Everything's coming up roses...and alliums (part two)

Here are the rest of the roses, with the exception of New Dawn, which is on the arch and which looks better when Clematis Perle D'Azur is in flower with it, so it will appear another time.  Above is Constance Spry, which only flowers once but is impressive when it does.  

Roald Dahl is not in the best place as it is shaded by the lilac tree and I will need to find somewhere that gets more sun for it, I think.  However, it is managing to flower. 

This is a Persica rose, which is supposed to be a good one for our hotter temperatures/less water.  It is Eyes for You.  I had one of the these before, but it was a spindly plant and I bought a replacement, which is doing so much better.

Another Persica rose, 'For Your Eyes Only' which is a reliable and lovely rose, with flowers ranging from apricot and peach to orange and pink.

Rose Dannahue, planted in a big pot on the north facing side of the garden and seeming to be doing well.

Emily Bronte, which is a pretty flower, but  to me, it should have a deep red/purple coloured rose, rich and deep - something like William Shakespeare 2000.  This one is a bit 'pale' for her, I feel.  However, the bush itself is strong and tall growing, so perhaps that's more like the author.

My most recent rose purchase is Bring Me Sunshine, named in memory of Morecambe and Wise, who used this song as a theme tune.

Geoff Hamilton, a rose named for the much missed TV gardener who inspired me to have a go at gardening.  It doesn't like getting rained on, so I caught this flower before it was ruined by the rain.

Finally, the alliums.  I am still astonished by the size of these...

...they are beauties, aren't they? Here with astrantia Burgundy Manor and erigeron karvinskianus. 

I didn't realise I had quite so many roses but as they are one of my favourite flowers, it's only to be expected!

Everything's coming up roses...and alliums (part one)

Roses are a bit earlier this year, probably due to the very warm and dry Spring we had. I absolutely love my roses and often wander round the garden just to look at (and smell) them.  They are a joy.  On my wander round the garden this morning, I took my camera to capture the roses out at the moment. Above is Ferdinand Pichard.

This is Mary Rose, usually overshadowed by some miscanthus, but the grass is smaller than usual, which gives the rose more space.

Cottage Rose, about half way down the garden.

Here is one of the gorgeous alliums which is planted in the rose pot. It is sharing with rose Susan Williams-Ellis.  I think it is a Christophii, but it is huge!

Here is Susan Williams-Ellis again, on her own this time.

My favourite for scent, Gertrude Jekyll, looking and smelling wonderful.

Kew Gardens, which seems to be struggling a bit for some reason. I will be giving them a final feed this year soon, so hopefully that will help. 

Finally for now, William Shakespeare 2000, flowering earlier than usual and with lovely velvety petals. 

More to come in part two.

Chelsea week 2025

I always watch the BBC coverage of the RHS Chelsea flower show and this year is no exception.  I have never been to the show and am not likely to, as it is expensive, crowded and the tickets sell out so fast.  The TV coverage gives me a much better view of the gardens than I would get at the show.  All the photos are from the RHS website.  

I usually judge the gardens by whether I would like them outside my back door! 

Benches and water features have seemed to be a focus for me this year.  Above is a rather lovely large water bowl and bench  from the ADHD Foundation garden designed by Katy Terry.  This garden will live on at the University of Liverpool.

If I had to choose one favourite garden, it would probably be this one, The Glasshouse Garden by Jo Thompson. I like the snaking rill in the path.

The planting in The Glasshouse garden was lovely too, with the rich reds, pinks and purples.  These rich colours can be seen in lots of other gardens. This garden is going to a women's prison in the South of England.

The RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden was designed by Monty Don, the main presenter of Gardeners' World and showed some lovely, gentle, naturalistic planting.  

I like all the greens around the path here.  

I liked the copper water feature in the Down Syndrome Scotland garden, designed by Nick Burton and Duncan Hall.  This garden will go to a garden at the Palacerigg Country Park in Scotland.

My favourite water feature was in the Pathway Garden by Allon Hoskin and Robert Beaudin.  Very simple, a bowl carved out of a stone. This garden is going to the Shekinah Centre in Devon, which supports people experiencing homelessness.

Really beautiful.  I would love this in my garden!

The London Square Chelsea Pensioners' Garden had this inviting path to explore, with another still water feature.  Designed by Dave Green, this garden is moving a few metres away to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, so that the Chelsea Pensioners can enjoy it.

This bench also caught my eye, made from a tree trunk in the Garden of the Future by Matthew Butler and Josh Parker.  

To see all the gardens, there is a link to the website here.

A new David Austin rose was launched and it is one I have my eye on. called The King's Rose, it is similar to Rosa Versicolor (Rosa Mundi) but is repeat flowering.  It may well be added to my collection - perhaps not now, but in the future...

Reading instructions - always a good idea!

I wanted to make some new pillowcases as I have a huge stash of material and I had found an unused cotton sheet in a charity shop which I thought would work well for some of the backs. I had a nice simple pattern and got to work yesterday cutting the pieces out and then sewing them up. 

I used some vintage material and some that I had been gifted years ago in a blog swap. I managed to sew the inside flaps onto the outside a couple of times, so there was a bit of unpicking and re-sewing. I managed to finish three pillowcases, but wasn't really happy with them.  "They'll do", I thought.  I washed them today and hung them out to dry.

I decided I wanted to make a couple more today, so then read the pattern through again as I wasn't sure I had really got it right.  It turns out that I hadn't!  I had read what I thought it said, not what it actually said.  So I made two more today, following the instructions and surprise, surprise, they looked so much better.  I looked at the ones I had made yesterday...

Yes, you guessed it, I unpicked them and re-sewed them properly.  Although the unpicking was a bit of a pain, I was listening to a play on the radio, so that helped.  I re-sewed them correctly and I am so pleased I did them again.  They look much, much better and much more professional!  So yes, sometimes it's a good idea to read and then follow the instructions!

The three A's in May

May is all about the three A's - Aquilegia, Allium and Astrantia - and I love to see them.  Above is an aquilegia (Columbine or Granny's Bonnet).  They have moved themselves about and self seeded in various places too, so it is a surprise to see where they will appear next.  

My alliums in the border are not doing so well and I assume it is because they are getting too hot and dry in the summer months.  With this in mind, last autumn I planted some in the big pots with the roses,  as I thought that roses and alliums always look good together.  These are some of the ones in pots and so far, are looking good.

I enjoy seeing them gradually open up and become fuller.

For Astrantia, here is Burgundy Manor, a lovely deep red.  It is also in a pot where I can keep an eye on it. They seem to like a little bit of shade and moist soil.  I have some of the white varieties too but they are not  quite in flower yet.  They obligingly self seed, so I have several smaller plants in pots too. 

Some of my roses are almost in flower too, which is quite early, but probably caused by the very dry Spring/early summer we had/continue to have. 

The scents of early May

 

There are lots of plants blooming at the moment as we continue into late Spring/early Summer.  Above are lilies of the valley, grown in a pot. I tried to grow them in the garden but they weren't happy.  They seem OK in a pot at the moment, so I am enjoying them.  They always remind me of my Mum as her favourite fragrance was Yardley Lily of the Valley.

image from Amazon UK

She always wore it when she went out and I remember when I was little and she would come to say goodnight - the waft of that fragrance as she went out of the room has stayed with me.

The Choisya White Dazzler is flowering away at the front door and greets me with a scent of honey, I think. (It is a type of Mexican Orange Blossom, but I can't smell any oranges!) As it is in a more enclosed space, the scent is quite noticeable.

The flowers are really pretty and bring me a lot of joy.  

Easter-ish round up

I didn't manage to post these photos before Easter, so though I would do an Easter-ish post. Above are the butterfly cakes with additional chocolate mini eggs which disappeared very quickly!

These were some of the cards I sent out this year and thoroughly enjoyed making them.

This card was for a friend's birthday and she really likes the slow drawing patterns.  

This morning, on my meander round the garden, I saw my old friend the unnamed fringed tulip.

A small Choisya 'White Dazzler' which I bought a year ago is flowering happily...

...as is Magnolia 'Fairy Blush'. I really should give this a bit of love and care - it has been somewhat ignored recently.

Finally, this morning the blueberries were a-buzz with bees, so hopefully we should get another good crop of berries later in the year.  We are due some hot (for the UK at this time of year - up to 27 degrees centigrade, which is ten degrees higher than usual for the time of year) weather this coming week, so I will be planning the watering regime for the pots carefully so that I make best use of this precious resource.

Easter in the garden - part two - tulips

I don't seem to have quite so many tulips as in other years in the borders, but this could be due to the very dry Spring we have had.  However, I do still have some to celebrate.  Above are Ballerina and Negrita in the border.

Here is Brown Sugar which I planted in a pot last autumn.

Here is Brown Sugar in the north facing border.

Ballerina again - this is a scented flower and such an elegant one.

Negrita in a pot plated last autumn.  

Finally, this is a double from a mixed selection and the pot greets me at the front door.  I think there are some other colours in the mix, so shall wait to see what they are.

  I think I need to have more tulips in pots next year!