The exquisite bud-within-a-flower form of this rose makes it a winner on the show bench. Labelled Rosa ‘Dr. John Dickman’, this flower only has a hint of the mauve colour I’ve seen in other pictures – perhaps that’s the effect of the light level in the marquee, or it may be that the flower will develop more pronounced mauve tones as it matures. It’s a miniflora rose, which means that the leaves and flowers are larger than a miniature rose but smaller than a floribunda. Continue reading
Rosa ‘Olivia Austin’
This is my last week to share square pictures of pink roses and, to celebrate, this week’s roses come with extras for those who were part of the challenge, or kindly indulged my weakness, even though they are not quite as keen on roses. First, a pink rose named for a lovely lady. It ticks the strongly fragrant box and though I don’t know this variety quite as well as some of the others, with further acquaintance, I suspect it would be one of my favourites. Though I can’t claim this is a bud, it is only partly open and will eventually become a rosette.
Pink astrantia
This celebration of a flower is for Becky, for hosting the challenge so gracefully, and for all those who took part, many of them sharing a square cropped picture with varying amounts of pink in it for the whole month. Well done! I’ve loved seeing them all appear in The Reader.
Paphiopedilum collection (Venus slipper orchids)
For orchid lovers, here’s a collection of them, In The Pink, and artfully arranged with moss, slate and logs. Continue reading
Rosa ‘Wisley 2008’
I do try to keep my promises, but some are harder than others. If I promised not to eat smoked salmon, for example, that would seem easy. Smoked salmon is pretty much the worst food you could offer me. There may well be things I like less, but I have not so far been invited to partake of them. [Though dim memories of my friend Paul inducing me to eat wasabi peas do float to mind, and feeling the urge to roll around, pawing my face afterwards, like a dog might if it tried something it didn’t like. He meant it as a kindness.] Continue reading
On Sundays, I’m sharing a square cropped picture of a pink rose as part of Becky’s Square In September challenge. We are invited to dip in and out of this daily challenge as we please. She’s looking for a post where the main photograph is square and the subject is In The Pink.
Several people have asked if the roses I’ve been sharing this month are especially fragrant. Last week’s was not, so I promised a highly scented one for this week and I have kept my word. Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ has as strong and lovely an Old Rose fragrance as anyone could hope for. Scratch and sniff!
(It might work, if you have an active imagination).
Three, shapely, pure pink rose sisters spent their brief lives bouncing together in a pretty cluster in a rose garden. As you see, I visited them in their prime.
Unlike many of the larger, heavier, multi-petalled varieties, the flowers of Rosa ‘Wisley 2008’ face upwards and outwards to show off their rosette forms. Those who read last Sunday’s post may be disappointed that the leaves are ‘just’ mid green, more remarkable for their tendency to resist disease than for their colour, even when grown in a rose garden where the proximity of others makes it easier for rose nasties to spread and take hold. Continue reading
‘The Generous Gardener’ rose is one of my favourites. It requires some discipline not to list its selling points, even after so many years, but I’ll confine myself to observing that it is one of the more fragrant English roses, best grown as a short climber against a wall or sturdy pillar. That hardly counts, does it? Continue reading
The recent RHS Hampton Court Flower Show offered the chance to see some new varieties up close. Today I’m sharing a few pictures taken at the show of a new introduction from David Austin, Rosa ‘Mill on the Floss’. Continue reading
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.
