Roses this week in the garden

This is the most wonderful apricot coloured rose, with full blooms and well shaped buds.  

This shrub rose: Grace, which I bought on my first visit to David Austin, spent a couple of years in a large pot, and now is in its second year in the bed by the patio.  Its leaves are still a pale green, but large and strong and still disease free, though I have one stem with Rose Sawfly damage.

The sawfly seem to be attracted this rose tree in paticular.  When I sit on the patio watching for them, to my husband's consternation I jump up, and catch them and squish them hopefully before they deposit their brood.  Each morning I check for signs of damage, and dispatch any eggs, which line the scared tear in the stem.  It is only in the last couple of years that we have had these rose pests in the area.  I had never seen them before.

With all the bees and beneficial insects flying around I really do not feel like spraying, and hope all the broods of baby blue tits are going round gorging themselves.  Any more than a very small cluster meet the similar ends to the Large rose sawflies.

The climbing rose Etoile de Hollande continues to flower and gives me the most wonderful view down the garden from the Kitchen sink.

Much admired both for its flowers, and its healthy strong growth is Princess Ann.  Yesterday I had more visitors: Jean, Moira, Letti, and Dave for tea and garden,  and I think there will be several orders put in for this one.  The lower part of the bush seems to have the first flowers.

With many strong stems above carrying buds yet to open.

A little disappointing has been Crown Princess Margareta.  I planted it in late Autumn 2013, as soon as it arrived through the post as a bare rooted specimen from David Austin.  I even complained and sent a picture last year, when it had not really moved, and was told there were other plants growing too close.   This year there is a little more growth, and new growth coming from the bottom.  I dressed it well with a good amount of rotten manure last autumn, and this spring fed it well with the Austin's rose food.

I am hoping that it was just a slow starter and makes better progress this year, as the blooms are just magnificent.  Moira also has this rose and it is similarly lank and lax, lacking in vigour too, and it was interesting to discuss this with her.  Maybe the seasonal conditions have not been favourable.    I have seen pictures of it performing well, so I am hopeful.

Other roses are in tight bud and yet to open, so the season for some is later than last year.

Echeveria Elegans admired by visitors to the Garden

This is the first year we are 'opening' our gardens to fellow members of the gardening club.  Since this was my suggestion when we were looking for ways to raise funds for the club, and  also looking for ways of introducing a new element to our activities, I am the first to have visitors to my garden.  I explained that it was a very small garden, crammed with plants, and also pots.  Maybe the attraction for some would be homemade tea, scones and preserves, and a chance of chatting to fellow members of the club.  As there is limited seating on the Patio, I gave a choice of dates so that four members could come together.

Already Liz has visited, just one member this time, and we had a good look round the garden.  We agreed that it is really useful to see just how a plant performs in the local area.  I love to propagate and also sell a few plants to raise funds for the club.  On Saturday Fiona and Muff visited, and went away with some ideas for roses.

Fiona was taken with the rose Grace which happens to be the name of her grand daughter and Muff was thoroughly impressed by Princess Anne, which has just started in bloom and is growing very well with glossy healthy leaves.  I heard lovely stories about flowers and ferns, and how Fiona loves growing flowers on her allotment.

Fiona was particularly taken with the succulents, and I now have a home for the next lot of Echeveria Elegans which I shall be propagating again shortly.  From my original plant a few years ago, I grew three, which sit in a small oblong pot above the drain, against a brick wall, just outside the kitchen and which stood outside all winter.  They are now in flower and also sending out little ones again.

Last year when the three plants were doing this, I took the little offsets and just pushed them in a shallow pan with well draining compost, topped with some grit.  All of them took, and these spent the winter in the conservatory.  Their silver blue foliage contrasts very well with the other pots with sempervivums, of course these stay in the garden outside all the year round.

On the hot patio the succulents just look right.

Panini al Pomodoro

 Just as the sun had warmed up the garden, I went out to collect a few herbs ready for the topping.  The Predough, started up Thursday was light and puffy, so I got started with my dough.  I had run out of my normal flour and had picked up a bag of Waitrose's Leckford Estate Strong White Flour the day before.  I'll be popping back to pick up another bag of this batch.

The smell of all the ingredients: the dough, the onion, olive oil and tomato mixture, and the herbs filled the kitchen.  I used sun dried tomato paste, which is less red than standard tomato paste, but that is what I had in the cupboard, so with standard tomato paste would make for a different coloured dough.

Here is the dough divided into 12, it has been resting under a tea towel for 15 minutes, and ready to be formed into balls.  I have this technique well under my belt now, but a little too much, as I think that a little rustic look, a little hand made look, is more appealing compared with an almost machine like finish.

When they were ready for the oven, they were gently brushed with olive oil, and topped with a little sun dried tomato paste, and herbs.  In the meantime a friend arrived with a jumper, and I managed to find some fine wool and make a pretty good 'invisible' mend to a hole in Marie Claire's jumper.  All the while popping up once or twice to check the buns.

The buns rose really well and were very light,

Early evening we had a Friday Evening moment, with a 'sharing board' and a drink on the patio, this is another delicious savoury bun, from Jane Mason's The Book of Buns.....

New Plants from Ashwood Nursery

When we were on holiday in Mallorca Mr S often stopped to admire this little plant, with its flowers like little snapdragons, sometimes it was growing wild, sometimes it was planted into stone walls, so much so that I did take a picture for him.  We have also seen this growing in similar situation in the UK.

I knew I did not really have any space for any more plants...but  I have come to realise that I also have far too many in pots too.  But there you are, I am a glutton and cannot resist.  I shall have to cut back in future, and for now, reduce some of my larger clumps of cherished plants and plant more out. For the ones which are not performing, I shall have to ruthless...quite difficult and maybe I shall repent at leisure.  On this occasion of buying,  none on my list were available, and I did succumb to the buy 6, and more or less get one free, why oh why do I fall for this.  Anyway when I got home I looked them up and I think I am pleased with all of them.

When I saw a similar plant, I thought this would be the little present for Mr S...Cymbalaria Muralis.  When I looked it up and found one of the alternative name, I was flabbergasted!  Kenilworth Ivy.  I also remembered its other name Ivy leaved toadflax.  Mr S was delighted! He loves little wild flowers.

This one with the pretty pink flowers reminded me of other seashore plants, with silvery leaves and compact flowers,  I found on on holiday.  This one is Antennaria Rosea, and comes from North America and I was really tickled pink by its other name Rosy Pussytoes

Just to add a very nice shade of lemony yellow, Alpine Achillea King Edward

and because this reminded of my lovely daughter in law: Veronica Prostata Mrs Holt

and then I was tempted by this pretty Aethionema Warley Rose, I'm not sure I have got quite the right conditions for it, as it likes alkaline soil, but I will dress it with lots of broken eggshells and see if it flourishes or not.

and then because I have a thing about geraniums
Geranium Farreri

Visit to Ashwood Nursery and Garden

For once I went on the Kenilworth Gardening Club outing, also without Mr S.  As I kissed him goodbye, I asked:  Would you like me to bring you something back?  I expected the answer to be something like a bar of chocolate, but no the answer was a plant.  Oh heck...this was difficult, I kept thinking about it, and eventually as I walked around the garden led by John Massey himself, and then the nursery, the answer came...will write about this in my next new plant post!

The coach trip led us down roads, high up above the hedgerows, the countryside was just about as pretty as it gets, with lambs, and blossom, and cattle grazing.  The outing was on the 16th. of May, still quite cool but lovely and sunny.

John Massey's garden is full of almost all the features a good garden can have, and it makes the most of its long boundary along the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.  In most corners there are fun sculptures too.

The large pond was a delight

there were plantings of frost tender plants to envy

cleverly trimmed cloud bushes

and the borders were starting to come into their own, but I loved the ferns just emerging in a shady corner by the house

Elegant containers were planted up with the new Lewisia Carousel Hybrids.

The garden centre had a large range of very well grown plants, but sadly the plants from the garden which I would have loved, were not available.  The glass houses were packed with interesting plants and their Auricula stand was alluring but I did resist, as I am letting my collection wind down.

I loved the shop and particularly this display of Haws Watering Cans, made in England.  If I needed another watering can, one of these would be the one for me!

I joined other members of the club for a snack from their delightful restaurant, sitting outside, and musing over what I would buy.  Of course I had cycled up to the Clock, and I knew I would have to restrain myself to what I could carry back!