After the hottest Sydney spring on record, summer started off a bit cooler. After some welcome rain in the last week of November, I looked closely for mildew and black spot fungus. So far, no sign of trouble on that front.
Instead, the Austin roses in my display bed have come under attack from another old foe: spider mites (also known as two-spotted mites). Click here for more on this persistent pest. It takes equal human persistence to rid the plants of mites, and I started this week with Mavrik (about the least toxic insecticide rated to control them). Unfortunately the systemic insecticide I use to control aphids and thrips, Rogor, is no longer of any use. If Mavrik doesn't work I may return to the milk sprays to see if that deters them, or go for heavier miticide treatment. Garden King's Red Spider Miticide does a great job.
My mulched, well fed 'picking' bed is growing beautifully:
From left to right these bushes are: Elina, Kardinal and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. The Dame is still producing some captivating blooms with a lovely moderate fragrance:
And the first huge blooms from Elina, my only Irish rose, are wonderfully formed:
Others showing great promise this month are Kardinal (which has some 23 buds), Radio Times, Heritage, Voodoo, The Squire, Paradise and Monsieur Tillier.
Two new acquisitions have also bloomed their first for me. This is Black Velvet:
And this is Hot Chocolate:
It's hard to photograph Hot Chocolate at its best. The above shot looks too 'orangey'. As it gets older some deep pinks start to blend with the orange, making the colour a much more russet tone:
