26 June 2006 - Roses

It is raining today. The first proper, wet rain for weeks marking the beginning of Wimbledon and hopefully the survival of our newly planted vegetables. I love it when the vegetable garden begins to grow as it makes the garden complete. The regimented lines of the vegetable rows contrast perfectly with the flamboyance of the herbaceous borders. Similarly the newly cut hedges in the knot garden give a feeling of peace in amongst the billowing chaos of roses and their companions.

I think that these two weeks are the most stunning time in the garden. Every morning we walk through the acorn gates to work and are always unprepared for the blast of heavenly scents that greet us. The combination of pinks, roses, mock orange and honeysuckle should be bottled. Why people sniff other weird cocktails I cannot imagine.

The birds are everywhere showing off their newly hatched babies and the kittens are showing worrying signs of hunting. Butterflies are beginning to emerge many thanks to our ?deliberately left? (ha ha) nettles ? I do have one in a pot in the herb garden showing its use as a dye plant and source of iron. It is the second one to be planted in the pot nearly 10 years ago (the first one died) it has good shape, perfect growing habit and a sting that sends me to bed.

Several slow worms have made my heart leap and the number of frogs and toads are keeping my mother away from areas of the garden that she loves.

Every year I try to identify my favourite rose and I can never truly decide. The rambler Paul?s Himalayan Musk has to be amongst the early runners, it really ticks all the boxes. The buds are so pretty, turning to petite flowers of different shades of white and pink, the leaves are glossy and healthy and the smell is exquisite. But then there is the scent and colour of Tuscany Superb and of course William Lobb the perfect moss rose.

We have planted many more ramblers and climbers this year and our winter project is a map of the estate with all our important trees and the best sites for roses marked out. It is only when you start to research a list that you realise how much a collection has grown and I must be strong willed and not get blinded by the idea of filling all the gaps.

This weakness of collecting shows itself in my Geraniums, Tradescantia and Oriental Poppies, which are also looking stunning at the moment. Again favourites are a problem Lilac Girl and our own Honour remain top of the poppy list followed by Concorde Grape as a Tradescantia and almost every geranium cross you can get. I still feel nature gets this crossing game better in the geranium world than any of the experts.

We have down sized our animals and cars this month in preparation for a long spell in France. We need to push our building workers forward and I am keen for Amy to learn French the way I did, amongst the French. So we leave for the summer as the garden loses its shine and sadly too as the vegetables move up a gear.

Backbreaking work, mostly by Angus means that everything that should be in is positioned waiting for god to do the rest. Even carrots look as if they may grow a few. We have had several meals of broad beans and the first roots of potatoes will join the peas and mangetout next week and the squirrels have left us masses of strawberries and raspberries.

I wonder if my mother would send food parcels to France?

posted by Barbara @ Monday, June 26, 2006   1 comments (Post a Comment)