A bouquet of roses, ancient and modern, to feed the soul and the senses.
Little Hell Flames…
Poppies in July Sylvia Plath Little poppies, little hell flames, Do you do no harm? You flicker. I cannot touch you. I put my hands among the flames. Nothing Burns. And it exhausts me to watch you Flickering like that, wrinkly and clear red, like the skin of a mouth. A mouth…
Continue reading ➞ Little Hell Flames…
Share this:
Twice in a Blue Moon with Ice Cream
The rather cryptic headline simply names these two roses, (I'll leave you to guess which is which), found while visiting Hill Park Roses (although there is no hill and being by the side of the busy Kingston by-pass, little likelihood of a park either, but I digress..). An old-fashioned family run nursery with ramshackle buildings,…
Continue reading ➞ Twice in a Blue Moon with Ice Cream
Share this:
Sleepy Bees
Astrantia 'Roma' Astrantia 'Roma', a delightful and very useful herbaceous perennial, was exerting some kind of magic on the bees while I was working (my Roehampton project), this afternoon. Nearby drifts of Geraneum and Nepeta were a-buzz, with much busy-ness from one flower to another and another - By contrast, Hattie's Pincushion must be insatiably delicious…
Continue reading ➞ Sleepy Bees
Share this:
Shades of Copper and Flame…
The luminous Pat Austin I'm reading through David Austin's The English Rose for passages relating to this rose, introduced in 1995 and named for his late wife, Pat Austin. Writing on the choice of colour and introducing new colours in particular: 'Here we are looking not simply for a variety of colour, but for good…
Continue reading ➞ Shades of Copper and Flame…
Share this:
White Lace & Emeralds
The beautiful Damask rose, Mme Hardy, introduced in 1832, making this an outstanding old girl. Peter Beales in his excellent reference 'Classic Roses,' writes An elegant and sumptuous rose which can hold its own against any in the shrubbery. Flowers pure white, full double and quite large considering the number it produces. Centre petals are…
Continue reading ➞ White Lace & Emeralds
Share this:
Himalayan Blue Poppy
Meconopsis betonicifolia - Himalayan Blue Poppy A few blue poppies in the woodland margins at Kew, something seen out of the corner of my eye, deserving closer inspection (I was on the hunt for peony and rose). Meconopsis have a reputation for being difficult, in warmer latitudes especially - the various species grow best in…
Continue reading ➞ Himalayan Blue Poppy
Share this:
“Strictly” Foxtrot
Digitalis 'Foxtrot' I am utterly taken by the beauty of this muted, charming, fluted foxglove; something the plant breeders have got right methinks (something new and different but still a beautiful garden plant). Your marks? I'll give it a '10', darling.
Share this:
Thomas a Becket – new to David Austin 2013/14
My first flower from the 2013/14 David Austin Rose, Thomas à Becket. I am glad that DAR admit that it is a difficult rose to photograph - it was! To capture the richness of the red, with bright pink/carmine tones, all but this one of my picture rang an off-note. David Austin, in their website, write…
Continue reading ➞ Thomas a Becket – new to David Austin 2013/14
The Teddington Gardener 