I forget magnolias have the most divine fragrance..

Hope I can keep my posts more regular and happy gardening!!

Bye for now
Krystal

Picture: White Magnolias at Bay Road Nursery By Krystal James.

Kitchen Garden

Tuscan Kale

I'm always reading gardening magazines, books and blogs and today I found a great Kitchen Garden blog, Suburban Tomato. The author, Liz lives in Melbourne and grows her own to feed the family. It shows the hands on process of garden to plate and there is a whole heap of recipes that are tried and true. The Kale pictured above is one example of what Liz grows. Kale is a fab winter veg that teams well with mashed potatoes and other steamed veggies.

Image here

Sprinkle your garden with colour.

From this...

 To This!

Winter is a great time to plant flower seeds. Try sprinkling a packet of Yates Cottage Garden Mix through your garden. Some of the mixed varieties are self seeding so you will have a bursting flowering garden with little effort.

Image 1 via Yates. Image 2 via ghostmyst.blogspot.com.au

Winter trees in the nursery.

Dad forks the tree bins into our work area to be filled with soil.

Shortly after Toky-lui was taken into the house for a clean up and change of clothes. Spoilt thing!

Incredibly beautiful bare-root weeping mulberry trees are dug into the soil.

  Rain, hail or shine we are always outside working in the nursery. Mum balances her Plants Plus umrella, clip board and a cuppa!

Every year is the same, every winter our bare-root trees arrive and we set out to display all of the new stock. We order our trees several months before from several suppliers and today they arrived. Murphy's law had it that it poured with rain while we unpacked the delivery trucks and set up our trees (infact it just rained all day today). Even our dog Toky-liu chipped in to help. It was otherwise a gloomy day in the garden centre, but it was great to see some folk out to pick up vegy and flower seedlings. It's a great time to plant while the ground is moist.

More trees and roses are arriving soon, so we will be back into it again.

Enjoy the rain. Krystal.

Something Pretty...

Pretty Polly

Tu Tu Mauve

Royal Highness

Just a few of the roses due to arrive in the garden centre very soon.

Have you got your rose order form yet?
Order your roses here for 2012.

 

ChrysantheMUMs

Double dusty pink.

 Mauve pink

Double fluffy white

Our Chrysanthemum plants are so pretty. I photographed these ones in the nursery today. The mauve pink has an amazing form and the ones with

 double petals are just so voluptuous.

I think the traditional chrysanthemum plant is a must gift every Mother's Day.

Potted flowers last longer than a bunch of flowers because once mum has enjoyed them indoors for a while she can then plant them out in the garden.

Fire star Rose

Fire star rose growing in front of Serenity Nursery's sandstone retainer wall.

Fire Star is a very special rose which was produced to remember the victims of the Victorian Black Saturday Fires. The story of fire Star is an unusual one in that most roses are produced from cuttings but this one was produced by seed. The rose is a solid peachy/ Orange fading to a raspberry as the rose ages. A must for all rose lovers and proceeds go the the CFA.



Prince of the Garden

Heleborus (Hellebore) 'Ivory Prince' is an elegant plant for the home garden. They are an easy to grow, vigorous perennial and look fabulous planted en mass under trees. Hellebore's flower through winter offering a flowering solution a shady spot in the garden. They are perfect planted under frangapani trees, when the tree has dropped it's leaves the under planting give an excellent effect. They also look great planted as a border and potted.  Available now at our nursery.

Romantic Climbing Roses

We love the way climbing roses look so romantic over archways. Our favourite climbing rose is Pierre de Ronsard (we named our dog after this rose!!). It has multi-cupped pink and cream large flowers that arch down making it suitable for a archway or trellis.

Climbing Roses available now: Red, white and pink Pierre de Ronsard, Black boy, Peace, Mr. lincoln, Bloomfield courage.

Ask in store about our thornless climbing rose "Splendour".

She's Apples

Apples not just for eating. Bucket loads of crisp, juicy apples to tantalise your taste buds.

It's so easy to grow your own apples.

Come in to see our yummy range of apple trees including;

Golden Delicious

Granny Smith

Jonathan

Lady William

Pink Lady

Red Delicious

Red Fuji

&

Royal Gala

Best Flowering Tree

Pictured: Crepe Myrtle 'Tuscarora'

Crepe Myrtles or Largerstroemia are one of the best flowering trees around. Our Crepe Myrtles are from the Indian Summer range. These quality trees are mildew resistant. The flowers and bark are highly ornamental making them ideal for driveways or single planting.

Winter Warmers

-Village Print Gumboots $39.98

-Lots of trendy food and drink flasks

-Gorgeous New Seasons Scarfes from $10.99
-Beautiful Gift and homewares (at great prices) arriving daily.

See you soon

xx

Incredible Edibles

It's time to plant your winter vegetables. Growing tasty home grown veg tables is easy. Choose a sunny position in your garden. Prepare a patch with lots of organic matter such as cow manure or Plants Plus Groganic. If you don't have space for a vegie patch grow your vegetables in a container. Think outside the square plant in an old wash tub, a recycled foam box or wooden box. Water your seedlings in with a seaweed solution such as Liquid Gold Kelp this will help the plant settle and take root.

What do I plant in winter? Carrots, cabbages, beetroot, cauliflower, broccoli, rhubarb, asparagus, spinach, garlic, potatoes & Tuscan Kale.

Come in and see our exciting range of incredible edibles!!

1st image via Alice Lost in Wonders, 2nd Image Beautiful Simple Things, 3rd Image Crumpled envelope.

Brace yourself for the cold

Isn't she the cutest! Come in store to see our new range of children's umbrellas and gum boots.

We have a range of printed grown-up gumboots to keep the soccer Mums happy too.

Image via wall street journal

Bloom'n Good

I'm excited about Roses! The endless array of colours,

the amazing old world fragrances..and all the frills..

I'm looking forward for them arriving into the nursery this winter.

Image via Strikes Our fancy