William, Ferdinand, Perle and others

The garden plants have enjoyed all the rain we had in Spring and are flowering away happily at the moment. Above is Clematis Perle D'Azur growing on the arch... 

...and from the other side.  These were taken a few days ago.

Here it is this morning, being very floriferous!

Rose William Shakespeare 2000 is also in full flower and attempting to take over that part of the garden.

Rose Ferdinand Pichard is well behaved and produces flowers packed with scent.

Rose Blush Noisette is also having a good year.

Clematis Princess Kate has been flowering for a few weeks now and... 

is still doing well.  Clematis Prince Charles is in the background.  Things will start to change again as we go into July and August, but I'm looking forward to seeing the phlox, the agapanthus and then the perennial sunflower and asters.  Gardening always gives you something to look forward to.

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.

Photo grid created from Photo Grid Online App (photo-grid-online.com)

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.  

Roses, roses, roses

 The roses have enjoyed the recent rain we had (and so have the rest of the plants too).  Here's a snapshot of some of the different plants I have.
Top row, left to right: Charles de Mills, Rosa Mundi, Blush Noisette
Middle row, left to right: Cottage Rose, The Pilgrim, Olivia Rose Austin
Bottom row, left to right: Winchester Cathedral, Eyes for You, Ferdinand Pichard

Here are a few more, top left going clockwise: For Your Eyes Only, Gertrude Jekyll,  Mary Rose, Geoff Hamilton.
Since I took these photos, we have had some rain which has battered the blooms a bit.  I went out and deadheaded yesterday and am looking forward to seeing the next flush of flowers.

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!

End of June

(collage created using picmonkey)

As we near the end of June (this year is going much too quickly), it is a good time to look at roses. June has been good to them this year, despite the baking heat last week and then the heavy rain over the last few days.  I love roses and here are just a few:
top row, left to right: Chandos Beauty, Ferdinand Pichard, New Dawn
middle row, left to right: For Your Eyes Only, The Pilgrim, Eyes forYou
bottom row, left to right, Gertrude Jekyll, Madame Hardy, Rosa Mundi
I do have some deeper pink/red roses too, but haven't taken any photos of them yet, although I probably will.

Roses

 Finally, my roses are blooming and I just had to cut a few and bring them in.  They are Ferdinand Pichard, Rosa Mundi, Gertrude Jekyll, Geoff Hamilton and Mary Rose.  (You may also have spotted a stray astrantia that sneaked in the top photo).

More of the same, but without the astrantia and with more Ferdinand and Gertrude added in.  The scent wafts around the sitting room and is wonderful.  Roses are one of my favourite plants and given a half acre garden, I would grow many more varieties.  In my small back garden, I have crammed ten of them, but would love more.  One day...