Recent Activity
Mine here just started.
Cool, wet weather is bringing out some lovely purple tones. Fleeting pleasures, before hot summer weather turns them all magenta..
Munstead Wood, outstanding fragrance at the moment:
Royal Celebration, young but promising:
Ebb Tide, the purplest of purples:
Not purple, but Mme. de Sévigné approaching full flush:
Beautiful @Nollie in Spain Zone9 !
------
I remember on the GW forum rose threads there was a discussion of the idea that roses often put on vegetative growth or bud and flower, pausing one job to do the other. My roses certainly seem to do that. After a flush the plants start to bush up again. Do you seem to notice that pattern? My new (not very tall) R. Champagne Moments seems to have stopped dead in putting on height now that they are covered in buds. I'm hoping there maybe a growth spurt after the first blooming flush. I'd love to know what you notice in this regard. Thanks.
------
Lady Hillingdon has many buds - though in stasis, so won't be popping any time soon.
--
Some more Moonlight
I am firmly stuck with my 2 flowering roses. And some blood red thorns. My garden is a sea of forgetmenots.
@Nollie enjoy the colder weather and the vibrant purples. I can confirm my Palais Biron / Purple Lodge has survived the winter. Fingers crossed I will have at least one purple bloom. Otherwise I will continue to stare longingly at your pictures.
Oranges and Lemons a joy to behold on such a dreary day here. One thing about gardening in UK, we rarely need to irrigate.
Perki,
Some suggestions from me.
Phlox 'Amethyst' / 'Blue Paradise' or 'Purple Flame' long season, scented, mildew free, no trouble..
..purple Dahlia 'Le Baron' is superb with yellows and oranges,.. or whites.
Veronica 'Marietta' I also have, it's at its best July/August. As LoS starts flowering in May, I prefer simple Foxgloves, preferably the purple one at that time. I like taller plants like Lythrum 'Dropmore Purple', which I have now with it. Also shrubby things like Ceratostigma willmottianum with its cobalt blue flowers. Very long flowering season too.
For a Geranium, 'Eureka' flowers into October..
I was surprised to find Etoile de Hollande had opened today:
And the English woodlands are glorious this time of year: