Tag Archives: Roses

Stars on clay

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Flower garden, Garden soil

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When I look around the garden at this time of year I see some of the real stars performing at their best. Box, lavender, repeat-flowering roses, sedums, primula, and Japanese anemones are probably the most notable.  The soil here is heavy clay and although some of the beds, mostly vegetable, have been improved over the years, others have had no special treatment at all.  

Roses, Japanese anemones, sedum

Bergenia does well here and is having a bit of a flower before the winter.

Bergenia in its modest autumn mode

Some plants have been specatacular failures over the seven years we have gardened here, for example, Viburnum davidii, penstemon, echinacea, clematis, although this may not be entirely due to the clay soil. In fact, I am determined to win with clematis next year and I will have to provide better conditions for it.

The Royal Horticultural Society suggests quite a small range of plants for clay soils but there are plenty that I do not currently have. I think I should treat myself to some Primula florindae, Iris laevigata, and Houttuynia cordata, and must take their advice and not plant until spring so that I don’t lose anything in the cold, damp winter.

Roses win the day

04 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Flower garden, Vegetable gardening

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I returned from a week’s holiday to find the garden very verdant, apart from the vegetables, many of which have been decimated by the prodigious slug population. The potatoes have not grown and are going yellow and the broad beans are still small and although they have flowers I do not expect much of them. The strawberries, however, are ripening well and only a few are succumbing to mildew.

In the flower garden the roses are performing admirably. The hybrid tea ‘High Sheriff’ is in its beautiful first flush.

Rosa ‘High Sheriff’

I hope I can save it from the black spot that disfigured it so badly last year.

Here are some ‘Harlow Carr’ blooms picked for the house.

Rosa ‘Harlow Carr’

Meanwhile ‘Wedding Day’ is doing what it does best, scrambling through a tree.

R. ‘Wedding Day’

Roses, roses, roses

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Flower garden, Gardening, Uncategorized

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Unknown rose with wonderful scent possibly from the County Series

When I was young I really disliked showy flowers like roses, tulips, and peonies. But now I love them, especially roses. Unfortunately the list in this garden is not as extensive as I would like because I can’t think of new locations for them. Most of our roses are climbers or ramblers.  We have Cecile Brunner (climbing), Madame Gregoire Staechelin (known as Spanish Beauty), the strong rambler Frances E Lester which I have located in entirely the wrong place, Adelaide D’Orleans charming us over the rose arch, New Dawn which I pruned in spring and has masses of buds, and Wedding Day growing up the fence and into a cherry tree.
 

Frances E Lester

A real favourite English Rose is Harlow Carr. It performs so well all summer and the smell is divine. There is little Hampshire from the County Series, another star performer. I couldn’t resist the rose from my native county. Little White Pet was not happy in a slightly shady spot and I have moved it into full sun so hopefully it will do well this year. A kind friend who was clearing out her very fine garden gave us four roses last autumn. Two are called Cottage Rose and I have no idea what the others are, it will be interesting to see.

Harlow Carr

Perhaps not quite so beautiful, but excellent value as they flower most of the summer, are three little patio roses I grew from seed about 10 years ago. They are getting quite bushy now and will suffer severe cutting back from time to time.

Just by the front door is a wonderful yellow rose with a fantastic scent and glossy foliage of a disease free nature. Next to it is an Iceberg and it is such a pity they are so vulnerable to black spot. The final rose, a hybrid tea, also given to us, is High Sheriff. The flowers open out a beautiful burnished orangey/gold and age to a salmony pink.