Friday 5 July 2013

My roses

I have waited a long time for my roses this year, a very long time, but finally I have roses in my garden! The first flush of flowers is always the best with the most flowers, but all my rosebushes are repeat flowering and will go on producing roses until February next year when I cut them down. Normally it takes around 8-10 weeks from cutting the bushes down in first week of February until the very first flowers appear, and the first big flush usually comes sometime in May. But this year nothing is as usual in my garden and everything is late, many things very late. All the more welcome though, now that the roses finally are here :-)

My garden is still more green than anything else from a distance, you have to go up-close to see the colours dotted here and there - well, with the exception of the masses of red roses on the right side fence of course! At this time of year the garden is closing in and taking on a jungle like feel, you can no longer see the path from one end to the other as the plants are obscuring the view, give it another month and it will really feel like walking inside an overgrown greenhouse. This time of year you can really see how many plants I actually have managed to squeeze into my tiny garden, as most of them are out of the ground – although some of the spring flowering plants have already died down and the space is now taken over by plants in pots.

Here is my rose bed, there are 5 roses here tightly packed together. Last year there were 8 here but I have thrown away an old one and taken out 2 which now are growing in containers instead – making more space for them all.

The red rose is 'Crimson cascade' and this is one of my favourite plants in the garden. It is a climber and I have trained it to the fence.

'Crimson cascade'.

Next to 'Crimson cascade' is 'Freedom', a lovely yellow rose I got 9 years ago at Hampton Court Flower Show.

'Freedom'.

This little trooper is my £1 pot rose from Tesco, I bought it many years ago, can’t really remember when but I think it was in 2002. It flowers prolifically until cut down. No need to throw away your indoor pot roses when they are finished flowering, just put them in the garden and treat them like the rest of your roses!

This is one of my 3 David Austin roses, 'Susan Williams-Ellis', a lovely pure white rose with scent.

The last rose in this bed is 'Mildred Scheel', a smallish bush with huge flowers.

Down at the bottom of my garden is my second David Austin rose, 'Wildeve', with beautiful quartered flowers and a faint scent. It is still quite spindly and small and needs support on each branch, I hope it will be a big and strong bush in years to come.

'Wildeve'

Up on my patio I have the remaining 4 roses in containers, although one of them has no flowers at the moment. This is another pot rose bought in a supermarket many years ago.

And this is 'Rob Roy', rescued from in between Crimson cascade and Freedom in the main rose bed where it didn’t get enough sun and didn’t flower much. Here in the container it gets full sun and seems to do much better.

'Rob Roy'

The last container is at my seating area, because it is my absolute favourite rose, David Austin rose 'Scepter'd Isle', with a fantastic scent and lovely cupped flowers.

'Scepter'd Isle'.

'Scepter'd Isle'.

I am reorganising the flower bed on the left side sometime this summer or autumn, several plants are going out, leaving room for some new. There might be a new rose there this time next year, I have several on my wish list, only problem is that it is quite a shady bed so roses are not really the right plants to put in there. But there are roses for semi-shady spots too so I am sure I will find some suitable. I have a list of roses I would love to have and David Austin’s ‘Darcey Bussell’ is on the top. According to them it can tolerate quite a lot of shade so perhaps this time next year I will have ‘Darcey Bussell’ in flower in my garden.

My oriental lilies have just opened their first flowers, one of my dahlias opened its first flower today, and 3 of my 4 hydrangeas are very close to full flowers. I can see I need to write a new post soon, but I am going into hospital yet again, on Monday morning for a small procedure so I guess it will have to wait until I am home again. It is always a bit nerve-wracking going into hospital at this time of year, especially since we have quite nice warm weather right now, I always wonder about my garden when I am away and if it has enough water. I will give the whole garden a good soak Sunday evening and hope it will last until I come home and can water again on Thursday. By then I guess I will have lots of lilies and dahlias in flower! Until next time, take care.

44 comments:

  1. Your Crimson Cascade is amazing! Larry

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    1. Thanks Larry, it was my very first rose in this garden so I have a special relationship with this rose - and I also love this deep red colour :-)

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  2. Well worth the wait, Helene! There's something magical about that first flush. My roses are struggling in the second flush which seems always to come right at the time a heat wave blows through. These are wonderful choices for your garden -- that Crimson Cascade is quite the looker!

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    1. Thanks, we are having very nice and hot weather at the moment so I think this first flush is going to end quite quickly. The good weather is very welcome though so I am not complaining!

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  3. Gorgeous roses, very pretty.
    Julie :o)

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  4. Beautiful roses, Helene. I see what you mean about that Scepter'd Isle, it is gorgeous and I've added it to my wants list.

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    1. Great, I don't think you will be disappointed! It is only my second year with mine but I am so happy with it. I intend to keep it in the container, I hope it won’t be too large for it.

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  5. What a wonderful roses you have. Darcey Bussel is such a gorgeous one Helene. Take care, I hope you are returning soon from Hospital.
    Have a wonderful day.

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    1. Thanks Marijke, I really want a Darcey Bussel if I can find a space for her :-) I hope to be discharged Wednesday evening, all going according to plan.

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  6. You really love your roses don't you? They are beautiful. I hope all goes well for you next week in the hospital and in the garden.

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    1. Yes, roses have a special place in my heart :-)
      I will be fine next week, I worry more about my garden - I always do every time I go into hospital, especially when we have such a nice warm weather and I ideally would have watered every evening. I will take some of the pots and place them in the shade under the camellia, hopefully they won't dry out by the time I come home.

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  7. Lovely roses! I love scented ones. And thanks to your post I think I can now identify one of our roses on the plot as Crimson Cascade. Hope all goes well next week.

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    1. Thanks, I love scented roses too, the only thing missing from 'Crimson cascade', an otherwise perfect rose!

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  8. Oh, I enjoyed the rose tour, Helene! You have such beautiful roses. Your seating area looks quite inviting as well. All the best! :-)

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    1. Thank you, my seating area is actually being refurbished at the moment, there will be a post about it in a few weeks time when everything is in place, it looks a lot better than before already and will look really good when finished!

      Glad you enjoyed the rose tour, the next tour of my garden will be of my oriental lilies and daylilies, as soon as they are ready – also in a few weeks time, I know you will appreciate them too :-)

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  9. Helene,
    how wonderful!
    the 'Crimson cascade' rose are stunning, they are really cascade.
    And another one 'Scepter'd Isle' is such tender, nice color. It's a good idea to take the indoors roses out. Your purchase for £1 is lovely!

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    1. Thank you Nadezda, yes, 'Crimson cascade' is lovely, and it could probably be much taller if the fence was taller :-)

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  10. Helene, your roses are beautiful and well worth the wait! The 'Freedom' rose is magnificent and I love how one of the pink ones ('Scepter'd Isle') resembles a peony flower. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Always a pleasure to show off my garden :-)

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  11. That 'Crimson Cascade' is a stunner! I love David Austin roses, though. The cupped shape of the blooms is so beautiful. Your garden looks beautiful! I hope your hospital procedure goes smoothly, and you can get back to your garden soon!

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    1. Thanks, we have really nice warm weather at the moment so I am mostly worried about not being able to water all my pots every evening, a nice downpour tomorrow would have been nice - but won't happen :-)

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  12. Your roses look stunning, I like the vivid colours of Crimson Cascade and Freedom, just beautiful! Hope you can enjoy your Dahlias and Hydrangeas when coming back from hospital. With this warm weather the garden changes from day to day.

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    1. It certainly does! I have lots of lilies already, and the hydrangea is getting more and more pink every day. I guess I will have lots to show on GBBD next Monday :-)

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  13. The 'Crimson cascade' is gorgeous as are the Austin roses. Even the little rose from Tesco is charming! It must be wonderful to have roses into February. I am lucky to have roses until the middle or end of October!
    Take care! I hope all goes well with the hospital visit.

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    1. Thanks, yes the rose display is not exactly prolific in the winter months, is more like one or two at the time on each rose bush, but I feel privileged to have roses growing in my garden at Christmas :-)

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  14. amazingly beautiful flowers and your photography also. I was having hard time to choose my favorite. Any of them have good smell?

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    1. If you want a rose with a fantastic scent, choose the David Austin rose 'Scepter'd Isle', it is heavenly! And it is also a very sweet looking rose and flowers all summer and autumn with short breaks in between.

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  15. wow, there's plenty of colour from where I'm sitting. Your garden looks great. Love the red and yellow roses leaning together. What a charming combination.

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    1. Thanks, they look even better in real life, my camera can't quite capture that deep red colour :-)

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  16. Helene, I love your Rose 'Crimson cascade. The Roses have also just started blooming in our Aberdeen garden. I haven't always had success with Roses in pots, how do you get on with them? Hope everything goes well with your hospital procedure.

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    1. I think it is a bit of trial and error with roses in containers, some do lovely and some just gets very stressed and throw their leaves all the time. But I have found out that it helps to keep the containers behind other containers so they don’t bake in the sun, and also choose a spot without sun all day. A smallish rose that can tolerate a bit of shade also helps. I give all my roses slow release fertilisers in February and late June (or mid July this year since we are so late!) and spray with systemic fungicides. A healthy, strong rose tolerates better the extra stress it is to grow in a container.

      I am back from hospital today, all is well, just need to recover the next few days. It is great we still have the lovely summer weather, can’t get enough of it :-)

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  17. Hello Helene
    You might be reading this in the hospital, although hopefully you're already home. I wish you a speedy recovery!
    I know you were waiting and waiting for your roses to open and they were worth waiting for! They are exquisite and your razor-sharp photography shows them off beautifully. The colours are lovely and I enjoy how the Teas vary from the David Austins, etc. I looked up Darcy Bussell and the deep red will mix beautifully with the ones you already have.

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    1. Thank you Astrid, I got home today, didn’t bring my laptop with me to the hospital so I have been without my blog since Sunday evening :-) My garden looked parched but nothing has died so I just did a few watering cans on the pots that needed it this evening and will do a thorough watering tomorrow. The warm weather is set to continue for at least another 10 days so we are really making up for the cold spring these days!

      I have almost decided on Darcy Bussell, just need to decide what else I can put in that bed to complement that rose!

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    2. Your last comment made my little librarian brain go on a hunt. Here are some ideas: Colour-wise, white, deep purple and silver complement a deep red rose. For pest control, suggestions include garlic, basil, geraniums (discourages Japanese beetles) and tomatoes (discourages black spot).

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    3. Thanks! We think in the same lines!
      I have already a white Japanese anemone waiting to go into that bed, and I so want a hardy double gardenia called 'Crown Jewel' – has been on top of my list since it came out 2 years ago, it is guaranteed to survive our winters and can tolerate quite a lot of shade. And look up Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Ruby Port' and Astrantia major 'Claret' – also plants I have thought about for this bed. The bed is in front of my camellia and will not have that many hours of sun except in mid-summer, so I don’t think it will be a place for herbs or vegetables, I have them on my sunny side. The Japanese beetle has not arrived in UK yet, hopefully it won’t!
      I will keep you updated :-)

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  18. Freedom and Crimson Cascade are lovely together! Actually, they all look so lush and full! My favorite, though, is the David Austin 'Wildeve,' with 'Scepter d'Isle' a close second. I hope your recovery is comfortable--I'm thinking about you.

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    1. Thanks Beth, and thanks for your emails! I just need a few days to recover and I will be much better, well, better from the procedure at least, nothing else is fixed I am afraid :-)

      The 2 David Austin roses were a good choice, I am glad I splashed out on them last year, the third one, 'Susan Williams-Ellis' I am not so happy with, it is the kind of rose that drops all the petals long before the flowers looks like they are off, so there is no way of knowing when to cut them off like I do with the rest. I usually cut them off to save me from picking up petals from the ground, but 'Susan Williams-Ellis' is a very messy rose indeed! And it hasn’t grown much since I got it either. I will give it another year but it might be in for the compost bin if it doesn’t get amazingly beautiful by next summer!

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  19. I love it when the garden gets really tall, making me feel smaller and smaller like Alice in Wonderland. Hope your stay in the hospital goes well so you can return all the faster to your beautiful garden :)

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    1. Thanks Rosemary, since I am 5’9” it takes a lot to make me feel like Alice in Wonderland, but come late July or early August my garden takes on a bit of a jungle feel at least! I will try to take some photos to show that in a post a bit later on, but it’s a bit difficult to take overview photos in my garden at this time of year, I can’t really get distant enough as there are plants in the way everywhere!

      Tomorrow I plan to just potter about in my garden and enjoy the sun and the warm weather – and do as little as possible :-)

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  20. Helene - I think the £1 rose is my favourite. Good luck in hospital.

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    1. Thanks, I am back home now, all is well, just need to rest and recover for a bit.
      My pot roses still amazes me, I should probably get a few more as they are doing so well in my garden :-)

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  21. I was thinking about if you were out of the hospital already. But I read you are. I hope your stay was not to bad and I hope the warmer weather will do your health good and you can enjoy a little what beauty your garden is bringing you at the moment.
    Have a wonderful sunday Helene.

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    1. Thanks for thinking of me Marijke, I am better now, enjoying the good weather, we had 32 degrees today! I started to take photos for GBBD today, have so much to show, so many pictures to take! Will take some tomorrow too, and yes, I am enjoying my garden and the warm weather does wonder for my achy joints :-)
      Have a great Sunday you too!

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