Etoile and Crimson Glory are gearing up. There should be a fair explosion at the end of the month/first week of June. There are lots of buds on Jamain and Moonlight. Sunshine and warmth will dictate the schedule.
I can formally declare that my balcony has escaped the most recent strong winds.. I’m genuinely shocked, although pleasantly so.
I visited the new RHS garden in Bridgewater - quite a lovely space - very spacious and I spotted a few plants that I didn’t know I liked.. namely Geum ‘totally tangerine’
The whole garden still feels very ‘young’ though.. the plantings are obviously still their infancy but I’m sure they will look incredible as they mature. There were a few empty beds still to be filled with plants as well.
One disappointing thing about this garden was the painful lack of roses.. I only spotted one - Lady Hillingdon - and that’s it! To me no garden is complete without a good section filled with roses..
There were masses of tulips - and I particularly liked this patch - filled with deep burgundy varieties - singles, doubles and parrot varieties
I then popped by the garden centre adjacent to the garden - and not surprisingly they had a section of DA roses (which is a rarity since covid as they’ve limited their stockists) - I had to ask my partner to physically drag me out of that section before I did anything irrational such as purchasing more roses when all I’ve got left on my balcony is a super windy spot.. I noticed they were more priced at 33quid per plant - which is more expensive than the online retail price on DA website..
The compost section was - not surprisingly - very limited - and I suspect that’s down to the RHS trying to go completely peat free which severely limits the varieties they could offer.
All in all a good day out and about - I think the garden will need a bit more time to mature, and if they ever read this review please do us all Rose lovers a favour by giving roses the (prominent) place they deserve in the garden..
Looks like a good day out @celcius_kkw , I've been wanting to go myself but I am a bit unsure on the time slots booking do you only get 30mins to be in and out ? Either way I am looking forward to visiting its only down the by pass / motorway 25 mins or so .
I've seen quite a lot of DA pot roses in garden centres now I am sure they were all £27 . I got Geum Totally tangerine its supposedly are long flowering plant but not for me and it will not take any wind what so ever it falls over for fun . Mine on it last legs I think the Alliums are bullying it.
@Perki The booking system seems rigid but we actually arrived two hours early (we planned on visiting the garden centre first) but they let us into the garden anyway.. it wasn’t that busy actually, especially considering the garden has only just opened this week.
I have no experience growing Geum.. but what you just said makes me think they’re not meant to be for my balcony garden.. especially if they fall over just for fun.. they will probably get shredded to pieces in the wind up here..
@celcius_kkw Its one of the tallest geum which is its problem ( mrs bradshaw - lady stratheden are also tall ), most geum I've grown are fairly compact I have a small orange one which looks great at the moment called Borsii, my other two cocktail series have stopped flowering geums require dividing every few years to them flowering.
@celcius_kkw - looks great! I like the giant pots outside.
It’s been very cold and rainy here, but thankfully not too bad for wind - no damage.
I did some weeding yesterday which gives a good chance to look around the garden. My Gabriel Oak is so sluggish! It was like this last year too, slothful. It’s barely grown at all. I’d say it’s because the aquilegia that have popped up nearby are quite large and very close, but Old-and-Sickly, two-cane Lady Emma has been physically swamped by aquilegia and that’s growing more strongly than GO this year. So he’s got no excuse.
Malvern Hills - buds aplenty
Eustacia Vye showing colour
Rhapsody in Blue has at least 100 flower buds this year! Massive clusters all over
That looks like a nice place to visit, the tulip walk looks amazing.
Wow, looking forward to seeing the Rhapsody in Blue flowering @Mr. Vine Eye. 100 buds! I think mine has about half a dozen so far
Bank holiday weekend looks like it's planning on being dry and a bit sunny so I'm going to aim for my first open rose on 1 June. I'm guessing Penelope although the other roses are welcome to surprise me.
I tied in some bits on the climbers yesterday, Summer Wine looks terrible with all the frost damaged leaves and it started off the year looking the most glossy. As most of the leaves are half-damaged I'm leaving them on until it has more new growth, it might need the good bit of the leaf for something. Plus I imagine it will shed them in time. Three of my Kordes climbers were affected quite badly but Westerland which I have as a shrub was almost unscathed.
It’s great to see a little movement at last, even a few blooms! Great photos @Mr. Vine Eye and @celcius_kkw. I do envy you all those lovely gardens to visit, not really a thing here. There is a rose garden in Barcelona which I plan to visit soon, but judging from the photos online it’s traditionally laid out with rigid island rose beds, but better than nothing!
Some dark beauties this morning..
Munstead Wood buds unfurling:
Burgundy Ice:
Little patio rose Diamond Eyes:
The Prince, this sight greets me as I exit my front door:
And a lilac beauty, Heidi Klum blooms are impressively robust, at the moment they are lasting on average for 11 days:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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I've seen quite a lot of DA pot roses in garden centres now I am sure they were all £27 .
I got Geum Totally tangerine its supposedly are long flowering plant but not for me and it will not take any wind what so ever it falls over for fun . Mine on it last legs I think the Alliums are bullying it.
It’s been very cold and rainy here, but thankfully not too bad for wind - no damage.
Wow, looking forward to seeing the Rhapsody in Blue flowering @Mr. Vine Eye. 100 buds! I think mine has about half a dozen so far
Bank holiday weekend looks like it's planning on being dry and a bit sunny so I'm going to aim for my first open rose on 1 June. I'm guessing Penelope although the other roses are welcome to surprise me.
I tied in some bits on the climbers yesterday, Summer Wine looks terrible with all the frost damaged leaves and it started off the year looking the most glossy. As most of the leaves are half-damaged I'm leaving them on until it has more new growth, it might need the good bit of the leaf for something. Plus I imagine it will shed them in time. Three of my Kordes climbers were affected quite badly but Westerland which I have as a shrub was almost unscathed.
Some dark beauties this morning..
Munstead Wood buds unfurling:
Burgundy Ice:
Little patio rose Diamond Eyes:
The Prince, this sight greets me as I exit my front door:
And a lilac beauty, Heidi Klum blooms are impressively robust, at the moment they are lasting on average for 11 days: