By Rebecca Skilton
In their home country of Italy, the land was a tool to grow food. Now based in the outskirts of Pakenham, Michael and Raffaelina Scuglia have transformed their two and a half acres of ex-farming land into a personal sanctuary where food and beauty can merge as one.
When the Scuglias purchased their land 23 years ago, it had a slightly different appearance than what it holds today. A menagerie of native trees, shrubs and flowers, the garden was contrary to the style of yard Michael and Raffaelina had grown up with in Italy.
“In my family, the only flowers I remember that my mother was very fond of were the carnations, and there were about half a dozen roses and that was it,” Michael explained.
“All the land was concentrated on growing food or something you could eat.”
Nowadays, the Scuglias have shed the low-maintenance native appearance of the garden, their 600 plus roses making it seem as though the property belongs somewhere in the English countryside. However, it was Michael’s time in the much closer to home, Narre Warren South, that the love for roses bloomed.
“Raffaelina was looking after (our cosmetic) shop, and I used to buy the products … I (also) used to work a couple of days at a rose farm called Bundrett’s in Narre Warren South,” Michael explained.
“While I was working there, I created an interest in roses, their different colours (and) different varieties, and I used to take some cuttings home and I started to (plant them). From my cuttings, I planted more cuttings and on, and on, and on, and we’ve ended up with about 600 to 700 roses.”
Driving into the property owned by the Scuglias is something out of fairy tales. Visitors are instantly greeted by manicured green lawns, dotted with garden beds boasting a range of vibrant trees, shrubs and exquisite flowers.
However, it’s the 100 plus roses streaming from the garden’s central piece that is undoubtedly the jewel in the Scuglia crown.
“We’ve got the standard types (of roses) out the front,” Raffaelina explained. “They’re the David Austin’s. We (also) have bush roses and the miniature roses … we have a lot of them in yellows and pinks, they’re everywhere!”
While many people endeavour to grow two or three rose bushes with little success, the Scuglias say they’ve never had trouble, encouraging people not to overthink their gardening techniques.
“Every time I count them, there’s more,” Raffaelina laughed. “Sometimes, I trim them and I drop the cuttings and I go back in a few weeks and they’ve just grown … they’re like a blackberry they just spread!”
“I don’t water them, I don’t spray them, I don’t do anything to them … I can’t water them all or I’d be up for hundreds of dollars (in water bills) so they’ve just grown au natural … They’re very easy (to grow but) people are scared of them.”
While their roses continue to flourish all over their backyard, they haven’t lost their connection to their Italian heritage; Raffaelina’s mother a firm driving force behind the nutritional elements of their garden. Hidden amid the roses are a number of thriving fruit trees, while the back corner of the property conceals a vegetable garden whose amount of produce rivals the number of roses around it.
“(When visiting, Mum) would say; ’you can’t eat that get rid of it! You can’t eat a gumtree!’ She’d come every week with an apple tree, a lemon tree, a plum tree … and then she’d bring the seeds from vegies and she would show us how to grow them,” Raffaelina explained.
“She thought; ‘they’ve got all this land, why in the world are there gum trees?”
With an abundance of roses and produce, neighbours and visitors rarely leave the Scuglias without a token from their garden, Raffaelina and Michael happily sharing their passion with friends and family.
“I give (roses and produce) away to my neighbours,” Raffaelina said. “Our neighbour about six doors down had no colour in his garden. Now he has roses all around his rotunda … He was scared, he said, ‘they’re not going to grow’ and in one year he’s got the most beautiful rose garden around … he thinks it’s great, he wants more!”
BREAKOUT – THREE TIPS
1. Don’t over pamper roses. With over 500 roses, the Scuglias can’t water every single rose. But that’s OK, because Michael believes that if ‘you pamper too much you either have to pamper all along or let it go’. Roses are tough. With the right soil and climate, they will prosper.
2. Pruning is key! Not only does Michael stress that pruning will give your roses a nice shape, but he recommends severely pruning the middle of the rose bush to allow air flow which will work to dry the leaves and prevent foliar diseases.
3. Keep on top of dead wood. Not only is dead wood an unattractive addition to any rose bush, but it also has the ability to spread quickly through your garden. Dead wood can be spotted as it shows no sign of new life and is significantly darker than healthier green stems.
