So much work, @ElbFee. Is the weather being kind? I hope you can put your feet up at some point. I can't wait to see the fruits of your labours!

I got another load of leaves up today, @clematiscoastaldorset , now we are at -2ºC

Ordered another 4 tonnes of gravel for the paths - so work will continue. Then I was informed it would be delivered tomorrow! Holy Mackerel, the builder's merchant here does not hang about! I wanted it for 2 weeks time, as I still have to lift the old gravel. But, that gives me an extra booster rocket under me, to get a move on.

@clematiscoastaldorset, I'm picking the standard rose up from the (local) grower tomorrow, along with Ebb Tide.

@clematiscoastaldorset thanks for asking. No flooding in our area, but many parts of the Thames valley region have been flooded with very many brooks overflowing. The back garden is like a slushy swamp with all the fallen leaves and soggy ground. That is nature preparing itself for the next season.

@Peter Aberdeen I would rather be warm and cosy inside rather than work in this icy weather. Please take care.

A definite booster rocket, @Peter Aberdeen! I hope you can pace yourself if it gets too cold. Minus 2 is too cold really but....

Very nice. @Kate James, and Ebb Tide sounds lovely - I have read good things about it, it is on my fantasy wish-list!

I hope the flooding in your region subsides, with no more deluges of rain, @Eustace_Oxf_UK_9a. Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire and parts of Northamptonshire were shown on the news as being particularly bad. All this extreme weather has prompted me to extend my raised beds for non-rose planting. At least alot of roses seem to enjoy more water rather than less, though it can be a balancing act...

Sorry to hear about the flooding some of you have had. It’s been dry and sunny here for the last week so I was finally able to finish my new mini terrace, incorporating a new removable cover for the septic tank. It will provide a shady seating area during the summer. Meanwhile, the dogs are enjoying chasing each other off and on it:

It incorporates a half-sunken 50x50cm pot because I was just short of decking planks. Now what to plant there! The obvious choice is a rose, since I have over-ordered as usual, but it won’t get much sun so I am thinking a shade tolerant shrub of some sort. The obelisk is there just to test what a tall, narrow shrub might look like.

What a lovely, rustic looking scene, great job @NollieSpainZ9. Are you ever bothered by midges though in the Summer. Over here, where I live it would be midge heaven.

@Peter Aberdeen...thanks to your input, I am confident the mystery plant is indeed a Gaura, in fact it could even be the very same type shown in the photo in your post. It was a cheap impulse buy from Asda, so not enough attention was paid...and it wouldn't be reliably hardy in my part of the world apparently, so I'll overwinter it inside.

I have been to collect standard Rhapsody in Blue and bush Ebb Tide this morning. I'm not going to plant them until tomorrow as the weather will be a few degrees warmer tomorrow and I'm tired.

Not sure why I was so worried about planting the standard straight as the stem is bowed anyway! I don't know if this is usual? I didn't complain as the man said he'd picked out the best one for me, and I've never had a standard rose before.

I will try to remember to get some photos and post them tomorrow.

@Kate James - when you use the ties to connect to the stake you will be able to get the stem straighter. I use three ties to make sure it goes as straight as possible and then as it grows in the soil it will become less pliant and stronger. If you only got 2 ties then one at the top and in the middle, this will keep it as straight as you can whilst you get another tie (or use an old pop-sock/stocking).

Thanks @Peter Aberdeen, I can't remember if I've got two or three but I'm sure I can find some old tights if necessary!

Or I might knit something.

PeteS, thanks. Yes we do get midge clouds but not the biting type and usually only in the forested part above the house and main garden. A far greater menace are the tiger mosquitos that are active throughout the day, have a painful bite and don’t care where you sit!

Kate, none of my 3 standards came with a totally straight trunk. I had to put a padded spacer near the top of the stake for a bendy one where it bent inwards and then gradually pull the bottom tie tighter where it bent outwards.

Incidentally, I devised a few tricks for staking standards in pots that worked..

1. Nail or firmly zip tie the upright stake to a horizontal crossbar wedged firmly inside the pot below a few inches below the rim. You don’t see it when covered with mulch, but be careful to keep the root graft ABOVE the finished mulch level to prevent the trunk rooting and suckering. I used a metal bar, but a wooden one should last long enough for the roots to fill the pot and properly anchor the trunk.

2. Use two or more smaller stakes pushed firmly around the edges of the pot then draw them in to the centre to form a wigwam. Tie together with an adjustable tie just below the top graft but not so tight so the stakes rub the trunk.

Thanks for those tips @NollieSpainZ9. I will bear them in mind.

I just thought I would mention something I remembered re standards. Some are recommended as being planted into a container first, and only later into the ground. Does anyone recall this? I assume the 'later' is to allow for root development. Mine are all in pots anyway, but maybe @Kate James, it is worth checking to see if either of yours have this guidance attached to them?

on the topic of standards and stakes.. anyone has got away without staking them....?

Yes, me, @Cooldoc, 12 months so far!

@clematiscoastaldorset, I can't find this advice for Rhapsody in Blue. My Ebb Tide is not a standard, and will be going in a pot anyway.

I think one of the reasons for staking them is to help support the main head and prevent it from being broken off.

12 months!!! so would have survived the Spring winds as well.. I am tempted to experiment as well..... not made up my mind yet...

That is good, @Kate James.

Yes, quite windy in my garden @Cooldoc and once the standards are in leaf, they are a bit more vulnerable. Maybe I got away with it because they are young, I don't know. One of the standards is in a pot, close to some trees and shrubs, so I could use the trees as temporary supports, but I haven't needed to. The other standards are freestanding in pots facing the prevailing wind. Maybe I have been lucky, I don't know, but I would imagine that by 'growing them hard' they may well have toughened up somewhat!

@clematiscoastaldorset, doesn't Carol Klein say that you shouldn't stake trees so that they learn to support themselves? Or something like that?

I have heard that, regarding saplings, @Kate James, with a move away from staking as a manner of course. I have had another look at staking requirements for standard roses, and I can't find anywhere that says 'don't bother staking'. It is possible I will need to prune my standards more copiously than I would, had they been staked.

On a related matter, I have been reading on the Styles Roses website, that they don't advocate planting the graft union below the soil, unlike most other places. This is of interest to me and possibly @Cooldoc too. I have just ordered from them...however, I would have thought that wind-rock would be more of an issue if planting the graft union above the soil!

https://styleroses.co.uk/garden-roses-aftercare/tips/planting-garden-roses/

This is the link that I was referencing earlier.

Just to be clear, I ordered a standard rose from them, so will of course not be planting the graft union below the soil, hehehe!

Style roses always maintained that graft should not be buried @clematiscoastaldorset and not just for standards..

For standards, windrock would be a problem whether the graft is above or below as they have a single stem conpared to normal bare roots with multiple shoots/branches.

PeteS, how cold does it get in your area? My gaura are planted outside and survive. They even seed. However, I do not prune before February. The old canes and leaves are obviously enough protection.

@ElbFee...I suppose a really cold night would be minus 6, so not desperately cold, but we do get an awful lot of rain and saturated ground, which is probably a greater killer than the cold in these parts.

@clematiscoastaldorset Yes I do think the balcony overhang makes for a sheltered spot so the roses get minimally rain damaged and as it is south facing the low sun gets to them. Still the roses themselves vary hugely and about half had stopped flowering and lost most of their leaves. The roses in the garden have very different conditions

Oops, left the conifers in the concrete pots (planted in a plastic insert) right on the river bank.

Lovely shady spot there @Nollie, with a brilliant solution to hiding the water treatment plant as my husband insists on calling our septic tank. Surely you have to try a rose in that pot ? With your frazzling sun it sounds like a much more benign spot. Or rotate the roses to bloom there at their peak?

Oh my, do you think these flooding has become a common theme @Tack

Here got the standards from Style roses today.. One in a Million (Poulsen) and Margaret Merril.. felt the ones from British Roses were better.. better grafted, slightly better canes etc.. some of the grafted parts had split/ gaps which I hope wont kill them off in the long run.. will try to get a pic tomorrow.. was running out of time to take any pic today..

Thankyou @Tack UK, you have given me an idea to create some more shelter in my garden, if I can. What a wonderful view of the river, though I hope it slopes down to the river!? Do hope it is not going to be another wet winter.

Thanks @Cooldoc re Style Roses. Mine arrived too, very well packed - took me thirty plus minutes to remove the cellophane, with scissors. No damage, despite arriving at a friend's house upside down. I did notice quite a difference after receiving mainly DA roses. The canopy and roots seem to be more pruned, but the standard was very sturdy (Hybrid tea Deep Secret). Hope to pot it up this weekend.

I need floribundas, they put on such a display, @Cooldoc. I think I looked at One in a Million and eventually went for Deep Secret, as a standard. Managed to take a quick snap of the canopy only:

I share your hope for a dry winter @clematiscoastaldorset. This has been the worst year for flooding in my 41 years here; a month of the garden covered Jan-Feb, half the garden for a week in Sept and again now. Luckily had most of the borders pruned and put to bed nice and early this year.

Looking forward to pics of all these Standards, we've never had many before amongst all of us. Hope they do well

One in a million was something I had before in a pot.. did not thrive at all.. the blooms went crisp in warm weather.. some of them were not my first choice but the selection for standard roses as such is limited.. I would have kept the space for regular roses, but these were needed for creating atleast a partial privacy at the front of the house (hate to have evergreens)..

What a year for flooding, @Tack UK. I remember some photos of your January garden - it was a lake. I hope most of your roses survived. It is all too unpredictable for my liking. I am looking forward to seeing all the standards too. DA had a better range this year, I thought, but several were snapped up while I was still dithering.

Is it a row of standards as a hedge, you are creating, @Cooldoc? That is a good idea. Sorry to hear that One in a million did not thrive in a pot. Hopefully in the ground will work out well. I love to see roses in front gardens (and I often see passers-by stop to sniff roses while walking the pavements by front gardens.) Many of these roses have been removed by successive house owners over the years, and it is a pity. Perhaps you will inspire others to do the same when yours bloom.

Standard before planting. I'm not sure why it was in a pot as it was bought as a bare root. No pictures after planting as by the time I had struggled for an hour to get the stake in more than 6 inches I was cold, tired and fed up.

I will hope to post pictures of it in bloom next year and nobody will notice that the stake is not quite straight!

Is that your Rhapsody in Blue, @Kate James? It looks tall! That is the thing I find...they always arrive on the coldest few days possible and It is horrible being outside struggling with stakes, bags of compost and cold water that goes everywhere... and then months to wait....but it will be so worth it :)

Yes it is @clematiscoastaldorset. I'm hoping it will be worth the wait! I think it's about 1 metre tall.

A spray of Heavenly Pink to gladden your hearts.

Well, we managed to reach 13ºC today - so off I went to the bottom of the garden to continue the path landscaping. I worked away till the light was fading and will continue tomorrow. Hopefully, I will remember to take a picture tomorrow - deep down in Pogle's Wood!

I may well have to do these paths in bursts of activity, all weather dependent. It looks hellish at the moment - but you can't make an omelette without... &c.

@NollieSpainZ9 having finished his decking has spurred me on.

not much of a hedge @clematiscoastaldorset unlike other plants, cannot get roses too close.. four standards in the front garden.. 2 on each sides of a Magnolia (which I am not sure if it is alive or dead).. It is still a work in progress as it was covered with membranes and topped with pebbles by the previous owners.. which I had removed in stages and started filling with plants this year.. last year it was just a row of Lavenders..

2 years ago I heard a little kid tell his dad 'look dad, It looks so colourful'.. this was back when I had roses in pots.. so everything was cramped up.. but what he said made my heart sing.. :)

27th evening I had placed an order with Style Roses and by 29th morning I received it.. and hat too chunky stems on them..

Rawlings collection.. I was impressed by his roses (Amazing day and Always you) .. some might be a miss such as 'Thanks a million' which blooms well with good disease resistance but hardly any fragrance to my nose.. following are (L to R) 'Diamond Wedding, Beverly's blush, Crazy in Love and Wonderful dad..

@Marlorena had Crazy in love briefly If I remember correctly..

... and the light is now fading fast so in I scurry...

These are the before images that I took this morning. It shows you what I am dealing with after 20-25 years of neglect in the garden. Especially this area - 'Pogle's Wood'. Dark and under the shade of an old yew tree. Brambles everywhere, along with a suckering lilac, and a rampant quince - so plenty to snag myself on!

Work in progress, as I remove the top layer of detritus containing the old gravel, weeds and brambles. Further up is the area with the sub layer forked over so that it is not compacted and so easier to lift down to the new barrier layer:

The forked over sub layer:

Forked over layer, again, with the tonne bags of gravel patiently waiting to be spread:

The full horror of the paths as I reclaim them back after 20 odd (very odd) years:

Onwards and upwards!

It rained all last night, so not sure how much I can get done today, but at least I got a picture of the path beginning to emerge out of the chaos.

When I see the state of these flower beds to the sides too, it makes you want to weep!.

I did not realise how long those paths were, @Peter Aberdeen! Are you finding the weather is chopping and changing too much to get jobs done this autumn? I keep waiting for the rain to subside, but it never does.

Water is solid here at 20F or -6.66667C. Even the calendula have stopped blooming, and they are tough as steel. My flower beds are horrible, complete with fallen leaves and dead stuff. Diane

Oh has winter just arrived for you, @Diane Brakefield? Not good when it arrives like that overnight. Any snow? It seems damper than ever with me, after the rainiest year for a very long time...

@clematiscoastaldorset - my paths are enormous in length and all need to be (and are being) resurfaced. This is the last of the gravel paths to be done. Then I will be preparing the last path which is to be a grass path, so I can keep it neat by just mowing: it is a path not used too much, so it should be fine but it is long - about 50-60 paces, so about 40 mtrs. TBH I just did not want the expense of gravelling it, as well as having a different type of path to add interest and 'age' to the garden's overall look.

Clematis, winter has been coming on for the last couple of weeks here with our short seasons. We get little snow in these arid parts, but it varies from year to year. We do not get your rain, which can get stale fast when it brings on mud and mess. But rain is a good thing here. I guess it's impossible to be pleased with weather, and what would we gardeners talk about in January? Diane

Snow during our worst winter, 2016-7. These are our mountains to the east of us. The pointy spot, Stack Rock, is near a fairly close ski area, Bogus Basin.

Alas, the snow has claimed someone.

Another snowy winter, but not as cold or long as 2016. This was 2022.

That sounds very creative @Peter Aberdeen, I like the sound of having paths made from different materials. I can imagine working, like a tapestry. Hopefully the weather will play ball! :)

I am beginning to wish for more traditional distinct seasons, @Diane Brakefield! Do you have 4 seasons or more? (Some cultures have more than 4, I believe). The fun is in the variability of the snow...maybe! I am finding the rain so monotonous this year, and agree it can become a muddy mess in next to no time. which can get stale fast when it brings on mud and mess. Beautifully snowy photos. I do hope that person was rescued in time ;)