I’m finding it hard to get much done in the garden this week…not because of the weather, which has been my idea of perfect (some sun, some light rain, some cloud, not too much wind), …but because every time I step out any of my 6 doors I have to stop and start looking , smelling or touching something. First week in November has to be the best around here I reckon. The cinerarias, aquilegias and early irises are still going for it, the other spring and summer perennials are starting their show and the roses, the roses, are really getting on with doing their thing.
Without a doubt the roses will be better next week, but a lot of my other faves will be getting tired by then. Of course there will be lots more to look forward to in the coming weeks, but never the less, for me, the best week of the garden year is this week. I’ve had to put many jobs on hold as I can’t bear to leave the garden for more than a few hours! 2 lovely new foals have been born up at Weiti, but a photo has to suffice till next week…
As this is supposed to be a rose blog I’d better stop talking about flowers and foals and think of some rose news…
The first news is James Mason, gallica, is very popular with the bees. He has the most amazing stamens loaded with pollen and the bees are swarming all over his lustrous red blooms at the back of the newly completed “Hot Border”.
In other news a few booboos are appearing…don’t we all hate incorrect labelling!!! So why is the small plant in front of the Bishop with a rock proclaiming it to be Hippolyte looking quite identical to the large shrub behind…??? That’s bad labelling on our part. If anyone else has a plant of Hippolyte purchased from us a year or 2 ago? Beware you may have The Bishop (both are equally nice, but quite different)
Then there is the rose in the front of the White garden. It is a 2 yr old seedling that I call at this stage “Weiti Lemon Tree”(you guessed it, hatched under the giant lemon tree smothered in lemons and Souvenir de la Malmaison). First it was a tiny thing with a tiny white flower, last year it was a bit bigger with many white flowers all season. This year it is even bigger and has many PINK flowers… They’re pinker than they look in the picture, and way too pink for the white garden!
The David Austin garden is particularly “Sensory Overload”as the flowers are so big and they are all squashed together, with nothing in between. The scent hits you as you approach and people that don’t believe “nothing clashes in nature” (one of my beloved and deceased mother’s favourite sayings) may need to keep their eyes closed when visiting, as the roses are organised chronologically and some just don’t match!
Visitors are welcome to visit the garden and nursery by arrangement.