Supermarkets are usually pretty safe for me, but so are the garden centres at the moment, there really is not much on offer apart from a sea of bedding plants. Summer occasionally turns up the odd perennial, but hopefully I have that covered. My order from France is due to be delivered today, but that doesn’t mean it will actually turn up!
My Ghislaine de Feligonde standard today entering it’s second season, not quite weeping yet and a bit bare on the left where it’s shadowed by the hedge/fence so I’m hoping for some new growth I can tie in that side:
A bud on Love Song:
Wisteria starting to bloom, I think I actually prefer it when in full leaf!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Wisteria looking pretty @Nollie, I was beginning to think mine had died but noticed yesterday that it was just beginning to bud - now I've got to try to keep the squirrels off it! They love to sit on the terrace wall above it and eat the new buds right in front of me.
On the subject of GdF, mine was planted last November I think, should I insert some bamboo canes behind it now so I can train it towards the trellis/wall or will it just start to throw out lovely long canes and do it's own thing?
Your GdeF is going to be tremendous @Nollie. I love Wisteria when it flowers and like the foliage very much too but there is too much discord in colouring when the new leaves come in with the blossom.
When my GdeF was young @Lizzie27 I was a bit overwhelmed by the bushy shrub it became but started to make sense of it after the full season in the winter.
Glorious day here. Went and sat pondering which rose (that I already have) would fill this space. It used to be in shade but like much of the garden now receives lots of sun because of the felled Ash. I wouldn't choose those shrubs now but the rose will have to work with those colourful leaves and stems. The rose foliage is getting less and less colourful but these are still pretty
Clockwise from top left; Heidi Klum, Special Anniversary , Chandos Beauty and Desdemona
I found this My phone doesn't do close ups well, sorry. Canary Bird Standard, which is also new with a way to go.
I assume they must be grey squirrels @Lizzie27? cheeky muppets! Fortunately we only have red squirrels hiding in the surrounding forests and rarely seen. I have pushed in canes to direct new climbing canes and fat laterals towards and along walls/fences in the past, but as and when I see promising training material.
I hope it will @Tack, looking forward to seeing how it does this year. The spotted laurel is a tricky backdrop but something wild and rugosa-like maybe? Or how about putting your Canary Bird standard there?
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@ciaranmcgrenara Like Busy-Lizzie I don't feed in-ground roses additional feed (they get manure and rose fertiliser) unless it looks like something needs a boost. The pots I do add tomato feed to the watering water a few weeks after the the Spring feed and then throughout the season fortnightly, sometimes using seaweed with iron instead.
I liquid feed potted roses - I've only got 2 at the moment - and will probably start from late April depending on weather.. For in ground, I don't bother unless they have signs of chlorosis, or they're Austins as these are worth going to the extra effort, which will be during July/August, after the first flush..
Always one of the first to flower 'Canary Bird', so nice to see, that and Banksian roses usually.. 'Fruhlingsmorgen' is a beautiful Spring flowerer too, I used to have it in another garden..
I might put 3 x 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in front of that Aucuba.. or some other red, like 'Royal Parfuma'.. ? or perhaps a red leafed Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea'..
@Lizzie27 I noticed you asked about your 'Ispahan' rose.. as yours is so large it won't hurt to trim back the tops if they're rocking about, but whatever you cut off now will be flowering buds, but recalling the size of your plant I don't think you'll notice too much..
Oh and about GdeF.. here's a pic I took in the first season after a bare root planting.. it remained shrubby for the first year, but in the following year it really took off and threw up more basals.. Very bushy growth in season 1, so I'm not sure you'll need to worry too much at this stage.. some stems at the back there I can see shooting up, so you would probably want to tie those to something..
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A bud on Love Song:
Wisteria starting to bloom, I think I actually prefer it when in full leaf!
On the subject of GdF, mine was planted last November I think, should I insert some bamboo canes behind it now so I can train it towards the trellis/wall or will it just start to throw out lovely long canes and do it's own thing?
For in ground, I don't bother unless they have signs of chlorosis, or they're Austins as these are worth going to the extra effort, which will be during July/August, after the first flush..
I might put 3 x 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in front of that Aucuba.. or some other red, like 'Royal Parfuma'.. ? or perhaps a red leafed Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea'..
I noticed you asked about your 'Ispahan' rose.. as yours is so large it won't hurt to trim back the tops if they're rocking about, but whatever you cut off now will be flowering buds, but recalling the size of your plant I don't think you'll notice too much..
Oh and about GdeF.. here's a pic I took in the first season after a bare root planting.. it remained shrubby for the first year, but in the following year it really took off and threw up more basals..
Very bushy growth in season 1, so I'm not sure you'll need to worry too much at this stage.. some stems at the back there I can see shooting up, so you would probably want to tie those to something..