First spring roses.

Long hiatus...

First roses of a rubbish, freezing cold, ridiculously wet spring. 

Strawberry Hill

Front fence, Strawberry Hill back left (Anthemis, Thyme, Nepeta, Alyssum and Dianthus also in flower)

Bedroom window with Crepuscule finally getting some height. Also Iceberg below, with Erigeron in flower. 

First Crepuscule bloom of season. 

Bonica? $2 standard unlabelled rose rescue. Bumble Bee salvia and Erigeron underneath. 

Golden Celebration. 

First buds on Fairy Moss (with lobelia and alyssum). 

Radio Times and Nettle-leaved campanula. 

Radio Times environmental shot with Apricot tree, Campenula, Californian Poppy, Maireana sp, pink cosmos, lavender, nepeta, cut-leaf coriander. 

Munstead Wood. 

Ever lurid Sophy. 

Black Boy starting to gain some much needed height on shed. 

White Wings, enormous and brief blooms. 

Devoniensis. 

Salvia garden

So beautiful I've pulled out the decrepit vegetable beds and I'm making it a whole lot bigger...

Shopping spree

Because, why not?! 

She couldn't handle the heat.

Oh, Martine, I shall have to try again with you this year. 

One off the wish list...

Daydreaming on the rattle and rustle of giant bamboo... Don't have the room, of course, I have been eyeing off clumping bamboos for some time but have not been able to stomach the price. So, when I stumbled across some cheap tubes of Fargesia nitida 'Fountain' the other day I decided to take a risk with the wee babies. Including post these average about $10 each. They've already been shifted into some 32cm pots and left in part-shade to grow on. It's likely they'll stay potted up for a long time. I'm hoping they'll produce canes of a useable size eventually (they should grow to 2-4m tall) and I'll never need to buy plastic-bagged bamboo from Bunnos for the garden ever again. Fingers crossed?!

Hello, I love you,

Won't you tell me your name?

First batch of strawberries from the front garden this spring. Variety name long lost! These get no special care whatsoever, just water over summer and whatever fertiliser runoff happens from the other plants nearby. 

There's a few happy mulberries in there too. 

Coming up roses back yard part 2

A true garden diary entry, just pictures and notes! 

New garden section up the back, progress shots. 

Western side. 

Eastern side

Dwarf pears, cordon-planted winter 2015. 

'Beurre D'Anjou'. 

'Williams'

'Beurre Bosc'. Half the size of the others, obscured by Chicago Peace rose, and a penstemon I might need to move. 

Crocus rose under plums, David Austin, transplanted from front garden to back and much happier: first flowers in four years!    

Pretty Jessica, David Austin, buds been at this stage for days, will they open at all?!

Cornelia, hybrid musk, sprawling at this time. 

Blossomtime, small climber, bargain table buy. 

Long shot under the plums. 

Moulineux, under the plums, David Austin (I think, cutting grown from MIL's garden) 

Jessika, planted this winter. 

Bloomfield Dainty, hybrid musk

Paul Bocuse, I'm calling it: he's a favourite! But why are all the blooms at the back of the plant!?

Gruss an Aachen, smells sensational. 

White Wings, flowers are enormous but short lived. 

And lastly, not Red Pierre, which this rose should be, but the rootstock which is gorgeous and I'm going to let be after Red Pierre never took off (even before the rootstock took over. Is it Dr Huey? I'd have to look it up).