Thomas for Roses have closed for business, but were going to keep all their stock plants. Unfortunately their property was one of many hit by a bushfire on Dec 20th 2019; I looked quickly from the road today (not wanting to be a ghoul). From that very limited assessment the house and office look like they were saved, but perhaps a third of the display garden and of the growing area are burnt.
Yes thank you, we're OK, and so is ozoldroser, provided the wind stays calm till the fire is out. But another Heritage Roses member, whose house was saved, had to shoot injured sheep and see lovely old eucalypts burning.
The fire that hit Thomas for Roses was bad enough, but the firestorms tearing through some of Australia's Wilderness areas in the past few weeks have been inconceivable. I'm attaching the temperature readings sent 2 days ago by a machine at Western River on Kangaroo Island. The left-hand figures, reading up from below, are the day and the times. I think the next column is the temperature (degrees Celsius) at the time the information was sent. The next column is the maximum temperature in the previous 10 minutes. I don't know what the other columns are. The machine is still sending but the Bureau of Meteorology isn't certain it's accurate, since it was "considerably damaged." What an understatement. The loss and suffering of wildlife are heartbreaking.
Yes, I believe that is true, he's made comments to that effect on facebook. As to whether it's the whole/remaining catalogue or not is unlikely. His comments seem a bit skewed to Australian Bred and/or things unlikely found in state gardens. I imagine it'll still be a big loss of varieties.
Apparently they had quite a bit of loss when the bushfires went through, so I'd expect some of their old catalogue no longer exists.
Do you know if Ross Roses would be likely to do custom budding, if they had access to the stock plant? Or possibly to arrange to dig anything already budded and sitting in the ground at T4R? I believe they had quite a few plants advanced enough for shipment when they decided to close down.
I believe so yes. I mean he's possibly digging up to send me a plant from his collection if any of the cuttings take (it's a polyantha, given the large multiflora background possibly makes more sense own root). So he seem's willing to assist where he can. Worth reaching out to him to see.
I understand that Andrew has been working for some time building up a massive collection of old roses. In the future, when we want to find an old rose, Ross Roses will be one of the first nurseries to try. As a Western Australian, I will be grateful to have access to these old roses.
Does anyone know if they are taking orders this year? Given the health related issues, would rather avoid bothering them unnecessarily (as I'm sure they get a lot of that already).
Last I heard, they're not doing any budding for next winter. They will sell what they already have, except for their stock plants. Most rose growers destroy unsold stock at the end of a season; Thomases leave them in the ground till they sell. So it's worth asking about what you want.
I hear that Thomas for Roses aren't accepting orders at present for next year, due to ill-health and advancing age. If the nursery is to close, it will be a great loss to heritage roses in Australia; they have a remarkable collection, especially of 1920s-1940s roses. And a lovely display garden.
