Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
To continue this week’s rose theme, three perspectives of Rose ‘Strawberry Hill’, taken at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show several years ago.
Forcing roses for a show often changes their character: flower size, colour and even form can show subtle or major differences from their typical appearance in the garden and you can see that here if you’re familiar with the rose. Continue reading “Rosa ‘Strawberry Hill’”
It was a sad day when I opened an e-mail to tell me that David C.H. Austin (or ‘Mr A’ to many of those who knew him) had died at the age of 92. So close to the company’s Christmas party, I imagined, just a couple of days before the anniversary of the death of his wife, Pat. You can read the official obituary of someone who will always be one of my heroes on the David Austin Roses website. Here, I’m sharing my memories of the man who changed my life when he approved my appointment to one of the most fascinating jobs I can imagine. Continue reading “David C.H. Austin OBE: A Personal Valediction”
I don’t need much of an excuse to post pictures of roses, but you’d be hard pressed to persuade me that they are not the most graceful flowers in the world. Hanging bounteously from a pergola at Kew Gardens, face downwards, as if demanding that visitors admire them, they created welcome shade on a sunny day.
A rose garden is a still, expectant place in England in late May. These shrub roses are lush, just budding out, pruned low. The young, bronze tinted foliage (characteristic of some varieties) gives the first hint of colour among the shades of green. The box and yew hedging is trimmed into shape: the bare bones of the garden are on show. For rosarians, this is an exciting time, not just because of the life emerging everywhere, every day, but in anticipation of the flowers (and visitors) that will soon change everything. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Off Season”
Imagine buying a bunch of roses. Were it not for my picture, you’d probably have brought to mind hybrid tea roses – the ones with pretty buds on straight stems that are so widely available.
Breeders have been developing a new type of cut rose, inspired by old garden roses. Often mistaken for peonies, these blowsy beauties are almost like a new type of flower. Continue reading “Goosebump roses: garden style beauties for floristry”
For 8+ years, I was Head of Marketing for David Austin Roses. Time well spent and much savoured, working with a lovely, warm, caring team of people, an archetypal British brand & some of the world’s most charismatic roses.
Looking back, I have very few regrets, except Continue reading “Regrets? I’ve had a few…”
Susan Rushton 