Spalding area gardener plants rose in memory of Queen Elizabeth II
Gardener Mark Cox shares how he will be honouring the Queen in his latest column
Without doubt the most significant worldwide event that I have lived through has to be the passing of our beloved Queen.
Whatever your thoughts on the monarchy, you have to acknowledge and respect her devotion and love for our little part of the world.
Witnessing the pageantry that has been on display this past few weeks - and that incredible queue that snaked around our capital with people waiting up to 24hours to file past the Queen as she laid in state to pay their respects - has made me want to pay my own personal tribute.
It’s not a big thing but it will be a constant reminder to me and my family of the woman who has been in the background of our lives for so long.
Together we are going to plant a Queen Elizabeth Floribunda rose into our rose garden. This has lovely pink full blooms on long stems.
This variety of rose is much like many others and will happily grow in most places in the garden - as long as it gets at least six hours of sunshine on average a day. Some varieties will tolerate less, as roses on the whole are quite a hardy plant.
Fungus can really damage your roses, so it is good practice to plant your roses in an area where there is a good movement of air. That way you reduce the chance of fungal disease taking hold because the air flowing around the plant will help to keep it fairly dry.
To prevent disease transfer, do not plant a rose where you have had a rose growing before. Luckily for me, as a family, we had decided upon a perfect spot for our new rose. They really like rich, loamy, free draining soils in which to grow in.
I always incorporate Mycorrhizal compound into the planting hole with roses. This special fungal compound works with the rose and helps improve nutrient and moisture uptake through the root system, because of this the rose establishes quicker than if no compound is applied.
With a garden spade I dug a hole to a depth of 45cm (18 inches) deep and to a width of about 30cm (12 inches). The reason for the deep hole is that you want the graft union that is the point in which the rose has been grafted to the rootstock (this union will be obvious when you look at the rose) to be just above the level of the soil.
Into the bottom of the hole add some well-rotted farm yard manure and tease the roots from the rootball before planting.
Once the rose is in position it’s just a simple case of back filling the soil, firming into place and then giving the rose a good watering making sure that the water gets right down to the roots.
At this time of the year - and as it’s a Floribundas rose - I know it will benefit from light pruning. With a sharp pair of secateurs I will cut back any really long growth. Next February, once established is when I will begin pruning again.
As the rose grows I will have to keep an eye out for aphids and other diseases. While aphids will not kill the rose, they can distort the foliage and flower growth. That said it is treatable.
I’ve never met the Queen and I was sadly unable to go to London to join queue but, that said, at least I feel like a have honoured her in my own way in a small part of my garden.