Final two roses and a couple of other plants

Having just had a really hot week (for the UK in June), the roses have finished their first flush, so here are the last two.  Above is New Dawn which is a reliable flowerer and scrambles over the arch.

Here it is a bit closer - a pretty pale pink.

Here is Blush Noisette.  I bought this years ago after seeing one growing at Barnsdale Gardens.  It is shoved in a pot but really doesn't get the care it should, although it does get fed twice a year and watered regularly in dry spells.  I cut it back pretty brutally and it still rewards me with these pretty and scented little flowers.  

Here is another of my favourites, a variegated jasmine.  It has a lovely scent and also gets cut back after Winter.  It needs an arch to scramble over, so I must get that organised!

Finally, a grass which I am very fond of, Calamagrostis Overdam.  It has green and white striped leaved and really pretty flowerheads.  It's a very graceful plant.

In other news, I have removed Rose Charles de Mills, which I am a little sad about. It was a healthy rose, with deep red flowers and was doing well, rather too well.  It had started to shade out other plants and it had started suckering throughout the border. It had one flush of flowers in the year, so didn't really justify a place in my small garden and was right plant, wrong place!.  It took a lot of digging out and there are some roots left in the border, so no doubt I will be finding more suckers in the future.  I am thinking it will be replaced with an ornamental grass and some salvias, as it is the sunniest part of the border. 

A frosty morning

The cold snap continues and I ventured into the garden armed with my camera this morning. I know this isn't really that cold, compared with other countries, but as our autumn had been so mild recently, this has taken me a bit by surprise. Above are buddleia leaves.

This is Rose Dannahue, which was still flowering in my previous post. 

Blueberry Blue Pearl.  The frost patterns are beautiful to look at. I had just finished insulating some of my pots before the cold weather arrived, so I was very grateful for that,

Rose Charles de Mills. 

Hydrangea Annabelle, who usually features on this blog with her gorgeous white flowers in summer.  However, I think her faded flowers tipped with frost are just as lovely, albeit in a different way. Apparently Storm Bert is on his way this weekend, but temperatures are due to rise.  No wonder we talk about the weather so much here in the UK - it is always so changeable...

Hello to Jacques, Ferdinand, Mary, Olivia, Charles, Geoff, Constance...

 It is rose time again and I have been watching the roses slowly start to unfurl.  I so enjoy this time of year in the garden.

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I do have rather a lot of pink roses.  

Above, top row, left to right are: Jacques Cartier, Ferdinand Pichard and Mary Rose.

Middle, left to right are: Olivia Rose Austin, Charles de Mills and Geoff Hamilton.

Bottom, left to right are: For Your Eyes Only, Constance Spry and Gertrude Jekyll.

This is Susan Williams-Ellis.  Still to flower are Blush Noisette, Cottage Rose, Eyes for You, Emily Bronte, William Shakespeare 2000, New Dawn and my newest acquisition, an apricot one, Dannahue.  I look forward to seeing them soon. I have had many roses over the years and quite a few have not stayed with me.  The ones I have now have all done well, either in borders or in pots and I hope they will be with me for many years to come. 

In other news in the garden, Camassia Silk River is in flower.  Described as lime green to white, they are lovely, shorter than the blue camassias and later to flower.  

Pretty creamy/green flowers.

I am also enjoying a few foxgloves and have just sowed some more ready for next year.  Above is an apricot one which I love.  I also have the purple ones and a white one too.  It's all so exciting at this time of year!

I shall keep a watch out for the next roses to flower.  

Winter frosts

Having been thoroughly spoiled by having such a lovely mild Autumn, the sudden return to more season appropriate weather has caught us by surprise.  While it isn't that cold in the UK compared to other countries (such as Canada), it certainly feels cold to me.  We have had our first frosts of the winter and the cold weather looks set to continue for the next week.  Above are a salvia and a palm.

I was slow with my pot insulating this year, lulled into a false sense of security.  Last week saw some frantic activity to get the most sensitive plants protected.  Above is a rose bush.

Another rose bush, this time in the border.  The frost does make everything look that little bit more magical.

Another rose bush.

We have been having some work done on our roof and guttering - "Who told you about guttering?"(for my friend Rachael and any other Victoria Wood fans out there) and I have had to move the plants that are usually by the back door onto the patio.  They are not sheltered so much there and I am not sure some of them will come out of the temporary move unscathed. Above is Magnolia Fairy Blush, one of those plants.  I hope they will all be OK until they can be moved back...

Early June - everything's blooming!

All of a sudden, the garden has gone into overdrive.  The roses are flowering and everything is looking lush and gorgeous.  However, there is mildew and rust and a huge number of greenfly about, just to temper my enthusiasm.  The alliums are looking lovely and attracting the bees.

 I like this mix of alliums with the white foxgloves in the background.

 Erigeron is looking lovely too.

As is this dark astrantia, shoved rather unceremoniously into a pot.

I have noticed lots of bees, which is a good thing.

But, the stars of the garden are the roses.  One minute they were all tightly in bud, the next, there is a profusion of blooms.  Above is Geoff Hamilton with a single raindrop on its petals.

 This rose is also blooming away happily.  I think it is 'Eyes for You', but should check!

As are these.
Top row left to right: New Dawn, Ferdinand Pichard, Constance Spry
Middle row left to right: Darcey Bussell, The Pilgrim, Gertrude Jekyll
Bottom row left to right: Cottage Rose, Charles de Mills, Winchester Cathedral
There are other roses not featured yet which I have managed to cram into the garden.  There is something very indulgent about being surrounded by roses and I love it!