Woo Hoo! Rain arrived this morning after a long dry period. The water had an amazing effect on the garden. Everything seemed to perk up immediately with leaves looking lush and plump instead of dry and crispy! We receive quite a lot of rain here in the north of England and it’s easy to take it for granted… until it doesn’t arrive. So I was very happy to see glittering raindrops on foliage today.
But it’s June and flowers are the stars this month. Roses in particular. There’s nothing quite like an arching rose to lend your home that country style. It’s a cliche I know but having a beautiful Rose flowering around your front door is the perfect way to welcome visitors and of course it’s quite lovely for you and all your family too! Roses are available in nurseries and garden centres now and you’ll be able to see the flowers before you buy. They only take a couple of years to reach 6 feet or more in height so you’ll soon have that country cottage look.
This is a climbing Iceberg rose. It’s healthy and vigorous and produces masses of creamy white flowers with a delicate scent. On our south facing wall it flowers on and off from May until December.
The other rose that caught my eye today is a shrub rose. This one only flowers once each year and it’s not quite in full flower yet but the buds are all there. Each year I tell myself that I’m taking it out (I don’t know what it is… it’s not the rose I wanted – wrong label possibly) but when I see it in flower, see how healthy it is and more to the point HEAR all the bees buzzing around to snap up the pollen I forget all about removing it for a ‘better’ specimen. It can stay for now.
I’d love to see your garden this week. It’s June and our gardens are all bursting with gorgeous blooms. You are most welcome to join in with Looking Good.
Have a brilliant weekend and I’ll see you next week. Gillian 🙂
Cliches are there for a reason, people like them, I can’t think of anything more romantic than roses around the door. Your Iceberg looks fantastic. I wrote about the vegetable garden today so not eligible to join you this week.
That’s true Christina. You can join in with Looking Good with anything garden related… flowers, fruit, veg, wildlife or recipes.
The Iceberg is a beauty but the pink open cup is great for your bees. I imagine it is some form of dog rose?
That’s right Dorris… bees prefer the open flowers for easy access to pollen. It’s an arching shrub rose which was supposed to be Rosa moyesii ‘Geranium’ (red flowers) but it was either incorrectly labelled or this is the rootstock of ‘Geranium’ that has taken over. I think it’s most likely this is the rootstock R. moyesii.
Your pink rose looks like Rosa complicata, which is a funny name for a single rose. I love single roses, it would be a shame to get rid of it.
It would be a shame Liz.. the bees loves it. I keep reminding myself that it’s very productive and healthy which is why it’s still here! I’ll wait until I give that border a complete overhaul and move it then I think.