It seems to be getting hotter and hotter here in Yorkshire, I’m not good in the heat so I either sit in the shade or find a cool room inside…and yes, my sewing room is pretty cool! The heat also means some plants are starting to struggle, I can’t remember the last time it rained properly so our clay soil is like concrete at the moment. I’ve three plants waiting to be planted but there isn’t even much point trying to dig a hole at the moment, I’ve already broken one spade this year!!
I’m watering all my new plants every few days, I don’t like watering too frequently, I’d rather give a good soaking and then leave them a bit. I think if you just sprinkle daily you encourage the roots to come to the surface. In fact usually I’ll water a plant when I plant it, maybe once more if it’s lucky, then it’s got to fend for itself, but this year is too dry and I’ve spent quite a lot buying them so I don’t want to lose them!
Most of the roses seem to be loving the sunshine. My favourite at the moment is up in the Amber & Amethyst garden. It’s called Lady Emma Hamilton, it’s a beautiful copper colour which ages with a pink blush. It’s got a gorgeous heady scent too, I love it!
The roses in the rose border are all starting to look good, you just have to ignore the couch grass in the photo! I think the pink one at the front is the Alnwick rose.
The yellow rose is one you don’t see very often, it’s called the Buttercup rose, and you can see why, it has rich yellow petals which are very cupped, it’s an unusual shape, not very big, but I think it’s beautiful.
The white rose is Champagne Moments, we planted them when we got married, in fact we bought them instead of bouquets to those who played an important role at our wedding. I’ve also given them as presents. The only downside is that it doesn’t have much of a scent, but it flowers it’s socks off to compensate!
The arbour down by the patio is looking lovely at the moment with Generous Gardener flowering over it’s roof. It took a few years to persuade this rose which way to go, but it finally seems to have got the idea, though occasionally it tries to take a short cut through the trellis at the side!
I’ve had a good prune down the drive, cutting back spring flowering shrubs, there’s a few getting a bit big so I’m going to be pretty hard on them this year, they’re tough shrubs so they’ll bounce back! It’s hard to believe when you look at the photo that I filled two tonne bags with clippings!! Lots more to go!
I’ve been round with Pathclear this evening on the gravel, so hopefully we might see some success with the fight against the marestail!
The AA garden is starting to come together, it’s amazing how quickly a border can fill out. Most evenings at the moment we’re managing to spend a while just sitting chatting up there. I planned this area to catch the evening sun, so it’s nice we’re having the weather to enjoy it.
thecraftycreek 
Your photos make me want to bring a book, and sit in your garden to read. Beautiful photos!
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Thanks Kate, any time you’re passing…
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That’s what I like to do, too…sit in the garden and read. Absolutely love the Buttercup rose, and the copper rose, too!
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Thanks Laura 🙂
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Lady Emma is a very pretty lady!
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She’s gorgeous 🙂
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You have beautiful roses, Margaret, and the knack for them too, seeing these pictures! Wish I could have shared our rain with you this past week. We had 7 inches in 8 days, which is normally spread across 5 or 6 months!
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Thanks Kathy, luckily roses like heavy clay soil, and we have lots of that!!! We could do with a bit of your rain, though maybe not quite that much or we’ll end up with flooding!!
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We have silty clay here, but with all the compost we brought in, and the straw from last year, we finally have a decent layer to prevent things from becoming a mess. Before that, though, we were washed out several times.
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Your flowery arbour is looking lovely – it looks the perfect place to read a few pages on a sunny evening. I wish I could remember the names of all our roses. Somehow, the labels always get lost so perhaps I should keep a photographic record when we plant new ones.
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Thank you, I love the names of roses, sometimes I buy them for the name, I bought one for Helen called Spirit of Freedom!
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What lovely roses! (In fact, what a lovely garden altogether, and I saw no couch grass…) How do you keep them clear of blackspot? Mine are very brave, but ravaged, and it so saps their strength. Even we are watering here in the Wet West of Scotland… goodness!
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Thanks Serinde, we have the odd bush with black spot, but on the whole it’s not a problem, these are mainly David Austin English roses and I think they might be a bit more resistant.
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What gorgeous roses! Those colors!!
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In heaven as always in your garden, Margaret.
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What a glorious garden, and hasn’t the weather been incredible this week.
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