Roses – Page 3 – Notes From My Garden

The Unexpected Heatwave

Published on July 8, 2023August 5, 2023 by Catherine25 Comments

When I packed my cases towards the end of May and headed off to visit my family in Washington D.C. never did I think that home would be in the grip of temperatures almost as high as they were in D.C. – with barely a drop of rain. This is Scotland after all, and I thought any problems in the garden would have been caused by wind, rain or a late frost. That was not to be, and although my son had dutifully watered the garden weekly as I requested, it just wasn’t enough.

I’ve been home for a couple of weeks now, and busy with family, the garden, and life in general. I could ramble on all day about the damage the unexpected heat and drought made to the garden, but instead, I’ll share with you, a few of the photos I’ve taken over the past two weeks of…wait for it…torrential downpours, strong winds and (for July) ridiculously low temperatures (Highs of 14C (57F)! Quite the opposite of what I returned to such a short time ago.

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April – Sunshine, Windchill and Flowers

Published on April 15, 2023May 6, 2023 by Catherine22 Comments

I’m sure everyone up and down the country has been wondering what happened to the weather, after the lovely sunny & pleasant temperatures we enjoyed last weekend! Where I am we’ve had a marvellous amount of sunshine this week, which has been brilliant, but it’s also been combined with spells of heavy rain and bitterly cold, strong winds.

Those winds were strong enough to break a climbing rose, ‘A Shropshire Lad’, free of the obelisk it was growing on. I found it lying on top of other plants, but remarkably, without any apparent damage. With the help of husband, I managed (with a few scratches) to get it back up and tied in again. It seems none the worse for wear, but time will tell.

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Six on Saturday 2020 14-11

Published on November 14, 2020December 24, 2020 by Catherine33 Comments

It’s been hectic these past two weeks and I suspect it’s going to be like that in the run up to Christmas. I missed last week’s six and didn’t manage to check out all your lovely blogs, but this week I’ll be able to take a tour and say hello.

The garden is in a sad state, there’s been so much rain and I’m tired of digging in heavy, muddy clay. I console myself with thoughts of snowdrops, narcissus, muscari, hellebores, little iris reticulata and more, that will bring colour back to the garden from late winter through spring. Perhaps this autumn will morph into a beautiful crisp winter. 😊

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Six on Saturday 2020 10-10

Published on October 10, 2020November 14, 2020 by Catherine23 Comments

The warm September and early October weather has been appreciated, by me and by the plants, especially the roses. They’re not all looking good, some have succumbed to the advancing season and others to the effects of black spot, which has been awful this year. There are a few that are looking great, and although they’ve been shown on the blog in the past, I can’t let the season pass without allowing them another weekend in the limelight.

The warmer weather also brought back the aphids and I’ve been trying to squish as many as possible when I see them, but it’s turning cold now, and hopefully, that will finish them off because my gardening gloves have been getting into a terrible mess. Yuck.

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Six on Saturday 2020 03-10

Published on October 3, 2020October 24, 2020 by Catherine38 Comments

There are times when gardening has to take a back seat, and I have two such afternoons each week. We had mixed weather again this week, some days heavy rain, others gloriously sunny. On two of those sunny afternoons we were back on the beach, and of course, the play park on the prom, with our two-year-old grandson, a little boy who has the ability to spread his own sunshine wherever he goes. I’m sure I could have been getting some plants and bulbs into the ground, and making the most of the good weather, but when you have a little person who waves, smiles and calls out ‘Hiya’ to everyone he passes, gardening jobs that you are desperate to tackle, become less pressing.

Every person we passed responded with a smile and a friendly acknowledgement and it’s nice to think that one little person’s warmth perhaps brightened up someone else’s day. We grown-ups could learn a lot from little children.

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