My Rose Collection ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is something I have been wanting to do for a while, but I have had to wait for each of them to flower to do so. Here is a look at my Rose Collection!

'Deep Secret' is planted at the end of my front border and is the only red rose that I have. It is a Hybrid Tea and is fairly thorny but the blooms make up for that along with their strong lemon fragrance.

'Rhapsody in Blue' is a Floribunda Rose which means it continuously flowers. It is kept in a pot near my front door. The flowers are a lovely deep purple which fade to a purply grey as they age, it has an average amount of small thorns and a faint scent. 

'Wendy Cussons' is another Hybrid Tea and has what can only be described as huge blooms! It has a strong lemon fragrance and is quite thorny but just like with 'Deep Secret' the blooms more than make up for that! I have two of these in pots at the top of my drive with the following rose inbetween.

'Joie De Vivre' is another Floribunda which as mentioned before continuously flowers along with a more compact habit. As you can see this rose has more layers of petals than the others, which looks beautiful and has a faint scent.

'Champagne Moment' you have all heard about before from me, this is a Shrub rose and is planted in my garden. This rose is sentimental as we bought it last year which is when we got engaged. The rose has a faint perfume, small thorns and I love the two tone colours.

Which leads me onto my final rose. This rose is a new addition and was all thanks to the previous one. I entered a photo of the one above into a competition, WON and this was my prize!

'Princess Alexandra of Kent' is a David Austin Shrub Rose and is currently waiting for it's final place after arriving yesterday. The rose hasn't bloomed yet but you can see there are plenty of buds so hopefully it will do so soon.

I hope you have all enjoyed a look at my roses, why not share your own?

Thanks for stopping by,
HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Blooming Visitors ...

Good Morning!

Recently some of the plants that haven't bloomed yet are finally starting to do so, so I wanted to share them with you all today. 

Let's start off with some of the Fuschia's, the one's in pots that are displayed infront of the GH haven't done so yet but one in a Hanging Basket 'Trudi Davro' and one in a pot at the front of the house, has. 

The Crocosmia 'Lucifer' at the back of the garden has opened it's petals and looks stunning with the colour and height. 

I have two Phygelius planted in a border alongside the lawn which look great with their spires of bell shaped flowers.

Lastly we had a little visitor in our garden recently, I found him on our front lawn so moved him into our back garden due to our road. He was a large Hedgehog and ever so cute! He enjoyed a patter around the garden before leaving through a gap in the fence. Contrary to what people say it is best to give them water, not milk. Unfortunately I didn't have any food to give him but he did seem to find a few slugs / snails before he left! It's always nice when wildlife visits your garden.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Alpines & Newbies ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is a mix of things from last week that I hadn't had the chance to share with you all yet. 

The first is an Alpine Trough that I planted up for my parents. Apologies that the photo's aren't too great, the gravel around the trough in the background makes it a bit tricky to see it properly.

When making Alpine troughs you need to ensure that it has drainage holes and you use a mix of John Innes & Grit for drainage. I have also included some herbs in the display at the back of two different Thymes, which work well with Alpines. In the centre is a Dianthus and either side of that are Arabis & Aubrieta.

Once your trough is planted up cover the soil with more grit.

Last week I also bought myself a Winter flowering climber to go alongside the Summer flowering Clematis, which will give a year round display of flowers. This one is Clematis 'Napaulensis' which flowers November - March and is scented. Perfect for when there isn't much else in the garden! Don't panic if you are thinking it looks a sorry state in the picture, the clematis loses all it's leaves in the Summer then puts on it's growth in the Autumn. 

I also bought a Salvia to go in a pot at the back of the garden near the GH to add some height where there is a clump of Geums. I also couldn't resisted the two Dianthus's which caught my eye.

Lastly is the 'Lobelia Speciosa Fan Red', I bought this to fill a gap in the side border in the garden which will spread about 30cm with a height of 75cm, I love the shock of red the petals provide.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!

It's Monday so it is time for another Weekly Garden Checklist. 

Incase you missed it last week I have added a page tab below the blog banner where I will add each Checklist so you can find them in one place for future reference. 

Let's get started!

1. Dead - head Rhododendrons - This isn't the easiest thing to do if you have a large mature plant due to the size, but if you have one in a pot like me then it's pretty straightforward. Simply cut back the flower heads to the base where they meet the leaves.

Of course if there is still one bloom in good condition then of course you can leave it on for a few more days!

2. Cut back Aquilega's - Although they are pretty not everybody wants a garden full of Aquilega's. Once the flowers start to fade they produce seed heads which can spread around the garden. This is great if you have a new garden and wouldn't mind 2 or 3 more plants popping up the next year, but if you don't now is the time to cut them back to the foliage.

3. Prick - out seed sown Winter Bedding - Not all of the bedding types will be ready yet, but if like me you have sown some Wallflower seeds in the past 2 weeks you will have noticed how big they have gotten. Prick them out from the Seed tray into some cell trays. 

TIP - Prick out by gently teasing each seedling apart with a dibber / plant label to avoid damaging the plants.

You will also notice once you have done this that you have a lot more plants than you think. How many would you say are here? 20? 30?

Well it turns out there were 80! 

Whether they all turn into healthy young pants however we shall have to wait and see!

4. Keep cutting Sweet Pea's - By now your Sweet Pea plant should be producing lot's of lovely flowers.

Make sure that you keep cutting them every few days otherwise the plant will start to set seed pods, which results in it failing to produce flowers as it thinks it has finished flowering. 

5. Tie - In Climbers - At this time of year climbers are putting on lots of fresh new growth. Some of which, such as Clematis, can get a bit unruly. Ensure that they are tied in to their supports and have enough supports. You can use items such canes or stretched string for instant support.

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I hope you have found this Checklist helpful!
Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Tall Planters ...

Good Morning!

We all have those planters which at first glance can be a little daunting to fill due to their size and shape. Hopefully this post will help alleviate that problems for some of you! These would be perfect for a more permanent feature display but I decided to keep it simple with some plants that I already had to hand.

First off with these size planters they can take up a LOT of compost so incase any of you missed my previous post with this tip here it is again. Fill up the lower part of your containers with crocks or polystyrene which will not only help drainage but also save your compost!

Fill the remaining container with compost, I used a combination of John Innes no.2 & Multi - Purpose for two reasons, one was that I am not sure whether these will be the final display for the planters and two I didn't have enough John Innes for them both! lol

I planted them up with two Dianthus - Crimson Rim which will add height (something needed for taller planters as low growing plants look out of place & out of proportion) and some simple but striking colour when they bloom.

I then placed them either side of the conservatory doors where they could remaining a pair and create more height in the pot display.

TIP - Don't water the planters until they are in the final position otherwise they will be trickier to move.

P.S. Can you spot the doggies?

If you would like to know what any of the other plants are in the pot display then feel free to get in touch and ask.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Facebook Rose Competition ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is a little different to usual as I am looking for your help!

For any of you who have Facebook would you be willing to vote for me in a competition?

The competition runs until Tuesday 8th July 2pm and all you have to do is 'like' the photograph of my Rose. The person in the competition with the most 'likes' wins but you do need a Facebook account to vote.

Just click the picture of the Rose to be taken to the page ...

If you could do this I would be ever so grateful, the rose I entered was the one me and Andy chose last year when we got engaged and I have decided that when we get married I will be using it in my bouquet. 

Thank you so much for your support to any of you who vote :)

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Chrysanthemums ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is all about Chrysanthemum's! These are perfect for that last bit of colour during September - November when everything else in the garden is fading away for the Winter. I took advantage of the free postage offer and sale over at the Sarah Raven website the weekend before last and they arrived last Wednesday!

I chose 6 of the variety 'Anastasia Green' and 12 of the 'Jewel Collection' to add a splash of colour! You can click the photo's to be taken the pages they are on over on the website.

I potted up the Jewel Collection first into to small pots which will be kept in the GH until they have fully rooted and then planted out into their final pots.

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge the image)

The 'Anastasia Green' Chrysanthemum's are slightly different to the others and are an indoor variety. This means that they can be kept outside until the weather cools in September but then need to be brought into a GH, where they will continue to flower into later in the year. 

These ideally should be planted up into 35-40cm pots with John Innes no.2 but I didn't have any pots this size to hand so until I do they were planted into some smaller pots until they can be upgraded!

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

FINAL NOTE - I have added a Page Tab below my blog banner where you can find each Weekly Garden Checklist, this should make it easier and quicker for you to find them if needed in the future.