Rose ramblings

Greetings friends and a big thank you to everyone who left kind comments about my midsummer fairies, I'm so pleased they made you smile. Apparently there are several little girls in gardens a long way from mine here in England who look at my blog to see which characters will appear each week. This week's post is all about roses, but not wanting to disappoint my young friends I have asked this little fairy lady to bring you these pretty pink blooms.

For us June is very definitely the month of the rose. I'm ashamed to admit that we don't prune and feed our roses as often as we should and so those that do well are generally the ones that can thrive without special attention.

We can see this beauty through our sitting room window. It's name is 'Albertine' and you will find it clambering up walls and fences the length and breadth of Britain. It's definitely an all time favourite.

Next to 'Albertine' we planted 'New Dawn' about 15 years ago and being a delicate shade of pink it makes a nice contrast.

This old style rambler is called 'Wedding Day' and wouldn't it make a wonderful bridal bouquet. This picture was taken at 8 o'clock this morning as the new flowers were opening from tight yellow buds. During the day all the yellow blooms will slowly fade to white. In the picture it is rambling over a large trellis. We planted another 'Wedding Day' beside a 40 ft tree and it quickly reached the top!

Climbing another tree we have a rose with the wonderful name 'Rambling Rector'. It's musk fragrance drifts across the terrace and into the house through open windows. It's a very old variety and is thought to have been the one Titania slept under in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream (how wonderful!)

'Rambling Rector' has made its way to the top of this rowan tree and now cascades from every branch.

These are two very useful books by Roger Phillips and Martin Rix. They contain many hundreds of pictures with accompanying information about roses old and new.

I adore old fashioned roses and this one dates from the Victorian era. It is known as a moss rose because the buds and stems look as if they are coated with fluffy moss. The flowers have a wonderful fragrance and the mossy buds have a citrus scent.

As you can imagine these two books are well thumbed. The first, by famous rose grower Peter Beales, takes you to 33 famous rose gardens. The second, by John Scarman, is an invaluable source of information about collecting and growing old roses.

Here's another Victorian favourite with a heady scent. This is 'Cardinal de Richelieu' which turns from deepest claret to rich velvety purple.

And this rose is named after the famous florist 'Constance Spry'. It works best as a climber but ours lives amongst tall shrubs and pops out at a height of 6ft with sprays of myrrh-scented blooms. Its a real beauty.

And here is a little lady who quite literally flowers her heart out from June to November. She's called 'Phyllis Bide' and she likes to grow against a pillar or wall. Her stems look fragile but are very robust and although her flowers are not beautifully formed like many of the larger roses she's the garden's best performer.

'Phyllis Bide's' flowers open apricot yellow and gradually turn to sugar pink and cream. The petals are slow to fall and the bush is rarely without blooms throughout summer and autumn. If I remember to feed this little lady with rose fertiliser I'm quickly rewarded with a fresh crop of flowers. She is truly delightful.

I had hoped to end this rosy post with some of my David Austin roses but they are a bit slow to appear this year because I pruned them late in the season. 'St Swithins' (above) is flowering nicely which pleases me as he's sure to be blooming on my daughter's birthday - 15th July  - St Swithin's Day.

I confess it was this wonderful book by David Austin that persuaded me to create a rose garden some years ago. Since then I've added more roses and David Austin has published several more books which all look very tempting! If you love roses you'll love his publications!

Happy rose growing.

Until next time,
Eli

Comments

[miss julep]

Gorgeous!!!Simply gorgeous! Wish I could smell them too.

[Rhondi]

Your roses are amazing! I wish I couls smell them too!
Hugs, Rhondi

[Lisa/IvoryBlushRoses]

Such a lovely post of one of my favorite things! Love all your beautiful roses! The rose fairy is delightful too!

[clarice]

Oh rose heaven, just beautiful. You have to make some rose syrup xoxox Clarice

[Marqueta]

Dear Eli,

(I left a comment before, but don't know if it worked)

We wish we could smell your roses there, too! You must never want to go inside this time of year!

And there are a few girls here who were blushing to think of a fairy appearing just for them! How exciting!

Love,

Marqueta

[Paula]

Dear Eli,

Oh! What a delightful and beautiful post! I see roses abound at your dear Flutterby Patch! They are quite amazing, and I can only imagine how intoxicating their fragrance is. I hope to see my David Austen roses bloom as profusely as yours are one day!

I am so glad you shared all of your beautiful rose photos! It has filled my head with all sorts of ideas for where I can add more roses to my garden!

I love your gorgeous pressed glass filled with those pretty pink roses, and that darling pink fairy. Your sewing (and gardening) skills amaze me dear friend!

I love that you can see the pretty Albertine rose through your window. I must plant some roses near my windows so that I may admire them from the inside as well. The pale pink New Dawn is a lovely contrast to the darker pink of the Alberitne. One can never have enough pink roses in all shades! I was amazed to read the height the Wedding Day rose reached!

I love that the Rambling Rector is thought to be the one Titania slept under. A Midsummer NIght's Dream is our favorite Shakespeare play!!! I love the roses that date to the Victorian era!!! I am sure they are quite hardy. They are so beautiful, and I love the Constance Spry. I need to add a climber to my garden as well.

Thank you for sharing all of your gorgeous roses and your recommendations for rose books! I enjoyed my visit with you so much, and only wish it could have been in person.

Happy day to you Eli,
Paula