Ratmale – Ideal climate for Roses – Time we grew it seriously

Frankly I was most surprised that roses grow so well and unlike in Nuwera Eliya that has a climate that is constantly wet, the Roses I have seen growing there have this mildew and is more susceptible to disease.

With the dry heat of the day, in the hot sun, and the cool nights giving the right amount of chill, rose plants seem to thrive, with hardly any care in the world. As the photo shows, just one of my rose bushes, that the caretaker has grown, and I have asked him to plant them everywhere, as I particularly like this shade of pink, and the fragrance is fabulous if not a touch too delicate to a good sniffing nose, which mine is not!

I remember reading about Ispahan in Iran which was famous for its roses, and I actually grew a rose in California called Ispahan which was stunning and once a year gave me a riot of color that completely covered the plant, with no green in sight, and moreover gave a fragrance that was utterly intoxicating.

I even have a rose bush growing inside the house and it does not even get the direct sunlight, I always felt the roses needed. When I left yesterday there were three buds ready to open in about a week, and I don’t know when the plant actually had water.

Then I began to look at other homes in the area and only then did I discover my astonishment that roses are more popular and more common than anthuriams, a traditional favorite to be grown easily in Sri Lanka in most homes, and home gardens,

In fact I have an anthuriam house on the farm in Godagama, and I must bring some pots to Ratmale, but I don’t have confidence in them being kept in the shade and watered frequently.

Observations, observations and as the photos show some types of flowers that were omnipresent last time are hardly detectable this time.

I don’t spend sufficient time in this area to organize a proper planting and maintenance schedule which could see a huge improvement to the exterior attractiveness of the place.

Now what with the elephant traipsing in once a week, and picking on the banana plants around the house, will they just trample the rose bushes or leave them be, with a careful skirt in the dark. They say elephants don’t like rose bushes because they don’t like the thorns! Is that true or a myth?