A WEEK IN MY GARDEN - 7 JUNE, THE ROSES CONTINUE

Last week I threatened to write about every rose in the garden, and provide a short summary of my thoughts on each one.  Today I carry out that threat in part two of my rose round up where a further seven roses will be reviewed.

You’ll notice that I haven’t commented on the scent of any of these roses.  That’s because most of them smell lightly rosey but not distinctively different  If a rose has no scent or if it’s particularly delicious then I will point it out. 

First up is 'Queen of Sweden' bred by David Austin.  It's in the foreground of the photo below, and has warm pink buds which open to very pretty cupped flowers in a pale pink.   I have planted it in a group of three. This rose has an unusual habit.  Its growth is very upright and the flowers appear on the tops of the plant and face upwards.  It's not that tall (1m) but I have planted it in the middle of the border because the blooms are only at the top of the shrub.  

It's a good healthy rose with no signs of black spot.  The flowers don't seem to last that long for me, the petals seem to shatter and fall rather than fade.  It does repeat flower though.

Queen of Sweden

Next to Queen of Sweden is another David Austin rose 'Munstead Wood'.  It does get a bit of rust, and I think for this reason it has now been delisted, leaving David Austin without a very dark red rose in their list.

This has to be one of my favourite roses.  The colour is just gorgeous and rich.  I grow a lot of roses with deep ruby flowers - Chianti, Prince Charles, Cardinal Richelieu, Tuscany Superb to name a few - but Munstead Wood is the only one that repeat flowers.

Rosa 'Munstead Wood'

This one is planted in a group of three as David Austin seems to recommend.  It's not a very tall rose, at about 1m, and spreads about 1m wide.

The next rose is a fabulous one.  It is 'Champagne Moment'.  It's a floribunda about 1m high and the absolute picture of health.  Black spot hardly troubles it and it flowers and flowers. The colour is a soft apricot cream.  The bush is sturdy (ie not very elegant) and never needs support despite the number of flowers it bears.  I can't get much of a scent from it, but that is its only negative point.

Rosa 'Champagne Moment'

The next rose was a garden centre impulse buy.  I was struck by the colour which is a deep rich pink.  It is called 'Othello' and turned out to be another of those David Austin roses which they no longer sell, but which are available from other rose growers.

It's been in a couple of years and it doesn't have a lot of room to expand, which I need to rectify with some culling of geraniums.  I'm reserving judgement on this one until it's been in a while longer,  The flowers are stunning in my humble opinion, but there are not many of them.  It seems to be healthy though and probably just needs a year or two to really get going.

Rosa 'Othello'

Below is 'Winchester Cathedral', and yes it's another David Austin rose.  Its white, but has the occasional touch of pink in it as it is a sport (naturally occurring variant) of a pink rose called Mary Rose.  This was the very first rose I bought for the garden when we moved in about 15 years ago.  I had been persuaded to take part in the village open gardens, since the previous owners had done so, but there was little for visitors to see, so I bought this one and put it in a garden urn.  Now planted in the border, it is still doing well.  

Unlike the cup shaped blooms of many David Austin roses in this rose the petals are more muddled.  They are closer to many of the old roses in their shape.  Its reasonably healthy rose about 1m in height and repeat flowers after its first early flush. Having said all that if I had to choose between this and Rosa ‘Iceberg’, I’d choose the latter. 

Rosa 'Winchester Cathedral'

Almost at the end of this post, and here is a rose that's familiar to you I'm sure. It's Gertrude Jekyll, a David Austin climber.  Mine is still very small and hopefully just getting it's roots down before romping away.  It's too early for me to comment on this one, but the one's I've seen growing elsewhere have been jolly good.

Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll'

From Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' to a rose grown by Gertrude Jekyll.  This is Rosa spinosissima 'Double White'.  It was in the garden when we arrived and it spreads.  It has fine ferny leaves and sweet little flowers and flowers once.  It grows in shade and is completely healthy. If you have a space that suits it then give it a go.

To mark the end of the post, here's a cute little hedgehog that went walking past our door on it's way along the terrace one evening.  We don't see them that often, but there's usually one around every year.

So we come to the end of this post.  Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next time.