Sunday 17 February 2013

Spring is here?

I decided that today was the day to plant the new roses. The irises, crocuses and snowdrops are blooming and the daffodils are ready to burst into yellow gloriousness any minute. I had ordered the eight roses mentioned in the previous blog post although I swapped the George Arends rose for The Alnwick - a softer cupped rose that suits the others better I think. It was certainly not great to keep the bare root roses for two weeks unplanted but the weekend the order arrived, so did the snow followed by rain. The ground was too cold and then it was too wet. Piers had planted hundreds of bulbs in the late Autumn so I had to plant around this but I don't think that matters. The 8 roses now spread down the side of the glasshouse in front of the two pale pink climbing roses that had been planted there years ago. Once the Spring bulbs have flowered we can lift them and plant other plants and Summer bulbs among the roses. It won't be a traditional rose garden by any means but it will be a riot of colour and scent. Can't wait!

Blue irises


Snowdrops

 White, yellow and purple crocus
Any minute now!

A line of roses down the side of the glasshouse.

A close-up - hope the take it to their new home.


Saturday 2 February 2013

Roses, roses and more roses

After much deliberation and research I think I have narrowed down the roses I would like for my rose garden. It was not easy as there are so many gorgeous roses to choose from. The ground is no longer frozen and the crocuses and snowdrops are starting to peek through so I think it is time to get started. I have chosen to go with David Austen roses. They are famous throughout England and have a reputation for being easy to grow, hardy, healthy, reliable and importantly, beautiful.  Being grown in England they are also prepared for the climate. Our garden is a bit of a mish mash with different colours everywhere so I am not being precious about choosing shades of one colour scheme, rather I have chosen a mix of colours to brighten the green in the summer. also, each of these roses has a fragrance, which is important as I would love the garden to smell lovely while sitting in the garden on a summer evening with a chilled glass of wine in hand. What do you think of these?




Pat Austen
Darcy Bussell



Jude the Obscure


Queen of Sweden


William and Catherine


Rhapsody in Blue
Janet


George Arends