Hi @Victoria Sponge, It probably is too early to tell, have to wait for summer for a proper test. Although I am still my usual 3-4 weeks ahead of the UK, it has been colder than normal here too which may be why my roses are actually looking good just now!!
Thanks re GG, yes I’m beginning to think I have a garden now rather than just a few beds dotted around. There is still some major works to tackle, a crumbling rocky terrace with pockets of weed-infested planting and a random mix of bedrock, gravel, weeds and grass masquerading as a ‘Lawn’.
Though I am finally nearing completion of the last bit of semi-circular stone wall of the new rose bed around an old olive tree, which I’m building, filling and planting in sections. There is a fair drop-off to the left, hence half wall, half metal edging to level up the planting area. Excuse the mess and the random stakes to keep the dogs off the new plants!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Hello @JessicaS If you are interested in Beekeeping I think you (or rather your husband) should look at and preferably join The British Beekeepers Assoc, they are a fabulous resource and really helpful. I gather they give you hands-on lessons if you are a total newbie. You put yourself on the list for a swarm and when your turn comes they give you one they collected as seen in my second pic where my husband is the ladder holder and the other 2 from the local BBKA https://www.bbka.org.uk/find-beekeeping-near-you
As to our experience, we do have lawn around them and don't mow very close 2-3m, they don't like the noise. You could garden quite close to the back and sides of a hive but you would be in their way if you are on their flightpath. They don't sting just might bop into you. People only get stung (I never have) if the bee gets tangled in your hair or clothes and begins to get squashed if you don't realise it's there or while attempting to free it.
Edit One point I should make is that very many Beekeeper don't actually keep their hives at home. Many farmers and landowners seem happy to let others site hives on their land, bees are just so great!
@Nollie, I once saw your garden in dream and it had a flower bed around tree. Not sure how it came to my head, may be you mentioned it before or just a coincidence. Looking at this photo was like déjà vu.
Now if you are wondering about dream, I had another funny one. I had moved to a new place and said hello to my neighbour. And then she invited me for tea, and when I went to her garden, it was marlorena's garden!
@newbie77 ...that would be fun !.. pre Covid I used to have neighbours around for tea and scones, but not now.. it used to vex me somewhat that they were more interested in local gossip than my roses..
@Nollie ... nice handiwork Nollie.. going to look great with those roses around the tree.. when it's finished perhaps you could list which roses you have chosen for this area.. .. presumably those big rocks you get delivered locally?.. they look very heavy..
@Tack ...very professional bee keeping look, I notice you're standing well back.. lol.. what's the honey like?..
@Tack thank you so much, thats really helpful! I will tell him to join. I think my parents called them once when we had a swarm in the garden and they popped down with a box and collected them. Im not bothered about being bopped, I love watching them, cant remember last time a bee got me, wasps however! (Trod on a ground wasp nest 5mins after a hay baler last year, stung to pieces and got one in my hair at home plus various others!). My hairs waist length so i tie it back in garden usually. We are not bothered about honey so its for the joy of keeping them that appeals. Im eying a spot with a clear front by the fence and perennials either side, or putting a solid base for a hive at the back of my shallow cut flower or my herb raised bed as thats nicely tucked aside.
hi rose lovers. This is my second rose for flowering this year. Madam Butterfly. The first was Etoile de Hollande. This one is good for cutting. Valerie
@newbie77, well I think I posted ‘before’ photos over a year ago, lockdown delayed construction for ages as I couldn’t get any mortar for the stones, so your dream may well have been a distant memory!
Purple Lodge, yet another newbie, is just blooming. A vibrant colour but I rather hoped it might be the colour of it’s name, at least this early in the season before the real heat kicks in! It’s meant to be a purple/burgundy between the deep pinks of Soul and Ivor’s Rose, but it all might end up a bit samey or perhaps clashy:
It might be all-change of course when they get more established, but currently Ebb Tide is exactly the right dark, muted colour I hoped PL would be, but probably too small a rose for PL’s position at the back:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@Nollie Now we can bet that my advice for you was completely wrong Ebb Tide will grow into a monster for you (I know it does for some people in the US) and Purple Lodge is a wrong colour... Needless to say, Purple Lodge for me is more burgundy-purple than magenta-purple for me.
Entirely my own fault @edhelka, I got impatient and planted Purple Lodge before it opened it’s blooms, when I had absolutely, unequivocally, solemnly vowed to wait and see the colour first 😃 So far it’s a much taller and lustier plant than ET though, so you were right there. ET is currently a pot, I will plonk it next to PL so it gets equal sun and see what happens...
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Posts
Though I am finally nearing completion of the last bit of semi-circular stone wall of the new rose bed around an old olive tree, which I’m building, filling and planting in sections. There is a fair drop-off to the left, hence half wall, half metal edging to level up the planting area. Excuse the mess and the random stakes to keep the dogs off the new plants!
Now if you are wondering about dream, I had another funny one. I had moved to a new place and said hello to my neighbour. And then she invited me for tea, and when I went to her garden, it was marlorena's garden!
...that would be fun !.. pre Covid I used to have neighbours around for tea and scones, but not now.. it used to vex me somewhat that they were more interested in local gossip than my roses..
@Nollie
... nice handiwork Nollie.. going to look great with those roses around the tree.. when it's finished perhaps you could list which roses you have chosen for this area..
.. presumably those big rocks you get delivered locally?.. they look very heavy..
@Tack
...very professional bee keeping look, I notice you're standing well back.. lol.. what's the honey like?..
Purple Lodge, yet another newbie, is just blooming. A vibrant colour but I rather hoped it might be the colour of it’s name, at least this early in the season before the real heat kicks in! It’s meant to be a purple/burgundy between the deep pinks of Soul and Ivor’s Rose, but it all might end up a bit samey or perhaps clashy:
It might be all-change of course when they get more established, but currently Ebb Tide is exactly the right dark, muted colour I hoped PL would be, but probably too small a rose for PL’s position at the back: