My Camera and me

 

I am not a particularly tech-savvy person but I do usually try to read instructions for a new item/appliance.  Once I know how something works for me, such as the washing machine, I tend to keep using the same few settings.  I seldom explore menus/settings on things.  However, sometimes, this is not such a good thing.  (Photo above is Salvia Cherry Lips.) 

Recently my camera setting changed (due to me inadvertently pressing the wrong button - of course) and I was messing about with it, trying to put it back to the familiar. You may remember that I have said in the past that it is a good camera for daylight and it can take some lovely pictures; however, it is rubbish in low light, or with fireworks, or the moon etc. (Photo above is Salvia Peach Melba, bought earlier in the year as a plug plant).

Looking at the settings menu, I discovered that it has a multitude of settings for portraits, fireworks, low light conditions etc. that I have never seen or used.  (This is probably due to the fact that I am a 'point and shoot' photographer and also that I have not downloaded the (no doubt) big instruction manual... ) (Photo shows my agapanthus Navy Blue with the shorter Flower of Love below.)

So, no more maligning my camera until I have tried these settings.  I will report back in due course... (Photo is of Rose Olivia Rose Austin in her second flowering this summer). 

Roses, roses, roses...and clematis

The roses are blooming, despite the wet Spring we have had and I am loving them!.  Above, starting top left, going clockwise: Jacques Cartier; Mary Rose; Kew Gardens and Cottage Rose.

Again, top left, going clockwise: Olivia Rose Austin; Susan Williams-Ellis; Geoff Hamilton and Charles de Mills.

Top left, clockwise: Blush Noisette; Emily Bronte; Eyes for You and For Your Eyes Only.

Top is Dannahue, bottom right is Constance Spry and finally Gertrude Jekyll.  I still have a few which aren't in flower yet - William Shakespeare 2000, Ferdinand Pichard, New Dawn and Roald Dahl.  For a small garden, I have managed to squeeze a lot of roses in!  (I still have my eye on Bring me Sunshine, but I haven't quite got room for it...yet!)  

To add to the lovely roses, a couple of clematis are flowering too and they make good companions.  Above is Venosa Violacea.

Here is Prince Charles.  Princess Kate, Blue Angel and Perle D'Azur are not quite there yet, but are budding up.  No doubt there will be more photos to come...

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.  

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...

Welcome to Gertrude, Susan, Olivia, Geoff, Charles, Emily...

My favourite time of year and some of my roses. Top row left to right: Gertrude Jekyll, Susan Williams-Ellis, Emily Bronte; Middle row: Geoff Hamilton, For Your Eyes Only, Olivia Rose Austin; Bottom Row: Mary Rose, Eyes for You, Charles De Mills.

Emily Bronte is my latest acquisition and she has an apricot centre with pale pink outer petals and a lovely scent.  

Earlier in the month, all my roses had aphids on them, but I have noticed a lot of ladybird larvae helpfully getting rid of them.  

Here is Constance Spry, who only flowers once but looks wonderful while she does.  I have a few others which are not in flower yet - Jacques Cartier, Ferdinand Pichard, Blush Noisette, Cottage Rose, William Shakespeare 2000, so their time will come.  Lots more to enjoy.

The start of the roses (and a couple of other plants...)

June is the month for roses and mine are just starting to bloom.  (I have no doubt further rose-based posts will follow once they really get going).  Above is Olivia Rose Austin - grown in a pot, really healthy and beautiful.

This is Winchester Cathedral which is really pretty but has got blackspot, so I am debating whether to keep it or not. It is also in a pot and that may be the problem, or it may just not be that healthy.

My favourite (don't tell the others) Gertrude Jekyll, growing in the border, with a gorgeous scent.

Kew Gardens looking pretty too.  

Other plants are joining in  with the roses.  Here is one of the alliums in the border.

This is geranium St Ola which I bought bare root from Wilkos.  It has lovely delicate white flowers and bright pink stamen stems, which I hadn't expected!

Finally, here is my little patio apple tree (James Grieve) which had lovely blossom earlier in the year and now has apples forming.  What a treat to be able to pick and eat my own apples!

Late summer into Autumn in the garden

There is a definite change in the air now.  Apart from the unusually hot days this week, the overall feeling has been cooling.  There is still lots to enjoy in the garden, but watering has to be done before 7.30 pm as it starts to get too dark to see by then.  Above is Penstemon Garnet which is in a pot and has come through quite a few winters.

Clematis Alpina Rosy Pagoda still brings interest with the fluffy seedheads.

They are so tactile.

Rose Shakespeare 2000, which took a while to decide to flower but kept on going once it was.

Crocosmis Emily Mackenzie bringing some scorching hot orange to the mix.

Geranium sanguineum striatum leaves starting to colour up.

Hydrangea Sundae Fraise (I think).

This was my newest Hydrangea (paniculata Little Spooky)  a few weeks ago...

...here it is now, looking gorgeous!

Creamy lime green flowers.

Good old Liriope Muscari which gets completely neglected but which flowers through the autumn.

Rose Olivia Rose Austin (who has featured many times since she was purchased), giving us another flush of roses to enjoy.

Dwarf cosmos adding fuchsia pink to the pastels.

Asters starting to come into flower. 

Clematis New Love in the border. It has a pleasant fragrance which reminds me a bit of soap.

Anemone Bressingham Glow which has been in flower for weeks and is a joy to see.

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.

Walking round the garden, whatever the weather

 We have had quite unsettled weather this week.  There have been beautiful blue skies...

...roses enjoying the sunshine (Olivia Rose Austin)...

 ...dry days which the sempervivums have liked...

 ...and the japanese anemones, both white...

 ...and pink.

 When we have had rain, the droplets settled beautifully on the alchemilla mollis leaves.

 They look a bit like liquid mercury.

 Clematis Prince Charles looked really awful and brown last month, so I cut it back and it has rewarded me by re-growing and flowering, which was an unexpected and very welcome bonus.  Some flowers have five petals...

 ...and others have four. 

 The little hydrangea I bought at RHS Chatsworth is turning shades of pearly pink and green.

 Liriope Muscari is getting bigger every year and giving a very welcome splash of colour to a shady border.

 The combination of buddleia, perennial sunflower and aster look lovely when the sun shines.

It has rained all day today, on and off, but occasionally, there is the reward of a rainbow.  Seeing one never fails to amaze me.