ALL ABOUT GROWING ROSES BY GREENBOURNE NURSERY DANIEL ‘CHOOK’ FOWLER
We spoke with Daniel ‘Chook’ Fowler, a happy employee of Greenbourne Nursery and rose producer about growing roses during this cold season. Pay attention to the process! Greenbourne Nursery is a special place where green fingers are hard at work every single day, pushing seeds into soft soil, checking on leaves, trimming a plant’s green tresses or splicing bits of branches. A lot of work is involved in the process of seed to fully grown plant. For a plant’s beauty to emerge, much attention and care are needed consistently. Kristin and Paul Glessing are two young dynamic owners of this family and locally owned nursery in Wauchope, NSW. They are wild about all things green and strongly committed to their community.
Having supplied greenery in the community for over 47 years, Greenbourne Nursery has built up a rich local tradition and continues to grow in size and reputation every year. Greenbourne Nursery is on the main road opposite the iconic Timbertown. It is warmly supported by many in the community and locals know this is the place to go if they want some plants to brighten up their gardens and living spaces. Daniel ‘Chook’ Fowler is a happy employee of Greenbourne Nursery who has been in the industry for 20 years. He worked with a leading citrus and rose producer in Dural, NSW. He then had an interesting career producing native regeneration species that were custom grown for major works companies. If you are a big fan of roses, Chook is the man you go to
for knowledge and advice about this beautiful plant.
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME … The rose goes beyond being the quintessential flower for Valentine’s Day. When you next come across a rose bush, take a close look at it and see it beyond its label as a love ambassador. It is quite a remarkable plant and flower, and intensely beautiful, especially after you have listened to Chook talk about roses. His enthusiasm and deep love for this plant will help you look at the rose bush in a completely different way. The cold season is the season of the rose. Chook is familiar with cold mornings in the mud, numb fingertips and boots full of potting mix. This is the season of the bare rooted rose. It is at this time that the rose can be transported around, free of earth, ready for potting. Interestingly enough, the rose is a very regular and reliable plant. Its seasonal
regularity is highly comforting for Chook. Roses do not bring him nasty surprises, only cold wet hands, muddy clothes and the joy of seeing beds of potted gold. The bare rooted rose requires many skilled processes as well as endless hours of care and attention. Chook takes us through the long process of creating a rose bush. It requires dedication, patience and hard work.
TWO IN ONE
What many may not know is that high quality rose plants are created from two parts - a rootstock and a scion. The rootstock is the base part of the plant that provides a strong root system and the scion is the variety of rose that is to be grafted to the rootstock. Think of it as glueing two pieces of plant material together to form one.
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