THE ROSE GARDEN IN JULY

The open gardens was a great success.  I'm still waiting to hear how much money we raised, but judging by the number of visitors we must have had the best one yet.  Part way through the afternoon, it occurred to me that this might be the longest time that I had ever spent just looking at the garden.  And  despite it being very enjoyable, I can't see it happening again any time soon.  

Anyway, to this week's Six.  First is Rosa Compassion climbing over this arch.

I love the colour, and it has a good rose scent too.  It's habit is a little on the stiff side, so it wants to shoot up rather than being trained sideways, but it's very floriferous, so I shouldn't complain.

Roses need something to keep them company, and some common Astrantia Major does the job.  It's now taken to self seeding around.

One thing I find with dual aspect borders is you cannot predict whether a plant will take a liking to the east or the west aspect.  I grew annual sunflowers in the west facing Long Border the first year, but they all decided to face east.  I have a similar 'problem' with this Clematis 'Niobe' which grows over rear of the arbour at the back of the Rose Garden which flowers beautifully where it can hardly be seen.  The camera hasn't captured the colour of this properly, so if you were thinking Niobe is much more crimson than that, you are right.

The white Margaret Merril roses had finished their first flush of flowers and the central bed was looking  empty.  I had some lilies growing in pots and which I sank in the ground to brighten things up, and because it gives that Edwardian air.

There was Lilium Regale

and Pink Perfection

These grow so much better for me in the greenhouse in pots than they do in the border.  They grew at least twice as tall and the lily beetle didn't find them.  

Next up is another self seeder that I'm happy to have dotted through the border - Campanula lactiflora.  I had both 'Loddon Anna' and 'Prichard's Variety' in the garden and I think it's that latter that these are closest to.

My last floral picture for this week is of Penstemon in my favorite purple.  There are several plants grouped together to get this effect.

That's all for this week.  If you are used to receiving this post by email, then you may have noticed that it is taking longer and longer to come out, so I have decided to swop to a new mail manager.  This entailed me doing some complicated IT stuff which was well beyond my abilities, so fingers crossed it works.  I've tried to transfer over any existing subscribers, but if nothing arrives you may need to sign up again.

Thanks to the Propagator as always for hosting Six on Saturday.