Nice blooms Agartta i don't know what's going on with my plants this year they are very slow to leaf out let alone flowing. Just spent 8hrs removing spider mites of hundreds of seedlings then spraying them man they are tuff to get rid of i sprayed them at around 9am with maverick let them slowly dry in the shade checked them at lunchtime still got live mites sprayed them again with stronger mix i will check in the morning. (mites suck ):×)

Lovely flowers there, I like the darkest one best, looks like velvet. I’m really missing the Aussie weather, it’s so cold here.

Gill

Beautiful, Agartta! Can't wait to see the rest as they open. - J

Thanks all, there's more buds to bloom soon.

Peter - sorry to hear about your mites infestation. I would recommend a product from Bunnings that has helped me keep my plants bug free. Its called EcoOil from Bunnings, its all natural oils, good for plants but the bugs stay far away. I buy the concentrated one and mix my own in a spray bottle. Also, seeweed seasol spray and feed keeps the plants/seedlings strong and pests free.

Sounds like a very interesting product. Kills pest insects while attracting beneficial insects. I wonder what's in it exactly...? "Aussie-grown plant oils". Melaleuca? Eucalyptus? I couldn't see any active ingredient listing on what is visible of the label and on the data sheet, the composition says "secret". Maybe it's a proprietary blend? I wonder if this or something similar is available in the U.S.

Tyler

Tyler - I tried to find whats in the oil but didnt really say on the bottle. It does smell like some a cocktail of plants and herbs. I gues they keep the patent secret.

Thanks for looking Agartta. That's kind of what I figured when I saw the data sheet. I even looked on the company's website. Nothing there, either. Just says "emulsifiable botanical oils". Probably oils that are readily available and we could make the concoction ourselves if we only knew what they were. They wouldn't make money then. Kudos to them, though for figuring it out and doing the research. Their website also says that they only ship within Australia and not overseas so won't find it here at all.

Tyler

Agartta and Tyler i have not used the above oil but i have used the eco neam on and off for years i haven't had any great success with it. The problem i have with oils is every time i sprayed with the oil we have a hot days in the following week and it burns the foliage. The problem i have now is the infestation i have now is the worst i have had the leaves are completely covered in mites and web .the reason they are like it is there was a weather warning about hail 8 wks ago so i covered them with the green shade cloth it worked so well i left it over the seedlings so when the outbreak started i missed them that's why i have gone with Maverick to hit them hard.

Peter - I really want a white DR I cant find anywhere. I havent tried the Neem oil. Try spray Eco Plant oils diluted well with water and keep plants in the shade. I never have my plants in full sun. They love filtered sun. Regarding the mites, if everything else fails, try diluted urine in a spray bottle. I read its best pesticide, sounds discusting but its organic and mites hates it. So far I dont have a problem with mites since the greenhouse.

Agartta i think i have put a dent in them now i just checked them still a few left but not as many i will give your spray ago in a months time .I'm going to give them another spray next week maybe santa will bring me a greenhouse

Agartta, beautiful flowers, I see they're still loving the greenhouse. Keep up the good work. :)

Pete, sorry to here you're having problems with spider mites again. I cannot advise on spray treatments as I've never had to use them. We don't get problems with spider mites as I think our high humidity keeps them away. Low humidity and dryer air seems to be what brings them on + if plants are too crowded together, that increases your chance of spider mite problems. Try to space them out abit more. Another thing you could do is when you water your plants, water the whole plant, leaves and all, every time you water your plants, as mites don't like to be wet all the time.

You also said that your plants have been slow this year in leafing out and flowering. You are not alone, ours started off very slow this year as well, and have just recently gone into full bloom....they would have normally done this by October, so definitely behind this year. Other growers in Brisbane I have talked to have reported the same problem this year. I seems to be an issue for those of us that live on the eastern side of Australia. Good luck with your plants.

So many beautiful bloom, even the pink ones. Love them all :)

Thanks Rachael at the moment it is hard to space them out i have to many

Peter - I don't mind at all, please post more pictures. Nice seedlings you got there. By the way, RareImports is selling the business :-( I sure can't buy it lol

Wow they might start shipping smaller amounts of DR to nsw .in that lot of seedlings i have about 40 DHH & about 20 bang wang plants they are very hard to get rid of the mites because of the curling leaves

Hi Peter, Get on the this web site it is called Sun Kissed Nursery and she from Gura not quite to Townsville I have bought several plants from her and very reasonable in price but she does n ot believe in spraying she uses companion plants she uses mint in pots around her desert roses and some more she explains it in her web site join her website she has some interested articles it might help you with mites.

Thanks sue I'm going to look know.

Sue can you send me the link once again i cannot find it it must be NSW THING all im getting is one i Florida i tried every combination still nothing im very keen to research about companion plants .

Peter, Sorry its on Facebook , Sun Kissed Desert Roses and join the group, owners name is Jade Kelly, she's from Giru (Just south of Townsville)

K thanks will look tomorrow now been on the interweb looking at companion plants very confused i will get on my wife's FB and have a look.

More blooms in my greenhouse today, to show u guys.

Next, very interesting half open blooms, looks promising.

And left the best ..... to last. This one is for ......Peter

Beautiful. That one for Peter is stunning.

Tyler

Hi Tyler, thankyou the last bloom is actually a common pink bloom from an ungrafted plant.

Ahhh... I get it now. Well, maybe Peter will like this "common" pink!

Crappy pink i don't even take pics of my common pinks and I'm so desperate to post pics but i do love the other plants Agartta you are doing a great job.:×)

Wow, that last one really is stunning. I hope it continues like that for you. Very nice.

Are those pieces of charcoal on top of the soil? What is for?

Ctgardenguy - the black rocks you can see on top of pots are lava rocks. These rocks are meant to reminalise the soil promoting nice green leaves and nice blooms. My plants seem to love it. Its also called "lava dust" "rock dust"

Hi Agartta, I just wanted to mention that I saw your Eco-Oil, yesterday at one of the nurseries that I go to and I asked the owner of the nursery about it. She said that it is an excellent product for pests and very effective on spider mites, while gentle on your plants. She said it is the only product that they use with their nursery stock and the best product they have. Highly recommended.

Although we don't tend to get pest problems with our plants, if we ever do - this would be the product I would use.

This nursery has beautiful healthy plants and you will often see ladybirds, lacewing bugs (beneficial insects), native bees (stingless) and their water dragons enjoying the nursery surrounds. Always a good sign of a healthy environment. :)

Yeah it works a treat i counted 3 spider mites yesterday its gone from an infestation to 3 i can see so i sprayed again while spraying i found a caterpillar eating my DR so i gave it a spray instantly it curled up and fell off onto the ground then the ultimate pest control was used my shoe . Im so happy to find something that works an isn't a harsh chemical its smells abit like heat rub you use on sore muscles thanks for the advice:×)

I am so happy to hear that. I will actually tell you how I come across that Eco-Oil. I searched long and long for an organic product that I can use for my fruit trees. Something that I can use on fruits to keep pests away as well as safe to wash off fruit before eatting. Also, it will still let the bees come to polinate my apple trees. When I noticed this oil worked so good, I applied it to my roses as well as DR's with success. My dogs don't mind the smell when I use and I know its safe for them as well. So yes, Im so glad I could recommend something so great for the garden :-)

Happy New Year!!!

and

Happy Gardening!!!

Hi Agartta, funny you should mention fruit trees. This nursery sells a lot of hard to find fruit trees as well as many common plants and also has a good range of indoor plants, but unfortunately no desert roses. It is the indoor plants that I go there for....nice and healthy specimens and at good prices. Much cheaper then Bunnings and a lot healthier.

They also sell 'native bee' homes that you can buy and place in the garden so our native bees have a safe place to live. Our bees are very important for our environment and for pollination of so many plants. I thought I'd show you a photo of the "bee homes" that they sell. Something like this could be made at home by someone that's handy with tools. Bamboo would probably work well and wouldn't they look cute hanging in the garden. :)

And here's a photo of our native bees in case anyone's interested. The bee on the left is our native stingless bee and the bee on the right is a typical honey bee. Big difference in size.

So interesting guys, I do like those bee homes, I have a huge tree that atracts native bees. No problem polinating my fruit trees :-). I do have some rare fruit trees. Also to mention Rachel, like u said your nursery sells plants cheaper than Bunnings. I bought some apple trees from Dewsons nursery, both trees died. I bought 6 dwarf fruit trees mixed apples, peaches, nectarines, blueberries etc. all trees from Bunnings survived. They were coming from a huge supplier called Flemings, very well looked after. So I do like Bunnings as theyr potted plants have fresh soil in, better stronger plants.

Ok, now some of my pretty blooms in my greenhouse.

Some of my chunky babies, they love togetherness.

Chunky Somalense still going strong.

More photos of my plants

Unreal blooms i might stick to bee watching getting more results from that:×)

Peter - You will have awesome plants and blooms with your new

greenhouse :-)

Yeah not wrong my seedlings have hit top gear and going off my large plants are just starting to leaf out now this is the slowest season i have had.very tropical weather here now all my DR are loving it thanks Rachael and Sue for sending the tropics down the coast .:×)

I tgood that you have been having rain at the moment we having extreme heat and windy watering plants twic.e a day

Agartta, beautiful plants/flowers. Lovely chubby babies too. I would repot into single pots the chubby Somalense ones that are potted together....you will get better growth from them before Winter if you do it now. I really like the pattern/colour of the flower in the third photo. Is it a single or double flower? It appears to have six petals instead of the usual five???

As for 'Bunnings', we have 3 Bunnnings closer to us then the other nurseries we visit. The only time we buy plants from Bunnings is when they are first delivered, otherwise they are left to suffer at the hands of the inexperienced staff. During the drought that put much of Queensland on water restrictions many years ago, a lot of our independent nurseries closed down and never re-opened, meaning that Bunnings did not have as much competition and so we have noticed a rise in prices here in Brisbane. Our independent nurseries that are left have better prices and quality plants for us. :)

Pete, good to hear you have the leaf cutter bee, they are not an aggressive bee and do not sting unless you happen to trod on them. They are a good bee. Bee kind to them. Lol

Also, glad to hear you're enjoying our tropical weather down there. As Sue said we too are suffering through extreme heat here this Summer. The hot, hot weather has sent our plants into fast forward now. We had to repot all our large plants last weekend (while sweating to death) as we noticed that they had completely filled their pots with roots and were running out of space and nutrients and needed to be watered every day. They will cope better now.

Rachel - that bloom is trying to be double but somehow failed lol

Wow Agartta u have moved quickly from what u had last year till now gotta be happy with the results:×)

I REALLY LIKE that first striped bloom, Agartha. Beautiful! Many of mine are arrested and gone winter dormant with flower buds all over their tips. I imagine they'll be blooming when spring warm things up and I am looking forward to it. So cold right now. Ugh, I'm already sick of winter this year.

Agartta, that is a beautiful bloom, I love the dark stripes it has. Give it some time and I am sure it will reward you with proper double flowers. Some flowering fertiliser might help or you may have to just wait for it to stabilise. Either way, single or double, it is a beauty. :)

Such beautiful blooms....enjoy the summer weather....I sure do miss our summer!

This should be the last night to be in the 20's (28 in my town) here :( I do not like this cold weather we have had....I'm about ready to move to Australia or at least Florida Keys.

Really, really pretty Agartta!