General Garden Scenes

Above: View from the front door, looking due East: Isabella Sprunt, Sally Holmes, Crepuscule and Francesca.

Above: Sally Holmes and Crepuscule.

Above: In the foreground are two plants of Sally Holmes, planted last year, then Crepuscule, and then a double row of four of the hybrid musk rose 'Francesca'.

Above: Roberta the Garden Fairy wonkily leaning backwards into a sea of Cousin Essie. At her feet is a 12 month old specimen of Jean Ducher, with Celtic Blessing in the centre.

Above: The newest section of garden with roses planted mainly in the winter of 2011, with a couple banged in this year. They are a real mixture, with quite obscure ROR varieties such as Mrs Bushby's Bourbon and  Rose From Tapio Station, joined by Mme Isaac Perriere, L'Ouche and a tea or two. I have had numerous breakages of canes, and worse, because this area is where the three dogs gallop up and down the fence line when a vehicle drives past. It is also where the dogs chase calves or cows that happen to stray into the garden, so it is amazing that anything survives in this bed!

Above: The rugosa seedling "nursery bed" in which the new little rugosa seedlings were planted over ten years ago. There are three different seedlings growing here, my favourite being the one on this end. The lighter obviously "non-rugosa" plant seen above the fence post in the corner of the photo is a Cottage Pink multiflora rambler.

Above: My babies again.

Above: Looking west from our front gate..the rows of Francesca, Crepuscule,Sally Holmes on the left, Wildflower on the right, and finishing off both sides with Isabella Sprunt.(and a rude red splodge of Dr Huey in the front left hand corner!)

Above: An oldie but a goodie...the beautiful Constance Spry, one of David Austin's first creations.

Two rugosa roses

Two of my favourite rugosa roses...Sarah Van Fleet(above) and Celtic Blessings(below)

Fruhlingsduft (again!!!)

I know that I have posted what seems like dozens of photos of the magnificent Fruhlingsduft on my blog, but I just can't wander past it at this time of the year without yearning to point my camera in its direction. So prolific, so very beautiful...an absolute must-have garden rose.

Sweet Briar

I have loved the Sweet Briar rose since the very first time that I crushed its leaves and held them under my nose with my eyes closed...had I not known better, I would have bet a million dollars that it was freshly-sliced crisp green apple in my hands. When it rains, this apple scent radiates out from the plant...it really is an absolute delight.
Having said this, it is considered a weed in certain states of Australia. For example, the following comes from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries:

Scientific name: Rosa rubiginosa L. (Synonym R. eglanteria)

Common Name: Sweet briar, Briar rose, Wild rose.
Sweet briar is native to Europe and western Asia and northern India. Sweet briar was first recorded in Victoria in the 1850s and had established over large areas by 1917. It is now widespread in a variety of cooler, higher rainfall habitats including farmland, woodlands, and stony rises of the volcanic plains, along roadsides and in other disturbed areas.

Sweet briar establishes in areas of moderate soil fertility where there are low levels of grazing. It reproduces from seed and perennial roots and suckers readily from the crown.
Sweet briar is a perennial woody shrub up to 3m tall.

Stems - usually many (and can be up to several hundred) stems arising from the rootstock; erect or scrambling, up to 3 metres high, green and smooth to brown and somewhat roughened, woody, branched, spreading and sometimes trailing, heavily covered with down-curved prickles up to 1.5 cm long.
Flowers - pink or white, 2.5 - 4 cm diameter, on short prickly stalks, occurring in loose clusters at the ends ofstems or branches. Each flower has 5 petals, 8 to 25 mm long, numerous yellowish stamens and five elongated spiny sepals prominent at the base.

Fruit - commonly referred to as a ‘hip’. A smooth or hairy and bristly, egg-shaped capsule, 15 to 20 mm long. Whenripe the hips are orange to red to almost black. The sepals often remain attached to the top of the hip. The hips are shed in Autumn after leaf fall.

Seeds - yellow, 4 to 7 mm long and irregularly shaped.

Roots - stout, shallow and extensively spreading.
Infestations can rapidly take over woodland areas. Patches of the weed can impede the movement of grazing animals and cause serious mechanical injury to stock and dogs. Sweet briar provides harbour for rabbits and other pest animals.

Although a non desirable species, Sweet briar has some favourable characteristics. The hips are a rich source of vitamin C and can be eaten raw. They are used in wines, sauces and jellies. Sweet briar is of some value to apiarists as a source of pollen.

The plant has little or no value as fodder for stock.

This is also a Sweet Briar variety that came up from seed. I planted together two seedlings that were growing at the base of the parent plant (which has since died). Both have the apple scent, but the flowers are slightly different- one being single and the other as above.

Sceptre'd Isle

I am an absolute sucker for David Austin's myrrh-scented roses, and the pretty soft-pink Sceptre'd Isle is no exception. It is so prolific and strongly scented you can smell the fragrance well without sinking your face into the bloom. It opens very cupped, then relaxes to display the yellow stamens as it ages. I have several specimens in the garden, and all have grown to six feet, vigorous and disease-free.

Cornelia- Hybrid Musk Rose

The lovely hybrid musk rose Cornelia is sensational this Spring, with her blooms being a deeper shade of apricot-pink than usual. I could smell her sweet musky fragrance  from the distance I was standing to take this photo...there really is no class of rose to beat hybrid musks for the powerful scent of their blooms.

Mittagong Gallica

I was amazed to spy this little rose flowering in the garden this morning...it was in the harshest spot in the entire garden- the south-west corner- that comes under the influence of a huge old gum tree and never gets watered or tended to at all. It is the domain of a seedling White Cedar tree, various suckering seedling rugosas and a lonely specimen of Lord Penzance. So to see this unexpected little bloom amongst that crew made me investigate further. Thankfully a faded plastic name tag lay at the base of the plant, and on it I was just able to make out the words "Mittagong Gallica". This rang a faint bell as a rose given to me by old rose saviour Jane Zammitt, and I was delighted to discover that it was still alive and doing well. It has suckered nicely withing a couple of feet of the original plant, so with any luck (and a bit of TLC) Mittagong Gallica is here to stay. I can't find any information at all about this rose, so if anyone knows anything of its provenance I would love to hear from them.