Chilly

Published on by Catherine

I packed away my winter clothes when I thought summer had arrived. I was too hasty. I should know by now how unpredictable our weather can be and now I’m searching around for warm clothing. Our top temperatures have hovered around a chilly 13℃ (55.4℉), with a ‘feels-like’ 11℃ (51.8℉) thanks to the relentless cold winds – but I hope you’ve been enjoying warmer weather than we are here.

Despite the unseasonably cool weather, the garden is beginning, slowly, to show summer colour, though some plants, such as the oriental poppies are struggling to stay upright, and refusing to open fully.

I was visiting one of my daughters and missed last week’s Six on Saturday, but here is my garden offering for this weekend.

Six on Saturday

Peony ‘Bartzella’ is an Itoh peony, a cross between a tree peony and a herbaceous peony. Descriptions of Bartzella note that it is a ‘prolific flowerer’ but this one has produced only three buds this year, about the same as last year. This is the first bud to flower, and it’s gorgeous – I love its huge flowerhead and frilly petals.

  • Peony ‘Bartzella’
  • The interior decorator has been working hard

Rosa ‘Eustacia Vye’ is a relative newcomer, introduced by David Austin Roses in 2019. It’s a very pretty rose with a lovely perfume. I planted it at the same time as Exochorda ‘Niagara’ but the exochorda has grown taller and faster than its neighbour and is obscuring her beauty. One of the two will have to be moved in winter.

Rosa ‘Eustacia Vye’

Clematis with no name. There are only two open flowers on this clematis, but plenty of buds. It’s a large plant and it should produce a great display of blooms over the summer months.

  • Clematis no name
  • No name, but beautiful

Papaver Orientale ‘Perry’s White’ and ‘Marlene’. Perry’s White appears to be growing through the Alchemilla Mollis, but the culprit is the wind that has pushed the stems into the Alchemilla. Marlene has a fabulous, rich colour, the only downside is that the colour fades fairly quickly (though it’s still a great addition to the borders and there are many more buds waiting to open). As for the buttercups, they’ve been a problem throughout the borders this year. I don’t want to disturb the poppies, so the buttercups can grow on happily until the poppies are finished.

  • ‘Perry’s White’ and ‘Marlelne’
  • Papaver ‘Marlene’

Rosa ‘The Pilgrim’ is a climber and another David Austin Rose. It has been growing along the fence just outside my greenhouse for a short few years, now becoming larger and producing more flowers. It’s another favourite.

Rosa ‘The Pilgrim’

Rosa ‘Darcey Bussell’. Sadly now retired by David Austin Roses, Darcey, (also shown at the top of the blog post) is a beautiful, small, English shrub rose. The colour is a dark, rich crimson-pink, and I hope she will survive in the garden for many more years to come.

  • Rosa ‘Darcey Bussell’
  • Darcey, waking up.

There are many more garden bloggers who post six photographs from their gardens each Saturday, and you will find them on Jim’s website at Garden Ruminations.

Another sunny but windy day is forecast for my wee corner of the world, and it’s still remaining chilly. I’m reaching for my jacket and scarf and I’m going gardening! Have a happy weekend!

Catherine 😊

39 thoughts on “Chilly”

  1. 13°C in June is really bad. Here too it was a little cooler with a north-east wind for a few days, but the days are all sunny and we reach 20 -21°C every day. (The mornings are cold though). I also have ‘Pilgrim’ in my garden! But this week I’m featuring 2 more David Austin roses

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    1. It’s been sunny here this afternoon, but we still have that cool wind, Fred. Rosa ‘The Pilgrim’ seems to be popular, but I’ve noticed some horrible black spot on it today! Enjoy your weekend!

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  2. It’s been pretty cool here in the north west of England, too, only slightly warmer than you – the heating has even come on one or two mornings!

    What a shame they’ve retired Darcey Bussell, she’s beautiful. But then all your choices this week are.

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    1. My heating’s been on too, Helen. in fact neighbours, family & friends are all confessing to having put their heating on. It has to get warmer soon…doesn’t it…? 🤔

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  3. I really enjoy seeing all the roses! No way to grow them in my garden with all the hungry Japanese beetles. I am hoping they won’t be too bad this year as we have had several years of drought which makes them less efficient at reproduction.

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    1. So far the Japanese Beetle hasn’t arrived in the UK – and I hope that remains the case. I don’t envy you having to deal with them – especially when they stop you from having roses in your garden. 🌹

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  4. It’s chilly down here in Devon too, I have had to dig out a couple of jumpers! Peony Bartzella is gorgeous, I have a one year old plant but no flowers this year, maybe next? Your roses are beautiful and I’m sure they have a perfume to match. I also have The Pilgrim but not grown as a climber. It isn’t looking very happy, having stood in flood water all winter, think I’ll have to take some hardwood cuttings.

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    1. Isn’t it horrible, rummaging around for jumpers in June! Do you remember that there was a fairly lengthy heatwave this time last year?

      I hope you get some more flowers from your peony. I planted ‘Bartzella’ in 2022 and I had a few flowers last year but doubt if I’ll get more than the three this year. I also planted ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ at the same time, and it flowered in the first year, not last year, and not this year. They’re rather unpredictable but perhaps I’m doing something wrong.

      Your rose wouldn’t be very happy after being in flood water during the winter. It was a cold and wet spring too – I wonder if it might respond to some extra feeding & mulching? Taking cuttings is a good backup plan though.

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  5. It has been rather chilly at times and very breezy. A lovely selection of Roses. It’s a shame David Austin have discontinued ‘Darcey Bussell’ – its such a good colour. He/they seem to have stopped producing a few varieties now. Presumably nobody else is allowed to propagate and sell them instead? Love the poppies too.

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    1. It seems that most people have had cold weather (for June) this week. ‘Darcey Bussell’ appears to still be available on David Austin’s US site. I was on there looking for some gift roses, and noticed it. I doubt if anyone else would have the propagating rights, but don’t really know.

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  6. My Bartzella only had three blooms this year. It is a slow grower. The blooms are so large perhaps that my be all I will get.

    As always, your photos are marvelous.

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    1. Thanks, Dock. I have had two Bartzella blooms and one yet to open. I don’t expect to get any more than that this year. I don’t know what can be done to encourage more flowers, I think Google will have to be called on to find an answer.

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  7. Beautiful photos, and I enjoy each one, Catherine. You have me thinking to try starting more oriental poppies again. They’re a fun layer in your garden! Pacific Northwest (Washington State) weather has finally warmed, and yesterday we hit 72F. My roses are yet to bloom, though, due to our chilly spring. The cool weather certainly prolongs all the blooms, for which we can be thankful.

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    1. Thank you, March. I only have a few roses in bloom at the moment, and each has just one or two flowers – but all have loads of buds. Perhaps they’re just waiting for the air to warm a little. It won’t be this coming week according to the forecast…but I live in hope! Your 72F would suit me fine – though we did have those temperatures May, then it went downhill! 😁

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  8. Lovely, all of them! And as always I so enjoy how you share different angles of some of them. We are cooler than normal lately, too, but at a slightly warmer level. Our “normal” highs this time of year are about 25-28C, but we’ve been hovering closer to 21C lately. Looking forward to real summer warmth soon. 🙂

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    1. Thank you, Beth. This cool spell seems to be fairly widespread, but hopefully we’ll all head into a warmer and more settled period of time before too long. The plants need some extra warmth to help them flower!

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  9. Same problem here in the south this week with sunshine and cold winds. Hot in the sun, cold when the clouds appear. Your ‘Darcey Bussell’ photos are so lovely, I do like that colour. I managed to kill my ‘Graham Thomas’ this winter. A shame because it flowered its socks off last year. I’m afraid I’m not that good when it comes to looking after roses, so I probably won’t replace it. Now a peony maybe…

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    1. Thanks, Jude – I have to admit that I’m getting a wee bit tired of this horrible cold wind. 😐 But – it has to get better! 😀

      That’s a shame about your ‘Graham Thomas’. I no longer have mine either, it was lifted to widen our path. I could have potted it, but it was suffering from black spot and the best place for it was out of the garden altogether. Peonies are gorgeous, but they don’t flower as long as roses (though I’d love more peonies too!)

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  10. ‘Apparently’ we’ve just had the warmest May on record, while I’ve shivered in my jumpers. It must be the overnight temperatures pulling the averages up, Love your roses, of course. There seems to be a particular problem with the darker roses as they all seem to have been retired. I was looking round a garden centre which had a huge selection of David Austin roses but I didn’t spot any in the deeper shades.

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    1. Up here we did have a lovely warm spell of weather at some point last month, but then it all changed…

      I hadn’t noticed that many of David Austin’s dark roses had been retired. Darcey Bussell is still available on their US site (though currently out of stock). Perhaps other deep shades are sold out in the UK for this season?

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  11. Roses always look fabulous in spring and early summer before the humidity gets to them, well, in our part of the world. I live right across the road from an old established rose garden. Always a treat to visit it. Your roses look amazing, and the old fashioned ones more so.

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    1. It must be lovely to be able to enjoy a lovely rose garden so close to your home! Our humidity problem is rain! Or as in my daughter’s case this week – hailstones! She had bought her first two roses, beautiful and in bloom, potted them up and down came the hail.

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  12. A lovely rose selection. I haven’t come across poppy ‘Marlene’, it is a beauty. I love Itoh peonies, Barzella is gorgeous. Is your clematis perhaps Hagley Hybrid?

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    1. Thank you, Chloris. Poppy ‘Marlene’ seems to be coping better with the weather than other poppies. It’s remaining upright, without supports, while others are now on the ground.

      I had Clematis ‘Hagley Hybrid’ at one point in the past, but I think this one is too light. In the sun, it looks almost white. I hate when labels go missing over the years – but I could put that problem right if I was more diligent by adding to my spreadsheet when something new arrives in the garden!

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    1. Sorry about that blip with your post – that hasn’t happened before.

      Yes, 13C is cold for June, but it seems to be pretty cool all around the country. When will summer begin? I’d love it to make a start this week, but that’s wishful thinking! Hopefully soon though!

      Bartzella is rather impressive, I wish I could get it to produce more buds though as three seems a bit mean.

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      1. Hi Catherine, I’m experiencing a lot of problems with leaving comments on WP blogs tonight. Some blogs I’ve left a lengthy comment only for it to disappear and tell me I must be logged in.Arghhhhh I am logged in … sigh.

        The weather is changing and even here the variation in temps can be quite significant

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        1. I’ve been having the same problem for several months. Some blogs I can comment on immediately, others I have to go through the login process, which is frustrating and often I don’t get logged in at first attempt. All are WP sites. When I click on the login icon it seldom logs me in at first attempt. I haven’t found an answer so for speed I use a workaround.

          I enter my comment, copy it, then refresh the page. The comment is lost, but I’m logged in and I can simply paste my comment in. It’s a means to an end at the moment.

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  15. Your roses are beautiful Catherine. I am now confused about my Papaver ‘Marlene’ which does not look at all like yours! I think I got something else sent me. Or maybe they do vary that much. (You can see mine on my Sunday post). In any case, yours is very pretty! Hope it warms up for you this week!

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    1. I’ve had a look at your Poppy, Cathy and it is different from mine. I bought it from Farmer Gracy – if you have a look there you will be able to see the different colour transitions the flower goes through as it fades. It does start off as quite a deep reddish colour and as it dies it fades to a muted rose shade. But yours looks freshly opened, and I’m only guessing, but I think it’s a different variety.

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  16. It’s decidedly chilly here to Catherine and seems to be permanently windy. So much for flaming June! Your peony is stunning. I sadly have an impaired sense of smell since I had to have my nose cauterised. A friend grows ‘Eustacia Vye’ but I can detect the gorgeous scent that drifts from her especially on a sunny warm day. She is most pretty too.

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    1. My daughter has had her nose cauterised several times, Anna, and it’s not something I’d like to have done. What I pity it’s left you without your full sense of smell, but at least it hasn’t disappeared altogether. I’m looking forward to being able to smell anything at all on a warm sunny day – as none of the flowers are letting go of their perfume in the cold air that’s flowing down from Greenland right now! 😁

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