Picking roses in the summertime

 One of my favourite things to do on a weekend day is go around with my trug and secateurs, picking flowers. What's in bloom today? Some beautiful roses. Snip, snip. The last three stems of gladioli. Snip, snip, snip. Gorgeous maroon penstemon, snip! Then later I find my big glass vase and spend some happy time arranging the stems. No help from a book this time - they seem to stay where I want them to.

A big, in your face, summertime arrangement.

These are my Queen Elizabeth roses. The apples are thinnings from the Baujade tree, and this is camomile and apple tea. It didn't taste as good as I thought it would...

Roses

 It's summer time, and that means roses! Here's a selection of the ones I have flowering right now. First up is Sexy Rexy. This rose is a good performer, but mine is looking a bit spindly this year. It's my fault, for letting the bed it was a part of completely overgrow with grass and clover and other nasties. I don't have a clear plan for the bed and I really need to sit down and work one out, because I have three roses in this bed so it's obviously in my best interest to keep it tidy! I did start by weeding it last weekend and that was a vast improvement.

 This is Claire Rose, a very frilly English rose. The heads are so heavy after it opens and the petals fill out that it droops on its stem. It's great in a vase though.

 This is Queen Elizabeth. It has very nice, classic looking pink blooms on long stems, and it's very good for picking.

 This is a new acquisition this year. It's called Ash Wednesday, and the flowers are an unusual muted lilac mauve colour. I love the colour, and it's growing quickly and strong.

 This is Frau Dagmar Hastrupp, a rugosa rose. It has lovely glossy dark foliage which doesn't get spotty. The flowers are big with five single petals and it's gorgeously scented. It's meant to have big red rose hips in autumn, but last year it dropped all the hips before they changed colour. I'm hoping for a better performance this year!

 This is the ever lovely Cecille Brunner. Such a vigorous strong grower. I cut her back hard every year and within three months she's towering over my shed again, covered with delicately scented petite pink blooms. The tiny blooms make beautiful tiny posies in tiny vases!

 I recently visited a friend's garden and took some cuttings to see if I can increase my collection. Most of these are for scented climbers and I have no idea where I'll put them if the cuttings take, but I'm sure I'll think of somewhere.

And this is a baby that another friend grew from seed. Have you ever heard of anyone growing a rose from seed? I must admit I thought it wouldn't work, but there are actually two little seedlings in this punnet! And look - one has a bud! I can't believe a tiny little four month old rose is actually going to flower. It looks like it might be pink too!

Do you grow roses? What are your favourite varieties to grow or arrange?

Photos from a rose garden

While I was on holiday over Christmas, my mum and I visited the Timaru Botanic Gardens, and took a stroll through the rose garden. The roses were all blooming beautifully and smelled gorgeous. We also walked through the fernery (the scroll patterned door above) and through the scented herb garden. You can see the cutout in the hedge that leads to the herb garden in the first photo. I wish my garden was big enough for a hedge with cutouts. I'd also like some of these scented roses, but of course I didn't write down any names.

First

The first rose to open fully was Sexy Rexy, just in time for the first of the month. I'd already impatiently cut the first bud from Queen Elizabeth but it's still sitting regally in a bottle vase, the petals just beginning to uncurl. The Sexy Rexy bud had frost burn on some of the petals, but it's not noticeable now that it's open. And there are several others on the bush poised to unfurl.

I've already been eating the first strawberries for about a week.  This is one of the things I love best about summer... going outside first thing in the morning to pick fresh berries for my breakfast. Hopefully it won't be too long until I'm picking fresh tomatoes for lunch!

You go away for one weekend...

...and look what happens.

 Sexy Rexy is the first of the new roses to flower. Only the one bloom, and it was almost overblown by the time I saw it, but I appreciate the effort.

I also spied one tiny bloom tucked away on Cecile Brunner. I cut this rose back hard every year (because she can take it!) so she takes a little longer to bloom than other people's.

I've been away this weekend doing garden tours for the Timaru Festival of Roses. Eight gardens were open to the public and I took pictures at each, so there will be plenty to show you over the next few days. I tell you what, my own garden looks shabby in comparison! Not to mention weedy. I got to work today with a big sprayer full of Roundup and felt slightly more on top of things. Slightly.

See you back here tomorrow for the first garden tour post!

Roses

Today I spent a bit of time tidying the front garden in preparation for putting in some roses. I've never really known what to do with this bit of garden, it has two olive trees on either side and did have some ugly shrubbery filling it. I dug all the shrubbery out and removed the weedmat, then removed all the invasive grass that was growing through the weedmat (it's the kind that spreads by a long root).

Previously I'd planted bulbs under the olive trees, and freesias - they are all standing in a row like soldiers which suited last year's design, but when they've flowered I'll probably dig them up and distribute them a bit more randomly. There are also self-seeded poppies which might hide the roses while they get themselves established in spring. Eventually though, I will underplant them with catmint and pink carnations.

Meet the new ladies...

 Queen Elizabeth

A Grandiflora rose, with large elegant flowers on long stems which are good for picking. It grows quite bushy and vigorous. Seems not too prone to black spot, and flowers are lightly fragranced.

Claire Rose

An Austin rose with large frilly flowers. Fragrant and good for picking.

Sexy Rexy

Apparently everyone who's serious about roses grows Sexy Rexy! Not that I consider myself a roseophile, but it met my criteria - pink, fragranced and good for picking. It's also won numerous awards so hopefully it's easy to grow and doesn't need too much attention!

It will be interesting to see about the fragrance of these roses. I made sure each one I bought had "fragrant" on it's description, but after googling it seems to be one of those personal things. Some people can smell it and some can't. I will keep you posted though...

Smelling the roses

 My climbing rose Cecile Brunner has been flowering for a couple of months. You'll see her in the background next to my shed in the previous potager post. She gets a bit unwieldy this time of year, so I usually give her a haircut to tidy things up and hopefully encourage some more flowers. Then I take all the little rose buds that were snipped off, and put them in my bubble vase.

 

So pretty, and they smell divine too. I love the perfection of these tiny blooms - almost too perfect to be real. I like to put the vase beside my bed, from which spot it will perfume the whole room. Instant well-being.

 Today we went blueberry picking at Broadfield Berryfruit. It was the last day of the season, but we still managed to pick 1.2 kg of fruit. Then I spread them out on trays to freeze. Once frozen I scooped them into freezer bags. I'm looking forward to all kinds of blueberry baking... hotcakes, muffins, cakes, puddings... and after seeing this recipe on Bridget's blog, blueberry friands are also on the list!

 

I've always wanted a dollshouse with a miniature garden, and thanks to Tilt Shift Maker, this is what my potager would look like as a mini! Cute no? Lookit the teeny glasshouse! Bet there are no weeds to pull in a mini garden either...