Nearer God's Heart?

When life was getting a little fraught a few months ago, one of the PEVs advised me to "stick to the garden". He feared I might breach some protocol of which I was unaware, and plainly he thought the garden was safe blogging territory. So here, a bit late but in dutiful obedience, is a garden blog. Today Jane and I went to Mottisfont, the National Trust's great rose garden near Romsey. It is already wonderful, and in the next two or three weeks will be overwhelming. Meanwhile, in case you cannot get to Mottisfont, [and you certainly should if you can] I thought a few images from my own modest plot might cheer you up.


I enjoy beachcombing, and the pink globe in this picture is a fisherman's float washed up on a local beach - and contrasting happily with, I think, the Hybrid Musk Rose Felicia.

Yellow roses are among my favourites. Canary Bird and Banksia Lutea are already over, but this is the great Arthur Bell, the so-called climbing variant which is really just a very tall shrub rose; but you can train the branches down onto supports, and then it happily produces a second crop latger in the season. The scent is typically crisp, as seems to be true for most yellow roses.


Some people seem to think a garage is a place for a car: what a waste! Ours is full of gardening essentials, and in front of it are pots with everything in them from eight-foot trees (a pine or two and a young birch) to alpines. Above, though you will see Hydrangea Petiolaris guarding the garage entrance.


Our plot is not exclusively roses: here near the front door is the dogwood, Cornus Mas; better this year than I can remember.



The white rose which is so prevalent in our garden is all from a cutting of a Hybrid Musk rose, I think called Moonlight. Sadly, it is unscented: but that is more than made up for by Zigeuner Knabe, the deep purple rose in this picture, with a heavenly perfume. And on the right a Rowan (no relation) from a marvellous nursery near here, Spinners. The Rowan in question is Chinese Lace, and if you click on the picture to enlarge it you might be able to make out some of its deeply cut leaves (lower right)