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.

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.

First frost of the winter

It had to happen, didn't it?  We had the first frost of the winter this week.  I went out with my camera to capture these images before the sun melted it.  I was reminded that I haven't finished insulating my pots yet, so I do need to get on with that job.  Above is Hydrangea Annabelle, who often features throughout the year.

 Rose Gertrude Jekyll looking as though someone has sprinkled the leaves with icing sugar.

 The blueberries also looked lovely.

 Here's Annabelle again.

 This is Aster Little Carlow looking really quite graceful with frost on every dead flower.

 With the colder weather, I have been rewarded by this amazing colour display by Lysimachia Clethroides.  I bought it after watching Carol Klein extolling its virtues on the Chelsea coverage (I think, but it may have been Tatton Park or Hampton Court as I watched all of the Show coverage this year).  It has been in its pot since I bought it, putting on a bit of growth, with lovely green leaves and then this happened.

It is amazing and the colour zings out, particularly on a dull November day.

I am really impressed with it and am looking forward to seeing it grow next year and possibly flower.  It has long white flower heads which droop over, so it sounds interesting.  Apparently, it can be invasive but I am hoping it will be happy in a pot. (I have just been comparing this plant with photos on websites and the leaves of this one look a bit different from the ones on the websites although the descriptions of autumn colour sounds right.  We shall see...) 
I have also possibly done completely the wrong thing and pruned my hibiscus syriacus oiseau bleu pretty viciously.  It was getting too big and leaning madly over the border in a drunken fashion.  I love this plant so am hoping that I haven't killed it, but I will just have to wait and see on that as well.  My pruning book said they can be pruned during their dormant period and it is dormant, but I think I may have got a bit lopper-happy!  If the worst happens and I have killed it, I will be buying a replacement and will try to keep that one more under control.)  It's all part of the joys of gardening!

Roses and Peonies

 So far, 2018 has been a wonderful year for roses.  Everywhere you look, roses have been blooming brilliantly.  I have been really enjoying mine and above is a collage (created by using picmonkey) showing some of the beautiful flowers.
Left column: top, Darcey Bussell; middle, Jacques Cartier; bottom, Ferdinand Pichard
Middle column: top, Rosa Mundi, bottom, Pride and Prejudice (that was a birthday present this February)
Right column: top, Winchester Cathedral; middle, For Your Eyes Only; bottom, a vase of Gertrude Jekyll, Cottage Rose, Mary Rose and Ferdinand Pichard.

The peonies were a bit slow this year, probably due to the cold snap in February and March, but they were worth waiting for.  They may only flower for a short time but they do provide a 'wow'.  These are patio peonies, Rome, Athens and Madrid (not necessarily in that order!)

Other roses have started to flower too and the clematis are also making their presence felt, so there may well be more photos to come.

June 2016 in the garden - a riot of roses despite the rain

It has been a very wet June this year.  I have been waiting relatively patiently for my roses, peonies and poppy to flower, only to see the blooms turning into a soggy mass.  However, on those few occasions when it wasn't actually raining, I did managed to take some photos.
I love roses and have gradually built up quite a collection in the borders and in pots.  Various shades of pink are my favourite but I am branching out into deeper shades and the odd apricot and white too. All of the roses are scented, but some have a stronger fragrance than others.  Above, top row l to r: Jacques Cartier, Constance Spry, Arthur de Sanchal (my latest purchase); middle row, l to r: Gertrude Jekyll, Bright as a Button, Ferdinand Pichard; bottom row l to r: New Dawn, Frilly Cuff and Cottage rose. I hope I have identified them correctly, but it is quite difficult, as several of them do look very similar.

Above top row l to r: For Your Eyes Only, Chandos Beauty, William Shakespeare 2000, middle row Molineux, bottom row l to r: Madame Hardy, Mary Rose and Rosa Mundi.  

My patio peonies have done well despite the rain.  Above on the left is Madrid, in the middle is a new one this year, Rome and on the right is the one poppy flower which wasn't ruined in the rain.  I have Patio Peony Kiev too, but it hasn't flowered this year.  

I treated myself to some new petunias called 'Night Sky' which I wasn't sure about when I saw them in a catalogue earlier in the year.  However, when I saw them in the flesh, I was intrigued by the patterns and I like the way each flower is different. They do seem to glow and are a darker purple in real life.  I suspect they are a bit like Marmite - love them or hate them - but I love them.  They are scented in the evening too, which is a bonus.  I am hoping that July might bring a little more sun, but with the weather in the UK, you just never know!

British Flower Week 2015

Photo from http://www.britishflowersweek.com/blog/

Just in case you weren't aware, this week is British Flowers Week, which is a 'week long celebration of British flowers and the UK cut flower industry'.  The dress above was made by Zita Elze, using larkspur.  not very practical, but absolutely stunning! Wouldn't it look lovely printed on chiffon? Of course, I do have some flowers in my own garden which I feel should be celebrated (although usually, I don't need a special week!), so without further ado, may I introduce...

Rose Frilly Cuff, new to me this year and planted in a pot.  The colour is a bit deeper than this in real life and it has a delicate fragrance.  I wanted to add some deeper colours of roses to my garden, as all the others seem to be pale pink, apart from one yellow.  This one has a beautiful colour and form.

Nigella or Love in a Mist.  I have always loved these flowers and remember them growing in every garden from my childhood.  I sowed seeds in the border, but the plants decided they would rather sow themselves in pots, which is what they did.  They are so lovely, I left them to grow where they wanted.

I have some nice shades of blues and whites in the Nigella.

My favourite rose, Gertrude Jekyll, with the most delicious fragrance.

A new rose again this year, Bright as a Button, a floribunda type, which has a very open flower and is again in a pot.  

The star of the week just has to be Oriental Poppy 'Checkers' which I grew from seed and which features annually on my blog.  I was concerned that the flowers would be totally battered by the heavy rain we had at the weekend, so dashed out to take a photo last Friday, just in case they were reduced to a soggy mass.

The flowers start off a very pale pink and then whiten as they age.  I'm pleased to say that they have survived the rain and are still looking lovely today.
There are more roses to come, with several new ones too and I shall also post a photo of the white peony if its buds open.
I hope British Flowers Week is a great success!

Any colour, as long as it's pink...

 In June, my garden turns pink - not intentionally so, originally, but many of the plants flowering at this time of the year seem to be pink. Above is the beautifully crumpled bloom of Rose Jacques Cartier.

 As there are so many pink tones, I collaged some together (courtesy of Picmonkey).  From top left: Hydrangea Endless Summer Pink, Rose Ferdinand Pichard, Rose New Dawn. Middle row: Dianthus (not sure which - Iced Gem, perhaps), Rose Blush Noisette, Clematis Princess Diana. Bottom row: Geranium endressii, Erigeron Karvinskianus, Rose Gertrude Jekyll (which is scenting the whole area around it).

This year, Rosa Mundi (Rosa Gallica Versicolor) is flowering its socks off.  I do like the stripes on this rose.  As the summer goes on, the colours will change again, moving to richer red and even the odd yellow, but for now, I am enjoying this plethora of pinks.

A Floriferous post

 Here are a few of the current stars in the garden.  Above is anemone multifida rubra which I bought from a market stall last year. It just had seed heads on it so I was curious to see what the flowers would look like.  It has lovely ferny foliage with tall stems, topped by these small but beautifully formed, brilliant cerise flowers.

 This was sold as gladiolus byzantinus, but I am not sure it is.  It is a graceful plant and I put a few of these in last autumn so am pleased to see them flowering now.

 A crumpled cistus flower.

 Two clematis flowers (I can't remember which variety this is, but I do know it is a patio type).  I really need to pot it on a bit!

 Allium Oreophilum, which was included in a bulb pack and which I really like.  It isn't very tall and was unceremoniously planted in a pot last autumn with grape hyacinths and crocuses.

 My first Gertrude Jekyll rose of this year.  It smells wonderful!

 The astrantias have done really well, despite such a cold spring and being planted in a dry spot.

 Allium Christophii, just starting to flower.

 Allium Gladiator.

A self seeded love in a mist.

Clematis Ice Blue.

Oriental Poppy Checkers, which is tantalisingly close to flowering, but just needs a bit more sun (but then, don't we all?) 
I do enjoy watching and recording the constant ebb and flow of the plants.

Just a little addition (17th June 2013):
As I don't know what will happen with the list of blogs I follow in July when Google is going to retire something or other, which may or may not cause problems for us bloggers - you may be able to tell that I'm not really technology minded(!) and I really don't know what effect, if any, it may have - I have finally decided to join Bloglovin'.  Several bloggers I follow have done that too and said it was easy and was a kind of insurance policy against Google's changes.
I had some techno-phobe challenges to be overcome on the way, but I think I have done it. The link is here, if you would like to follow feltabulous with Bloglovin'. I think I have also managed to add a follow button down to the left under the housework image. Hope it works! I am not on facebook, so if something pops up about joining when you go to the Bloglovin' site, please don't feel you have to sign up.
(This slight worry about blog lists may, of course, turn out to be totally unnecessary, but I won't know until after 1st July.  Google really haven't made it clear what the effects will be.) 

Blooming lovely!

June is one of my favourite months due to the abundance of roses (even with the rather wet weather we have had lately).  I seem to have mainly pink roses in the garden - not a conscious choice - however, I do have one yellow rose and a couple of white and red stripy roses too, although none of them are out yet.  Above is R. Geoff Hamilton which is very disease resistant, but its flowers do not like the rain at all.

Here is R. Cottage Rose, which has a delicate fragrance and a lovely flower form.

 R. Gertrude Jekyll which is a stronger pink and has a strong fragrance too - really delicious.

 A small handful of roses with R. Margaret Merrill in the centre, which has a beautiful fragrance. The perfume can certainly give Gertrude a run for her money.

Here they are in the mini milk crate, perfuming the sitting room and reminding me why I like June, despite it having been wet, cold and dull so far this year. 

Garden Highlights

 Having just had a wander round the garden, I thought I would share some of my favourite things flowering at the moment (about three weeks early, due to the odd weather).  First is Clematis 'Rebecca' whose bright petals make a great contrast with the foliage colour.  It is using the post from the bird table to climb up and seems to quite like it there, despite the odd splashing of the petals from the birds.

 Next we have one of my very favourite roses, 'Gertrude Jekyll', who has appeared on this blog more than once, but every time I see a flower, I think it deserves another mention.  I had to hold the flower up due to its weight after a shower of rain.  (And it has the most delicious scent too).

 A rather less than beautiful shrub, and a new purchase of a Blueberry 'Goldtraube', as I lost one of my two very straggly plants over the winter.  This plant is a much better shape than mine, and has lots of flowers.  About five minutes after putting it in the garden, I saw a bee happily visiting the flowers.  It would be nice to actually grow a berry - so far that has eluded me!

 Geranium 'Magnificum' and very well named.  It has been moved twice and hadn't flowered in the two years since I bought it.  This year, it is obviously feeling happier and has put out these lovely purple flowers with darker veining. 

Finally, a lime and white flower from Hydrangea Endless Summer 'The Bride'.  I bought three plants, this one, a blue and a pink, this time last year from a very well known shopping channel (QVC, just in case you are wondering) and just left them in the shelter of a brick wall over winter, so thought they might not do terribly well.  They were only very small plants, but did look very healthy.  I gave my sister the blue one and kept the others.  Well, a year on and this is the result and I am thrilled with them.  They are bursting with health and both have lovely flower buds and flowers.  I have recently ordered a new variety called 'Avant Garde' which has one massive flower and am waiting for that to be delivered.  I'll take photos of it as it grows and see if it does what was promised.  If it is anything like these two, I won't be disappointed.