The Rose Garden at Kew. Vital still in November ….

Remember Remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder, treason and.... Roses? This floriferous rose garden certainly has other ideas about a quiet slide into senescence, leaf-drop and rose-hips - these are flower-packed shrubs with more to come. Colour, fragrance aplenty and fresh, clean leaves in abundance. A remarkable display given it really is November and hardly…

More roses – can I be this good to you? Part Two, this time from the Bowes Lyon Rose Garden at RHS Wisley

As promised - and be careful what you wish for in future - a grand gallery of roses captured yesterday in the riot of colour that is the Bowes Lyon Rose Garden at RHS Wisley in Surrey. The newer of two rose gardens, this features wide, broad and ascending (or descending) paths with generous steps,…

A floral & fragrant tour of Petersham Nurseries – Roses of course, plenty of perennials, a Cutting Garden …. a real taste of summer –

A warm bright day and summer feels like it has arrived at Petersham Nurseries - well honestly it is June already. There are roses everywhere, big fat bright buds and blowsy blooms - and the scents! Old Rose and Spice (even a touch of Old Spice), vanilla and clove, fruit (citrus and peach, mango and…

Roses at Kew Gardens – Wild Roses, Old Roses, English Roses. A Grand Start and so much more to come…

and the new 2015/16 Handbook of Roses, which I picked up at the first RHS London Rose Show today... and a duck, at Kew Gardens, to round things off!! The Rose Garden at Kew Gardens today - with a lot of roses popping but still much, much, much more to come - a fine selection…

If you were expecting more Autumnal fireworks, wait in line – in Kew Gardens, the roses continue to shine….

The Rose Garden at Kew today - I was expecting a delicious crop of hips amongst otherwise bedraggled roses, in the garden behind the Palm House at Kew Gardens this afternoon. I called in more to capture some of the arboreal autumnal fireworks from the likes of the Sweet Gum, Liquidamber styraciflua, the gorgeous Cotinus…

Three from David Austin Roses – an English composer, Swedish Royalty and a Yorkshire Garden

Benjamin Britten (above) Here is a variety of unusual colouring for an English Rose - strong salmon-pink that changes with age to a particularly strong shade of pure pink. Deeply cupped flowers gradually develop into an open, slightly cupped rosette. Benjamin Britten is a useful rose to provide a highlight among the softer shades of…

Guess what? More roses! Hopes for a return to Mottisfont too…

And after this little teaser, I'll be opening the flood-gates as I hope to get to Mottisfont tomorrow - the National Trust property in Hampshire and National Collection of Old Roses established by Graham Stuart Thomas (weather and other commitments allowing). 'Tis June and it is roses, all the way. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mottisfont/things-to-see-and-do/article-1355842043826/ Mottisfont World-famous roses Every…

David Austin Roses – the who, what, why and when…

Now that the rose season is almost upon us, I'm refreshing my memory after long rose-less months, of what is to come! These notes are culled from a series of presentations the year before last, covering all things 'David Austin Roses'. If I find the pictures which accompanied the talks, I'll attempt to add them…

Almost, nearly there: David Austin’s finest – the promise of a good year for the roses?

This time last year, nothing. Barely a bud, nothing even closely resembling a flower. The month-long Sub-Zero ºC that was March 2013 put back the roses until July. This year, after a mild winter and some early sunshine (and the possibility of a long warm summer), I think it will be a good year for…