A nose for roses

By Lilly O’Gorman
WHEN Raffaelina Scuglia moved to her hectare-plus (two-and-a-half acre) Pakenham property 20 years ago, the first thing she did was surround herself with roses.
“They are the queen of the flowers,” she said.
It took Raffaelina and her husband Michael a few years to cover three quarters of an acre with more than 600 rose bushes.
Native plants were removed and now the vibrant garden is jam-packed with the colourful blooms, with Raffaelina planting more regularly.
Raffaelina names the white iceberg standard rose as a favourite, but says she can’t go past the perfumed varieties such as Mr Lincoln and Blue Moon.
“The perfume of the Blue Moon and the Mr Lincoln is so intoxicating, so strong,” she said.
“If I leave my doors and windows open, the scent comes through the house.”
According to Raffaelina, roses are easy to care for and almost impossible to kill, belonging to the same family as the uncontrollable blackberry weed.
“I don’t water my roses because they are very hardy and rely on the rain,” she said.
“Even last year during the drought they all survived.”
Although the rose bushes are generally low maintenance, when pruning time does come around, getting to each of the 600 bushes is a big job.
“My husband and I tackle the job once a year in winter and it takes quite a few days,” she said.
With geraniums in bloom all year round, the garden is alive with colour even in winter.
The Scuglia’s also grow an impressive array of produce with ‘every vegetable that you can grow’ and a lot of organically grown herbs.
Their fruit trees include mostly stone fruits – plums, cherries, nectarines, peaches, figs, grapes, as well as almonds and chestnuts.
The Scuglias fertilise with composted manure and don’t use pesticide.
“We also plant in season, when there aren’t as many bugs,” she said.
“We don’t use spray. We mightn’t get as much produce as if we sprayed, but the produce is much more nutritious this way,” she said.
The garden draws more than its share of admiration from visitors and Raffaelina is keen to share her pride and joy around, giving cuttings away at every opportunity.
“When family and friends come over they are just amazed at the roses,” she said.