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Thank you.

Thank you.

I think Eustacia Vye and to a lesser extent Lady of Shalott are two of my best bloomers Wendy. I took several cuttings of each a couple of years ago, but only kept one of each myself, and both have been on the decking but are now beginning to take up so much space that I have had to move EV away (I don't know where she will end up) and LoS is "octopussing" her arms out all around herself, so she needs to be moved too. Like you I am less keen on hot weather these days, but I like the fresh air - we were on holiday in Mallorca a few years ago when the weather turned chilly and blustery - there were 3 hardy souls (me included) sitting on sunbeds wrapped up in sweaters and coats. I took a nice photo last week of a male chaffinch feeding its baby on the roof of the birdfeeder - the "baby" was about the same size as the father and stood patiently on the roof while dad flew down, picked a seed off the table and flew it up to "baby", and that happened about half-a-dozen times. A couple of years ago I got a photo of a woodpecker feeding its young on our feeder, and again, just by size, knowing which was the parent and which the child was near impossible - you just had to watch who was feeding who. Let's both hope for a bit more warmth over the coming weeks - but not too much!

I don't know if you saw the photo of AD I posted on my community page 3 months ago? That shows AD at its glorious colourful best, much better than in this video - although its scent is always amazing. I'm making a greater effort to stop AD from getting blackspot and rust this summer.

I think it's a Black Rose (what else?) Aeonium next to the AS. I'd like to straighten up, separate and tidy the two Sweet Honeys, but their thorns are too vicious for me to risk it!

Thanks Linda. I'm still hoping for Abe to really shine - that's when the colouring turns to a sunset mix and the petals go wild, but unfortunately that doesn't always happen. It's a bit like hoping for a white Christmas. We enjoy sunsets over the hills to our west from our living room - but the bird feeders give our kitchen interesting views too. I think I've achieved a fair amount in the garden this weekend, so that's been good, even if I'm suffering a little now!

Yes, Gav, you don't need to spend a fortune to get beautiful roses. JParkers has been a great find for me - letting me try a whole variety of roses in my garden. I'm hoping they will be offering a few new ones this autumn. But sometimes you just have to dig deep into your pocket (yes, DA, I am looking at you!) to get that one rose you just must have!

@@nikkonch 'Eternal' is another one i've been pleased with from JP Nik. I bought 2

That's strange, Peter, I was going to invite you to come and help with my deadheading!

@@nikkonch I guess we'll have to toss a coin to see who goes where. I've still got plent to do, my Rural England in particular.

I think my wife regards my rose-growing addiction as mischief, Peter!

@@nikkonch If that's the only mischief you get up to Nik she's got nothing to worry about.

Yes Wendy, I was quite surprised to see that unusual spider - it was lucky that I didn't just casually pull that rose off since the petals were all beginning to drop - also lucky that I was wearing my glasses! There always seems to be something new to discover in the garden.

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed the video. Enjoy your day!

Thanks, Peter. I don't think the video captured the 10 p.m. lighting well, but it gives you an idea.

Thank you. I half regret giving away my 4 or so other Eustacia cuttings last year! Meteor is a Kordes rose, so yes, German, named Korzeigar - Rose of the Yar 2024.

I thought you were going to say videos coming in thick and fast. - maybe too thick and fast. I started off making the video because of the spider and then got carried away. But at least there were a few new developments to show you all. I have just spent the afternoon deadheading and pruning and actually noticed bits of rust and blackspot appearing, so that needs to be tackled. The potted QoSweden was wilting and turning brown at the top - I am hoping that this was just due to inadequate watering (and lots of sun and wind) and not disease. Potted roses with lots of foliage do need a huge quantity of water.

You seem to be planning to buy a lot of roses Gav! Scarborough Fair was not a DA I had ever looked at - it reminds me of Blush Noisette, but on a much larger scale. It's not a rose that jumps out on the screen - but we all know that seeing a rose in real life is a totally different kettle of fish. Glad I don't seem to have bored you all ... yet. Or, if I have, you're all too polite to say so! I've just done some major deadheading and pruning today, so the garden is looking a bit different.

@@nikkonch yes Nik I agree. Emily Bronte was not on my list 2 years ago until I saw that one at Bodnant Gardens. So glad I bought it. Some 70 buds/flowers this year. SF stood out to me in real life last week.

Thank you - there's always someone on TH-cam who can identify unusual things for the rest of us!

Thanks for that Linda. Those first flowers on Meteor were not very attractive at all, but the recent ones have been totally different and really attractive - I'll have to wait and see how she settles in this summer. Ken Voong was saying he has Meteor and thinks it a very impressive bush, so I am optimistic. Just about to do the evening watering - pots dry out so quickly in this heat, don't they? And I still have seedlings in the greenhouse I must plant out - if only to make room for dwarf beans to go on the ground in the greenhouse. The Philadelphus is browning and less fragrant and Ancient Mariner's and some other roses' - including Desdemona's - first flush is coming to an end, so I'll miss June, but I'm sure there will be other things to look at and enjoy. it's a good job the roses don't all come out at the same time.

I have tried to buy part of that field, but the owner doesn't want to sell. On the positive side, we do see sheep there for several months each year, so that is something interesting to look at.

@@nikkonch True about the fields...maybe dont ask to buy part of the field maybe you take the approach of beautifying it temporarily for him/her. Lol . They just need to keep the sheep away from your hard work afterword.

Thanks Lin, but I don't think a 100% failure rate of my cuttings last year makes me royalty! And this week I lost a cutting to a blackbird who decided to pull it out. It's a good job I just do it for the fun of it - although I really would like another Desdemona this year and I have a request for an Alpine Sunset!

I kept that one EV cutting but last autumn I gave away 4 or so, as well as some Gabriels and Shalotts (kept one of those on the decking too, it's about to flower) - the cuttings I took in 2022 were amazing, but last year's all failed - I think I planted them too late. But it was just for fun anyway. I think my Sweet Honeys are getting too densely packed now. QoS is a lovely-looking rose, isn't it?

Hi Wendy. I did some heavy digging yesterday (finding 3 bricks and gravel in one bed I was clearing of unwanted deep-rooted achillea), and pulled or dug out all our foxgloves this morning to add to the carful of bags of garden waste I drove to the dump. I was pleased to be able to relax after that with this heat. Watching the birds is a pleasure - we have a house martin's nest this year. Walking down the side of the house I often encounter a shocked squirrel who runs up the wall in panic and makes a very loud angry chattering noise. Yes, I do spend a good amount of time watering the pots each evening, and I do water the plants in the beds sometimes too, maybe unnecessarily. Another scorcher in store tomorrow - after longing for sunshine and warmth for months, now I just want it to cool down!

I feel like a drug-dealer who has wafted some tempting drug under an addict's nose ... I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight😈

If I had enough space in the garden I would plant all my roses in the ground. Roses in pots cannot grow as large as roses in the ground, and they need to be watered frequently, sometimes every day in hot weather, and I think they need feeding more. Last winter I bought a lot of bare-root roses because they are cheaper. My plan was to grow them in pots over the winter and then to plant them in the ground in early spring, but weather conditions made that impossible. But I will plant a lot of those potted roses in the ground at the end of the year. I grew my rose "The Ancient Mariner" in a pot for 2 years, and it was so disappointing that I was going to throw it away, but my wife said I should plant it in the ground, and she was right! In the ground it has become a spectacular rose. so, yes, there is a difference between roses in pots and roses in the ground. A big rose like The Ancient Mariner needs space for its roots in the ground and space to spread out above ground. Small roses do not do badly in pots, but they need watering. Roses in pots have the advantage that you can move them to see them better when they are flowering - and you can surround yourself with roses. Also, if you grow roses in pots first you can see if you really like them enough to plant them in the ground! You can see perhaps that I plant the large David Austin roses in large 50 litre pots to give them more space to grow, while the smaller roses are in 15 litre pots.

I've just had a quick look at those roses in my garden - they look good, quite perky, but I think most roses look best out of glaring sunlight, and the paler roses "glow" against a darker background. Roses of course tend to bleach and dry a lot faster in hot, sunny weather and need more water then, so their blooms won't last as long. A lot of my roses of all types are blooming and shattering or drooping quite quickly in this heat (rather than the sun) and I don't think the DA roses are worse in that respect. But that's just my opinion.

Mine is on its 2nd summer - flowered abundantly last year, so I am looking forward to seeing these buds open - I had a couple of early flowers, but the main show is imminent.

That's two interesting pieces of information, thank you for that.

@@nikkonch that’s ok happy to help.

Neither has a particularly strong scent. I enrolled my wife's nose, which is more sensitive than mine, for this comparison, she prefers The Ancient Mariner and finds that slightly stronger, although she says it has a myrrh scent which is maybe not everyone's preference. I find there is not much to choose between the two in terms of scent. PA tends to bloom more consistently, but both roses have flowers which are very attractive in their different ways.

Many Thanks for that info!​@@nikkonch

It's Belle Etoile - thoroughly recommended. We did once have a double flowered version, Virginal I think, which used to get covered in blackfly - I don't know if that was a one-off or a general problem with that variety, but BE has been trouble-free and a delight.

You are so right!

Thank you - I think luck and the weather have played a part in their health. It's difficult to find roses that give as much satisfaction as DA roses, isn't it?

Thank you.

@@nikkonch You're welcome friend. 🙂

Difficult to judge these things since it depends on your local weather, which here has been quite cool to warm, around 20 degrees C (68 F). And I tend to look at the bush overall, rather than individual flowers. However, I did note one particular flower which was open and at its most beautiful 3 days ago, so had presumably been growing from a bud for a week (?) and that flower is still on the bush today, fully open but not yet drooping or showing signs of shattering. So it's a flower that stays on the plant a while, but not more than two weeks probably.

I know what you mean about the hypericum, Wendy. It was cut back last year and I was just out there and it is growing huge again - but it has lovely flowers and makes quite a statement in its glory. And it cuts down the area needing weeding!

Thank you. I cut the tallest Ancient Mariner back to about 50 cm. above ground last autumn and it has regrown to about 1m 60cm+ so far this year, so when mature (my oldest is 5-6 years old) and in a sunny position, it is a very vigorous grower. I suppose severe pruning in the autumn/winter may keep it slightly less tall.

GG is not a rose I have much affection for - its position in my garden makes it difficult to see/smell/appreciate, but the blooms don't impress me much anyway. I wasn't even aware of their brief life because I barely look at them, but now you mention it, when I do look they tend to be going over more often then flowering attractively. Maybe one day I'll get around to replacing it myself. Thanks for that useful comment.

Hi Peter. The Generous Gardener is about 5 years old - it has taken its time to get established, the Bathsheba next to it was a much faster grower. But, hidden as it is behind the ceanothus which has grown huge, I barely see it unless I make the effort. It does look very healthy despite its position on the north-facing fence and being shaded by the shed and acer to the west so it doesn't even get evening sun. I think my neighbour gets a better view of it than I do when it flowers above the fence (and then I tend to have blinding southern skies behind it so can't appreciate it!). Thanks for watching!

Gardeners or at least the growers seem to be staunch royalists judging by all the plants named after the royal family! And, yes, the royal named plants do generally seem to be of good quality. The Philadelphus is such a strong perfume, isn't it? Most roses I have to stick my nose right in to have any hope of smelling anything, but the Belle Etoile Philadelphus scent just spreads out over a wide area. I was actually surprised to see my Princess Diana again, I thought I'd lost her - clematis stems are so fine that I find them easy to miss. David Austin's naming scheme seems to change as the years go on - family names, royal names, Shakespearian, Thomas Hardy figures, and authors/craft workers - but all with a distinctly English identity as befits English roses. We have barely seen any pheasants these past few months, but I just heard a repetitive strident creaky croak followed by the short rapid cooing/glugging noises that normally accompany pheasants eating, and looking out I see that there's one feeding on the birdfood I sprinkle on our lawn when I replenish the feeders - makes me feel things are normal again.

Thank you

7 more clematis (clematises?) - you already have so many! They always make me nervous because the stems are so thin and I can be a bit bull-in-the-china-shop when I am weeding. I planted a Taiga clematis on that fence a few years ago, I'm not sure it's survived my weeding. The Ancient Mariner is always a delight in June, but after its big display it can be mean with its blooms for the next month. We have a Philadelphus in the front garden which has been growing very slowly over 4-5 years now, tall but not many stems or flowers, while the one in the back garden has taken off in that time. Why? I bought two Evelyn Fison bare root roses last autumn and put them in adjoining pots, but one flowered weeks before the other. Why? The mysteries of gardening. It definitely feels warmer today - that's more like it!

@@nikkonch Hi Nik, I know! I have zero excuse re. roses and clematis haha I have been told I apparently have enough BUT they keep on coming. I haven't resorted to under my coat yet though ;) Yes clematis stems can be an issue with the hoe sometimes, you could always pop a bottomless plastic planter over any that are likely to get the accidental chop just to give a bit of protection. The Ancient Mariner is well worth it for that magnificent display. It is odd how some things flower well and some don't and they can be only a few feet away from each other :) The weather is much better, fingers crossed it continues for everyone, take care.

Thanks Gav. I was actually thinking that I could put something like Elizabeth in the big space in the middle of the bottom bed - but that space makes deadheading so much easier!

@@nikkonch yeah I’d agree with that. King of the ancient mariners. That ancient mariner looks superb I can’t remember who said it first, the most underestimated of the David Austin’s. Look at the amount of buds on him.

@@Jay_Jay The only issue may be the long gap between flushes that I had last year, but even if that happens again I think it's still worth its place in the garden for its first flush alone.