A few rose moments...
Oops. I've had a few rose moments these last few days. It's those orchard roses - their time for flowering has started, and some adjustments have been necessary...
Rose Archways
Monday 15th November
I haven't done much today in the garden, apart from putting on the orchard archway drippers and checking the roses. Hmm... What a trusting person I was, those years ago, at that specialist rose nursery. The nurseryman sold me some silly roses, and I took his advice meekly like a gardening lamb.
Chevy Chase Rambling Rose
Humph...
Ghislaine de Feligonde, I'm sorry, but you are far too fat to adorn an archway. Lady Hillingdon - climb or else! And I am less than satisfied about certain others - Madame Caroline Testout is terribly spindly, Souvenir de la Malmaison is covered in tight balled buds which are unromantically rotting, Etoile de Hollande is sulking (and not as fragrant as I expected). Let's not forget the climbing Uetersens - they may be spectacularly covered in blousy bright pink flowers, but they aren't climbing anywhere.
Reine Des Violettes, which I was certain would enjoy the wide open spaces, looks frightened. Aargh! I still don't like Parkdirektor Riggers (though he looks OK at a distance), and Phyllis Bide is too short.
And as far as my rose records go, the whole thing is a bit of a mess. I can't find Adam anywhere, Spek's Centennial has passed on, and there's a big blousy climber which I have no record of. I've noted it as a climbing super-sized Abraham Darby, which it can't be - can it? The climber incorrectly labelled Handel is still there.
Phyllis Bide Roses
Ha! I'm sounding like one seriously grumpy rose grower. It's just that I had a vision, and asked for help in that jolly rose nursery all those years ago - thirteen fragrant healthy climbers please, suitable for archways. I've already had to dig out two Easlea's Golden Ramblers which were indeed rambling - off down the row of Hazelnut trees, aiming to be fifty meters long in five years...
Moonlight Rose
Tuesday 16th November
I'm off to sort out the archway roses once and for all. I will weed, trim and tie, spray, take photographs, and dig out if necessary. The non-climbing Uetersens can be reprieved because they are so beautifully pink, but I'm popping down to the nursery right now to purchase some decent climbers. I've had it with diseased old darlings - I'm choosing modern stuff with a health tick. Back soon.
Hee hee...
Welcome to the climbers Alchemist (beautifully fragrant), the real Handel (my last Handel was incorrectly labelled), a Zephirine Drouhin, and a climbing Uetersen - must try again, for the sake of that wonderful pink. And I have two pink bush roses to plant underneath Madame Caroline Testout - Baroness Rothschild and Bonica. That'll teach her for having such bare, skinny, unimpressive ankles.
My Windrush Could be a Fraud...
A bit of a worry regarding Windrush - the rose nursery has Windrush-labelled roses, but their shrubs have pale lemon flowers. Oops. Having thoroughly recommended my version of Windrush (golden, tending to copper flowers) to the gardening world, I feel rather sheepish, and will have to do some remedial research.
My Just Joey Rose
The colours in the rose nursery's label pictures are sun-altered, too. Their Just Joeys are pale, pale, pale, like milky coffee - not a hint of apricot. I think I've just correctly identified one of my recycled roses as a Just Joey...
Bloomfield Courage
Mid-Afternoon...
It's just too hot. I've severely dealt to one of the Souvenir de la Malmaisons - it was totally tipping over and its rose arch has been pulled out of line. Zephirine Drouhin is now sharing that side of the arch. All my new roses are planted and the irrigation drippers are pointing onto their bases.
A Bit Later...
Guess what? I found some more spaces, so I've been back to the rose nursery. I have the modest rambler Bloomfield Courage, plus some normal healthy moderns - City of London, Ivory Magic, White Knight, and Casino. I'm off to plant them now, and then (touch wood) the rose archway improvements will be over. Finished. All mistakes covered up and/or rectified.
What a day! It seems to be getting hotter, and I'm about to prepare a light evening meal, mainly salads. That reminds me - my own lettuces are almost ready to eat. Ha! A cool beer would be nice.