Roses in Gardens

Jolly Bee or Rozanne?

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:29:00 +0000

Remember the controversy about geranium Jolly Bee and Rozanne? It has often been speculated whether the 2 plants were identical! Both are found seedlings but Rozanne was introduced some years before Jolly Bee.

When I write geranium - I mean geraniums and NOT pelargoniums which are often confused in North America.

For some years I also had a hard time seeing any difference between G. Jolly Bee and G. Rozanne. But this spring the difference stands out. I moved a Jolly Bee Geranium and divided it into 1 big plant and 3 smaller plants. All 4 plants are doing very well. I could not have done this with G. Rozanne. They are still small plants compared to G. Jolly Bee. So I must conclude that the 2 geraniums are different and that G. Jolly Bee in my opinion is far superior to G. Rozanne.

- G. Jolly Bee is much more vigorous and compact than G. Rozanne

- G. Rozanne is more lanky and has a more trailing growth than G. Jolly Bee

- G. Rozanne has fewer leaves than G. Jolly Bee

- G. Jolly Bee produces more blooms than G. Rozanne

- G. Jolly Bee can be divided more often than G. Rozanne - due to the greater vigor.

I have no doubt anymore - I prefer G. Jolly Bee over G. Rozanne

Fritillaria Meleagris - Snake's Head Fritillaria

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:52:00 +0000

One of my favorite springflowering bulbs is Fritillaria Meleagris. Their nodding chequered Purple-brownish elegant flowers are fascinating. For some years I bought bulbs and planted them in the fall. But come spring I never saw any of them? I wondered what I did wrong, until I read that they prefer acidic moist soil. So I mixed plenty of peat moss in the soil where I planted some new bulbs. The next year a few bloomed and the following year even more bloomed in small groups. I love them - only thing I dislike about them is that they seem to attract red lily beetles - I hate those since I try to grow lilies - with not much succes yet. You can see the traces left by beetles munching on the thin leaves in this picure:

I had also noticed another Fritillaria in some gardens around here - Fritillaria persica. The very large orange sized bulbs produce upright 2-3 feet tall flowerstalks with purple-brownish bell-shaped flowers:

I planted the bulbs in the fall, a place with very well drained soil and where they get plenty of sun - as recommended. I saw them shooting in March and looked forward to seeing them blooming. But no - they only produced foot tall stalks, with blind shoots? I wonder why they did not bloom? Perhaps they just need to get settled in and will bloom next year?

Longing for the Violet Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Few plants smell like wonderful childhood memories like violets. The native violet: Viola Odorata may be small and few pay much attention to it. But after a few weeks of bright sunny spring days a little rain is usually going to fall, and the scent of the violets is going to be released and carry on air. Many have noticed the divine scent of violets wafting in the air after a spring shower - expressed in Al Jolson's song, "April Showers.":

Though April showers
May come your way,
They bring the flowers
That bloom in May;
And if it's raining,
Have no regrets;
Because, it isn't raining rain, you know,
It's raining violets.

And when you see clouds
Upon the hill,
You soon will see crowds
Of daffodils;
So keep on looking for the bluebird,
And listening for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.

Poets have sung it's praise and the ethereal sweet fragrance is truly remarkable. Pick a few and smell the sweet perfume, that seems to be there one second and gone the next - a perfume like life and love.

Viola Odorata are small evergreen plants, that thrive in dappled shade and where plenty of leaves fall and form compost. Along most hedges they spread willingly and form large clusters. Seeds are also spread by birds and ants. Since I am not a neat freak and appreciate these delicate flowers, I do not consider them a weed. I have come to appreciate their wonderful fragrance and long for the violet rain of spring, that kicks of the garden season, after the snowdrops and crocus have flowered.

Violets interbreed and produce violets of different colours. The most fragrant are the violet blue, but I also see light blue and even blush pink violets. I have also noticed a variety that produces dark leaves. Even the leaves are romantic - heartshaped.

Empress Josephine loved violets. When she married Napoleon Bonaparte, her bridal bouquet contained violets. Violets became Napoleons favorite flower too. When he left for Elba - he told her: " I will return with the violets of spring". On her grave violets were planted and he picked some and kept them in a medalion.

A Dreamy Plant Combination

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:25:00 +0000

I have a preference for using roses in mixed borders - roses mixed with bulbs, perennials and annuals. I use companion plants with a long flowering time like hardy geraniums, nepeta and salvias. Plants like irises may not bloom long, but the spiky foliage add texture, even when they do not flower. Springflowering bulbs like crocus and tulips and fallflowering corms like gladiolus prolong the flowering season in the mixed borders.

I have chosen not to grow roses as a monoculture, and not use a mulch as ground cover to prevent weeds and retain moisture. I can do this because I live in a climate where we get plenty of rain and only need to water in May to August if it has not rained for weeks. I add a layer of compost, mushroom compost and aged manure in the fall. Many of the companion plants I use in the front of the borders, serve as an effective ground cover and help prevent weeds and retain moisture.

I use some annuals as fillers in the mixed borders. They fill out the spaces left behind, when I remove the bulb baskets. I don´t use many annuals. A few of my favorites are Nigella, Opium Poppies and various Lobelia and the very fragrant Matthiola Longipetala and heliotrope (an anual here). I start these as seedlings indoors early April and after being hardened off I plant them out, where I want them in the mixed borders.

Last year I saw Lori posted a picture of a combination of some of my favorite plants: Roses, hardy geraniums, Allium Christophii and Nigella. I already used this combination in my own garden, but I saw that using a little more Nigella created a very airy, dreamy effect. Very, very pretty! And great inspiration, that is easy to create in your garden. I prefer the blue flowered Nigella, but the white ones are also useful. Nigella is great to use in bouquets. Most often the seed capsules are used and they can be dried too. I prefer not to let them selfseed in the fall. It is possible to get Nigella to last longer, if you sow 4 weeks in between. Oh - and do get yourself some more of those pretty Allium Christophii next fall!

Hat tip to Lori for inspiring me (and hopefully you) to sow more Nigella. The rose in her picture is the bourbon rose; Madame de Sévigné, A repeatflowering old garden rose. Other roses I recommend using in this combination could be the Austin roses: Alan Titchmarsh or Princess Alexandra of Kent.

A Divine Rose Garden Picture

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:07:00 +0000

Sometimes we see pictures of gardens that are so out-of-this world beautiful that we are left speechless. That happened to me last year on the GW antique roses forum, when Jon from Wessex in England posted a picture of part of his garden. I asked his permission to post his picture here and share this extraordinary masterpiece of gardening and photography.

The picture showed a hedgerow of shrubs and small trees, interplanted with roses. Ramblers like 'Seagull' growing up into the shrubs and trees, mixed with large shrub roses and a mixed border - roses with perennials and annuals in front. The result is amazing and shows that it is possible to make a sublime garden with roses. The Roses used were: Seagull, Gypsy Boy, Archiduc Joseph, Francesca, Adam Messerich,californica Plena and a few others I can not identify from the picture.

The picture is so beautiful that it almost hurt! I come to think of a quote from the movie 'American beauty'; "it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in." My heart almost caves in from awe, seeing such a beautiful rose garden. Breathtaking isn´t it?

During the winter, we gardeners and roselovers long for summer and days were the sweet fragrance of roses fills the air. We endure by reading books, blogs, forums, catalogues and plan the tasks in our gardens the coming season. Waiting. Waiting for our garden to reach a peak of beauty we long for all winter, and have prepared and planned for years. It takes years for roses to reach mature sizes and good care, but I do feel they unlike many other garden plants give so much more. Few plants bloom as much and as long as roses. Mixing onceblooming and repeatflowering roses give blooms all season.

Jon is a great gardener and he works as a gardener in one of the worlds most beautiful public gardens: Mottisfont Abbey. His own private garden is just as beautiful, even though much smaller. Like he says, "When we have small gardens we need to cram everything together and go vertical". Something I totally agree with since I only have a tiny garden myself. Rambling roses in trees (Like the Ayrshire Splendens rose in my header picture) and climbing roses on arches, pillars and walls creates gorgeous features in gardens. I like when it rains rose petals from above.

I hope this picture inspires you to reach a little higher when you plan your gardens. Often the limitions, as to what is possible are all in our own minds. We need to be inspired to break these limits and a picture like this helps. 5 years from now your garden can look great too.

Changing the blog layout

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:56:00 +0000

So many things in our lives and gardens appear way too complicated and we give up. We settle - because we lack the knowledge and skills to carry out certain tasks. If we need to add or change certain elements in our gardens we often hire a professional if we can afford it. Or we try and the results sometimes become better than expected or we realize that we should have hired someone to get the job done properly.

I have decided to try to improve the layout of this blog. Editing the Html codes that define the different spaces - Header, Body - outer wrapper, main wrapper and sidebar wrapper and footer. I am also going to enlarge the font types, so the words appear bigger; making my blog easier to read and more relaxing for the eyes.

I am also going to edit my old posts. Using the blogger picture upload feature displaying small thumbnail pictures was a mistake. I should have used the large thumbnail pictures and altered between centered and left placed pictures. I also realize that if I want to post larger pictures I need to use a picture host like ImageShack, PhotoBucket or Picasa. This will allow me to post bigger pictures of better quality - sometimes. Thus the reason for the need to increase the size of the body's main wrapper (The space where posts and pictures are on the blog). As it is right now I still have to resize pictures so they fit the screen when someone click the picture to enlarge it.

I set up a test blog so I could see what I was doing when I altered the Html codes and now feel confident going ahead with it for real. So bear with me for a while if you visit and my blog looks a little strange. I am on top of it and hope both you and I will be satisfied with the layout changes. I really did not know it was possible to custom edit the layout of the blogger template - but I read up and it is not as hard as it appears.

I love to design gardens. I know what I am doing - I intimately know how different elements in the garden will complement a house and suit the needs of the people who live there. I know to choose plants and how different plants are going to develop as they grow, how to care for them and maintain the garden. The hardest part is often to pass this knowledge along to clients and make them see how different solutions will work.

In many ways our blogs reflect who we are - just like our gardens tell a lot about us. Sometimes we just go ahead without having a clear plan and end up settling for a result that was not exactly what we had in mind. But blogs are like gardens - we can change things we do not like and try something different - in fact we should. Gardens like blogs are works in progress.

Salvia Divinorum - a mindblowing Herb

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Very few psychoactive herbs have received so much attention as Salvia Divinorum or Diviners Sage. It is a member of the Sage genus and the Lamiaceae (Mints)family. It looks like most salvias growing to be about 3 feet tall with purple - white flower stalks. It is mostly grown from cuttings, since it produces very few seeds and these are to hard to get to germinate. A few gardeners in warm climate zones have heard of the plant and joked about smoking it. It is obvious that they do not have clue about the hallucigenic effects of this herb. It is not a party drug like marihuanna, since the effects are much more powerful.

Cultivated by the Mazatec and the Aztecs in Mexico because of it´s ability to alter consciousness and induce visions and gain personal and divine insight. Known by etnobotanists to be an enthogen: Creates God within. Leaves of the plant are chewed or smoked to get the hallucinogenic effects. When smoked the effects set in after 30 seconds - and last for about 2-5 minuttes.

- Uncontrollable laughter
- loss of control over body
- hallucinations - visions, dissociative states, experience of other dimensions and realities

Some people get very scary and unpleasant bad trips when smoking the leaves - scary for both the user and the persons watching them. This is one of the reasons it is not to be used as a party drug or a laughing prank by inexperienced dope-heads. People having bad trips are very unlikely to ever try using it again. For the adventurous who dare to try smoking this herb - there is one rule that is very important - have a person you trust next to you! (A sitter). The sitter must be present to make sure you do not harm yourself by falling or hurt your self in any way. If you do try smoking Salvia Divinorum follow these safety guidelines.

As much as I am very tempted to try smoking this herb myself (I imagine doing it with a friend on the huge soft park lawn, a summer evening when the sun sets) - I have decided I do not dare it. My mind is too fragile to handle a bad trip. Salvia Divinorum has become illegal here in Denmark and some other EU countries, Australia and in a few US states. I have tried smoking some weed - no not dandelions .-) .... and it does not do anything for me. I better stick to seeking and feeling the holy spirit and just be high on life in healthier ways. YouTtube - of course has many vidoes showing the effects of smoking Salvia Divinorum - Some are downright scary; showing intense bad trips. I did however also find this video of a gardener with some nice roses behind him. I must say I doubt I would get much gardening done if I followed his example of smoking Salvia Divinorum - take a look as he goes into another dimension for a funny pleasant trip lasting a few minuttes.

The Picture on top showing the plant is from the Wikepedia article on Salvia Divinoforum

Benjamin Britten - David Austin Rose

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:23:00 +0000

Benjamin Britten is one of the Austin Roses I have become very fond of. It´s bright colors of the rose blooms makes it stand out among other Austin Roses. Introduced in 2001 and named to commemorate the life and work of the famous English composer, conductor and performer.

I first saw it growing in rows in the rosefields of a rose nursery nearby. A beautifully deep cupshaped rose with a striking color; Bright orange red, with some yellow shades seen in the inner petals. The flowers having a very nice fruity rose fragrance.

I picked a small bouquet and was surprised how long they lasted as a cut flower in a vase. I was also surprised to see that the colour faded to a reddish pink when the flowers aged. Something that is seen when the weather is bright and sunny, so the flowers are bleached by the sun. Like many flowers it seems to close it´s petals at night and open them again when the sun comes up.

An elderly neighbour saw the bouquet and wanted the rose in her garden, to make it stand out among all her pink roses. The next fall she planted 5 of them in a small round rosebed. I planted 3 bareroot plants close together like David Austin recommends - so they form one big bush. (Something that is not needed most places in USA - where most Austin Roses grow 2-3 times as big and wide as up here in northen Europe). Notice - we plant bareroot roses in late October -nowember here - or in fact anytime during the winter when the soil is not frozen - a practice that seems not to be very common in in USA, where most plant bareroot roses in the spring. Bareroot roses planted in the fall, when they are dormant establish themselves better and faster than bareroot roses planted in the spring. The survival rate of fall planted roses is about 90 percent in my experience.

The first season the roses grew and bloomed well. Mine became almost 6 feet tall. They had a great spring flush and a smaller fall flush of flowers. My elderly neighbour's roses also did well - but hers only became 3 feet tall. I always think she was too cheap when it came to fertilizers. I use organic fertilizers in pellets with added micro nutrients. 2 times every season - in march and june. And perhaps add some dried seaweed and aged manure every fall. The difference between roses growing in her garden and mine were big! The canes on mine were twice as thick and they in general grew twice as big. The 2. season the 3 roses outgrew the spot I had planted mine and crowded some magic fountain delphiniums.

I also found that the rose was a bit stingy in producing flowers. Since I am not the most patient gardener I decided to find some other roses for this spot and moved them to my cutting garden. I often replace or move roses I do not like for one reason or another. Most often I replace roses that are not fragrant or healthy enough or do not produce many flowers for the space they occupy. My elderly neighbour kept hers and they did really well in the small rosebed she made for them.

Benjamin Britten has excellent disease resistance. Mine only got a little mildew (no wonder in my small garden with poor air circulation and overcrowded with roses! My elderly neighbour had an Abraham Darby rose that was plaqued with rose rust. And since it is a fungal disease that spread like wildfire, it spread to her rosebed with Benjamin Britten roses. Abraham Darby is in my experience a very healthy rose and I have never seen it get this diseased. Every year her Abraham Darby rose would get rust while mine were totally free of disease. I told her to get rid of that Abraham Darby rose since it seemed to infect all her other roses in her front yard. When it was dug up the rose rust never returned. She planted the Abraham Darby rose in her vegetable garden and it never got rose rust again! That rose simply did not do well in that excact spot.

You may wonder why I mention this elderly neighbour, when I write about this rose? I have mentioned her before - Love thy elderly gardener neigbour In november she got a cough and her doctor told her she had pneumonia. She was treated with antibiotics, but did not get any better. A chest ex-ray revealed that she had terminal lungcancer and her strength detoriated very rapidly. I encouraged her to go to a nearby hospice, but she felt she was not ready yet. The next day she was hospitalized because she had trouble breathing in spite of getting oxygen. A few days later she was moved to the hospice and she passed away the first night there. Knowing how much she loved roses we put roses on her coffin and her grave.

I had hoped she would live to see the roses bloom in the early summer. But she didn't. I am going to miss my garden friend. In fact I do miss her. During the winters we would often visit each other and talk about how we looked forward to the roses blooming. We talked about roses and gardening and shared garden books. We were so thrilled and excited when the roses started blooming after the long grey winters here. This summer - if I am lucky enough to see another summer - don´t we take life too much for granted? - I am going to cut myself a big bouquet of Benjamin Britten roses that she loved so much. Here today and gone tomorrow. Some garden bloggers like Zoë probably know more than any body what I am writing about. Life is so precious and fragile. All we can do is to love life and try to make the best out of our time here on Earth. As gardeners we are closer and probably more aware of the seasons of life in nature. Ahh soon - soon we are going to see the first signs of spring.

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:58:00 +0000

It is grey and cold here in Denmark. Wonderful sunny summer days are just a faint memory. Seems like we are getting yet another very mild winter even though it might get much colder any time now. No roses are blooming outside, but inside my soul I always see a very special rose for me.

Renée Fleming singing Lo, How e'er rose is blooming

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung,
of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright, amid the cold of winter,
when half-spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright, she bore to men a Savior,
when half-spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story, proclaimed by angels bright,
how Christ, the Lord of glory, was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger found him,
as angel heralds said.

This flow’r, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
dispels with glorious splendor the darkness ev’rywhere.
True man, yet very God; from sin and death he saves us
and lightens ev’ry load.

O Savior, child of Mary, who felt our human woe;
O Savior, King of glory, who dost our weakness know,
bring us at length, we pray, to the bright courts of heaven
and to the endless day

Rose in the picture on top, is Mme Pierre Oger. A sport of the Bourbon rose "Reine Victoria".

I am vegetating

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:58:00 +0000

I just want to let my online garden friends know, that the reason I have not posted for so long is NOT that I turned into a pumpkin at Halloween. I am however kind of vegetating, since I am going through a bad depression. Like a rose bush I have lost all my leaves - no pretty flowers are to be seen anymore and I even think I smell more like maneure than rosy. But like a rose bush I will come back even stronger after a dark cold winter.

From the Mountains to the Prairies

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:39:00 +0000

America is in many ways a fantastic country. Having just returned to Europe again from one of the many journeys I have made there, I am filled with new impressions of people, gardens, roses and other plants and new ideas.

One thing I really like about being in America is the greater sun intensity. The sun intensity is so much stronger than here in Northern Europe. In fact even the Northern
US states are on latitudes low enough to give them the same sun intensity as we experience in Mediterranian areas of Europe. Chicago e.g. is on the same lattitude as Rome in Italy, and the city I live in is on the same lattitude as the Canadian Manitoba province. For gardeners there are so many climate zones and different climate conditions that present many challenges to gardeners. Also over here the climate conditions are very different. Most of the UK gets 3 times as much rain as we gets here in Denmark, and with their mild winters they can grow plants that are hardy to USDA zone 8 or even 9 in southern parts of the country. Even tropical plants that would never have fighting chance here, where winters are so much colder.

The Greater sun intensity makes most plant grow to sizes I can only dream about over here. Roses are no exceptions! Most roses are at least twice as big as roses growing here. It is not unusual to see Hybrid Teas becoming 5-6 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide in USDA zones 6. Many Austin roses become climbers - I saw a huge specimen of Abraham Darby 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide in Salt Lake City. Because of the greater sunintensity it is important to water more than we have to do over here, otherwise the plants are just going to die. Roses need water, fertilizer and love - as gardeners we can only give too much of the first 2 needs.

I always notice how different the soil are in different places of the USA. Many places have very poor soil that need plenty of ammendments with compost in order for anything to grow well. Unlike the rich black clayish soil we have in many parts of Denmark. Alkaline soil also seems common many places, where the soil over here are mostly acidic and needs addition of limestone flour every 2. or 3 year to raise the PH levels to optimal levels.

People and living conditions are also interesting to study. There is an abyss between different social classes, those who are well educated and those living on very low minimum wages. Everything seems to be regulated and in order to do many kinds of work workers need to be licensed, unlike here. We have almost free access to college education and free health care and great social welfare programs ensuring that all are treated equal, giving our society greater stabilty and greater coherence. We seem to have other priorities over here and the tax system is so different. We e.g. pay 11 dollars for a gallon of gas while most Americans I know moan and groan over the astronomical price of 3.75 dollars for a gallon of gas. Since most people in America are more religious than people over here (40 percent of Americans are regular church goers while only 2 percent go here in Denmark) - I sometimes hear "that the second coming must be near when people gas up their cars".

Religous issues have a great influence on politics in America. Many Americans considers us Europeans "Flaming Liberals" while we are appaled by American social conservatives and their special interest groups preventing America to be anyting but "land of the free and home of the brave". While we see leaders of Mega Churches declaring gays an abomination, while they visit male prostitutes and snort meth when not preaching fire and brimstone and the sanctity of marriage. The most conservative politicians tapping their feet too much in restrooms in airports ... Oh well who am I to say that people on either side of the political spectrum are better than others?

When I was in Iowa in December and January the Iowa Caucus where on, and opening the TV while I was there now would drive every one crazy watching the political frenzy and mudslinging between Obama and Mcain. Here Election campains run 2-3 weeks and we vote and move on. I also watched the financial meltdown on wallstreet. It did not take much financial insight to see this coming: In March I asked on the Hot Topics on GW forums: Is the American Economy Collapsing? In hindsight I hate to be right on the money. I have great sympathy for my American friends and what they must endure the next few weeks, while the election campaign turn really nasty. At least we gardeners are able to escape the insanity and find peace for a while in our gardens. Planting the spring flowering bulbs and new roses soon to arriwe show that we still have faith and hope for the future.

During the next weeks I will post pictures of some of the great gardens and roses I saw In Salt Lake City. It´s good to be back!

Flying to America

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:56:00 +0000

I have felt so sad lately, because of a big loss in my life, so I have not felt much like blogging, even though I have been taking many nice pictures of all plants flowering. I am packing my suitcases to go to Copenhagen and meet a friend and his family tomorrow. Early Sunday morning (5 AM) I need to take the train to the airport and head for Salt Lake City, with layovers in London and Chicago. Quite a long 24 hour journey. I look forward seeing some friends and gardens over there, but mostly I look forward seeing the mountains since I live in such a flat country with small hills only. I sure hope not to encounter a red tape immigration officer and customs checking my caviar with a very suspicious look again. But I am not bringing any this time. I hope I feel better when I am back home again. Tomorrow before I leave I will go into my garden and smell some of the most fragrant roses. And perhaps pick some to bring for the journey to cheer me up. I just have to toss them on the plane since it is illegal to bring any plant and fruit into the US.

Eden Rose - Pierre De Ronsard

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:50:00 +0000

One of the most beautiful romantic roses ever created is the Meilland rose; Pierre De Ronsard also known as Eden rose. It belongs to a class of roses known as Romanticas. Fully double roses with a romantic old fashioned look. It is the French Rose company's response to the popularity of the English Austin Roses. Modern roses with an old fashioned look. Many of the Romanticas are Hybrid Teas to the core, but not Eden Rose, that is more like climber:

The flowers are huge and cup-shaped and very heavy. The buds are light green and develop into creamy white almost cabbage looking and later cup-shaped flowers with a delightful blush pink center. As the flower ages they turn almost white. The flowers are often used in exclusive bridal bouquets and wedding flower arrangements, and I can think of few roses more pretty for beautiful blushing bride than Eden Rose. Eden Rose in various stages:

Few roses are this easy to grow because of it's outstanding disease resistance. The leaves are dark green, tough and shiny. In USDA zones 5 or colder it is never going to be much of climber, but can be grown as a shrub rose. In warmer climate zones it can be grown as a 4-5 feet tall shrub with hard pruning or it can be grown as climber.

The rose was hybridized by Marie-Louise Meilland from the Family owned French rose company: Meilland Roses in 1987 .In Europe the rose is mostly known as Eden Rose, Even though It in France was named Pierre De Ronsard after the the great French poet. In America the rose is often known under the name Eden Rose Climber.

Due to the popularity of the rose it became included in the "Roses Hall of Fame" by popular vote of the member societies in the World Federation of Rose Societies in 2006.

If I shall mention some of the few flaws the rose has it must be that the rose only have a very light fragrance, and like other fully double roses it does not like wet weather, so I often pick nice bouquets if it going to rain:

Meilland Roses has a developed A website for this rose: I suggest you visit and see how beautiful the rose is and enjoy the pictures of how the rose can be grown and read some samples of Pierre De Ronsard's poetry:

Eden Rose Website in English

Eden Rose Website in French

Taking these Beauties for a swim

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:22:00 +0000

I will not be doing much desktop gardening this week, since I am going fishing for Atlantic salmon. A few rivers here in Denmark have good runs of searun brown trout and more and more Atlantic salmon returns to the rivers every year, because the conditions in rivers have improved, so more salmon reach the spawning areas in these rivers. Stocking programs using the wild unique salmon running these rivers have saved very small population of salmon that were on the brink of extinction. The
numbers of salmon returning has increased each year and now the fishing is reliable.

Besides gardening I have been tying salmon flies for many years. (What is a rose lover supposed to do the 6 months every year when the roses are not blooming here? They only bloom from May to end of October. I tie salmon flies like these:

I will let it dance in the currents and hope that a salmon comes up and takes it, and that I will have the luck and skill needed to carry a big silvery salmon like this one up to the cabin:

Now what has this got to do with gardening? Well I may get to use some of dill and citrus thyme from my garden, when eating one of these delicious fish. Smoked or steamed. And I just wanted to let my garden blog friends and readers know why I am not posting much these days, and why comments are not posted until I get home again. I have also gotten quite a few emails, that I will reply to when I get home next week.

Pruning and training of lanky roses

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:10:00 +0000

The Bourbon rose 'Louise Odier' and the Austin rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' are some of the most fragrant roses in the world. They produce an abundance of very beautiful flowers. Their beauty combined with their heady fragrance place them on top of the wish list of many gardeners.

These 2 roses are interesting because they can be grown in colder zones due to their hardiness (USDA zone 5 for Loise Odier and Zones 4/5 for Gertrude Jekyll) and still become quite big roses. In warmer zones they also perform well (Even though GJ might benefit from getting some afternoon shade not to fry the delicate flowers in hot sun). Both roses do not have very good disease resistance against blackspot and powdery mildew and benefit from preventive spraying with systemic fungicides.

Many who grow these 2 roses end up being disappointed. Both shoot long 8-10 feet tall canes every season, that make these roses very awkward and lanky growers. The secret to growing these roses well is to know they are very adaptable to different styles of pruning and training.

Both can be grown as bush roses (3-5 feet tall and wide) or low climbers (About 7-8 feet tall). I will illustrate how different pruning and training of these roses make them perform better and how you can choose to grow them. Before I begin, let me get some terminology straight:

LATERALS: Shoots coming from existing canes, older canes sometimes called "Old Wood".

BASALS: Shoots or new canes coming from the bud-union or crown on bare-root roses... hopefully planted 3-4 inches below soil-level in cold climates) or new basals from the roots on own-root plants. Sometimes a new basal shoot will come from a point very low on some of the older canes.

Louise Odier pruned to be grown as a bush/shrub rose:

With hard pruning LO can be grown as 3-4 feet tall bush. Grown as 5-6 feet tall bush LO usually begins to need some support like a rose-stake. I cut the basals to 2-3 feet after they have flowered. Those canes will make new laterals (2-3 feet long and flower later in the fall). In the spring I prune these laterals to 2-6 inches so I get a rounded shape to the bush.

Louise Odier bush 3. season spring flush:

Same Louise Odier bush 3. season fall flush (Notice I pruned the bush hard after the spring flush and that the rose is blooming on the new laterals, and have shot some long basals that I will prune to 2-3 feet next spring):

This hard pruning reduces the size of the bush to the size and shape of the bush I want. I also get more laterals and flowers. Also it does not become leggy and ugly ... In 5 years it will become an awesome rosebush! Avoid pruning all the canes to the same length ; the bush will look like a "broom-stick". Pruning the canes in length from 1-3 feet will make the bush produce roses from top to bottom and not become a leggy and unproductive ... a 'jolly green giant'. Those who grow this rose knows it sometimes throws long 6-8 feet long canes ... If I see one of these I prune it to about 2-3 feet in august not allowing it to flower. It will produce about 3 new long laterals in the fall that will flower late. These will be pruned in the spring and give a rich spring flush.

Same Louise Odier Bush 4.season spring flush (many hundreds of buds and flowers):

Louise Odier trained and pruned to be grown as low climber:

The long canes also means LO can be grown as a low climber or pillar rose (against fences or walls in colder zones; 6 and lower or even on arches in warmer zones; 6 and higher).

Instead of pruning the long basals I train them by bending and twisting them in -S-shapes to a wall support. The bending horizontal parts will shoot many flowering laterals! In the Spring I prune most of these to about 3 bud-eyes length.

Louise Odier as a low climber against a wall, trained on a wall support. (pictured in the spring, so you can see how I trained the canes):

Same rose early summer just beginning to bloom - notice buds from from the ground and up. ( After flowering I prune back the laterals to 5 bud-eyes, that will shoot new laterals in the fall and bloom. Some of the laterals will be 3-4 feet I bend these in S-shaped and tie them to the support or some of the older canes to build up a dense framework):

Louise Odier could also be trained in a fan shape along a fence (See Gertrude Jekyll) , by training the long basals horizontally.

Gertrude Jekyll pruned to be grown as a bush/shrub roses:

Gertrude Jekyll ... SIGH! ... people either hate it or love it. I understand why!! No other rose can become lanky/leggy and ugly if not pruned hard or trained correctly!

Grown as a bush I would not allow it to grow taller than 4-5 feet! It will become leggy and ugly and not produce as many flowers as it can. Also: If not pruned hard after the impressive spring flush, repeat will be very poor! In my experience it takes about 3 seasons before the rose really begins repeating reliably. Many impatient rose growers (Yes they do exist) have given up on the rose before that, calling it an Awkward grower and a stingy bloomer.

I have a line of 8 GJs along the path to one of my doors. (The fragrance is unbelievable!! Out of this world!!) :

If people want to grow GJ as a bush and grow it well, hard pruning is very important ...both in the spring and after the first flush! If I want to grow it as a bush I prune the canes to 1-3 feet and the laterals to 1-3 bud-eyes in the spring. After the first flush I prune it hard again! Some of the new basals will flower and I prune these hard too after they have flowered! If a 5-6 foot basal was pruned to 2-3 feet ...trust me the new laterals will have reached 5 feet before fall! This makes GJ a very awkward grower! So if you want to grow it well as a bush and you want it to repeat ,hard pruning is essential!

Same pruning applies to Comte De Chambord/Mme Boll one of the parents to GJ:

By growing a rose well I mean the amount of flowers it produces ... A well grown specimen of GJ is sight for sore eyes ... well-grown meaning correctly pruned or trained! How often have you not seen leggy ugly GJs? With correct pruning a 4+ season old GJ is an amazing rose! Correctly pruned the amount of flowers is stunning! GJ as a bush (Scan from DA handbook of roses):

Gertrude Jekyll pruned and trained to be grown as a low climber:

The long basals and laterals produced also makes it possible to grow it shaped as fan, by training the long basals and laterals horizontally a very good option! GJ trained fan shaped along a fence:(Scan from DA handbook of roses):

GJ Jekyll can also be grown as a pillar rose or supported by cylindrical or various other supports, even on arches in zones 6 and higher. The secret is good training: bend or train as many as the basals and long laterals as horizontally as possible. Twirl and twist the flexible (and very, very thorny canes!!!) and secure them by tying the canes to the support or older canes. Grown as low climbers Gjs can be extraordinary beautiful and productive! GJ as low climber (Scan from DA handbook of roses):

When training a climber remember that just allowing them to grow upright and not training them, so they produce the twisted horizontal framework of canes that produces flowers, will only give ugly results. A rose that only produces flowers at the tip of the long canes on top, instead of producing flowers from the ground to the top.

So if more people had the patience and just knew how to prune and train Louise Odier and Gertrude Jekyll correctly, I bet they would be more valued for what they can become. I love these beautiful roses, with their strong intoxicating old rose fragrance, that makes me high on life.

Consider the Lilies? Or give up?

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:53:00 +0000

I love lilies, but they seem to hate me or my soil. Of the 12 Stargazer lily bulbs I planted this spring only 1 has bloomed. I think this is a very poor result! I could of course just stick to roses, that I grow so well, but I like to have something blooming during the dog days of August. I love the scent of fragrant flowers. Fragrance is so important to me and what is more fragrant than oriental lilies?

The bulbs I planted were very large. I amended the soil so it drained well were I planted them and gave a good layer of compost on top. I sprayed them with natural pyrethrum tea to deter red lily beetles and I did not see any most of the season. They shot small stalks only about 1,5 feet tall and like I wrote only 1 of the 12 produced 2 buds!

The rest produced blind shots like these, with no buds or totally crippled:

I did enjoy the one flower I got, pictured on top and I looked forward to the other bud opening up - but then I noticed this little fellow munching away on the inside of the small bud ---AARRRGGGHHH%#¤%:

I just know that lily beetles and their disgusting larvae did not eat my lily buds, I inspected them every day and I saw none. This single one was probably attracted to the fragrance of the one bloom I got. Maybe it does take some time before lily bulbs bloom well? I have heard that they may need a few years to flower well, but what do I know? I will consider whether these flowers are worth growing. Perhaps I am doing the same mistake with these plants that I often do with people. I pass judgment way too fast and don´t give them a chance?

Consider the Lilies:

Consider the lilies of the field,
How they grow, how they grow.
Consider the birds in the sky,
How they fly, how they fly.

He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky.
And He will feed those who trust Him,
And guide them with His eye.

Consider the sheep of His fold,
How they follow where He leads.
Though the path may wind across the mountains,
He knows the meadows where they feed.

He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky,
And He will feed those who trust Him,
And guide them with His eye.

Consider the sweet, tender children
Who must suffer on this earth.
The pains of all of them He carried
From the day of His birth.

He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And He will heal those who trust Him,
And make their hearts as gold.

Gorgeous Pink Old Garden Roses

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:52:00 +0000

This year my old garden roses were gorgeous! Because of the dry warm weather we had when they flowered. I had to water my roses much more than I have ever done in the spring, since we had the worst drought in 57 years. Many of my old garden roses were covered in blooms and their scents were intoxicating for 4-5 glorious weeks. Here are pictures of some of my favorite pink old garden roses:

Rosa Portlandica; 'Comte De Chambord' s. 'Mme Boll':

Rosa Centifolia; 'Village Maid':

Rosa Centifolia Muscosa; 'Mme Louis Lévêque':

Rosa Bourbonica: 'Louise Odier':

Rosa Centifolia; 'Reine De Centfeuilles'.

Rosa Macrantha: 'Rose Ellen' Double Sport of 'Raubritter':

Rosa Alba: 'Celestial':

Rambler: Wichuriana Hybrid: 'Albertine':

Rosa Bourbonica; Souvenir de Mme Auguste Charles:

Rosa Bourbonica; 'Kathleen Harrop' - sport of Zephirine Drouhin:

Rosa Portlandica; 'Jacques Cartier' s. 'Marchesa Bocella':

Rosa Alba; 'Königin von Dänemark':

Rosa Bourbonica; 'Souvenir De La Malmaison':

The First Lady of Australia's Favorite Flower

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:01:00 +0000

I have heard that associations of the "First Lady of Australia" often turns some gardeners off growing this wonderful flower, which just shows that they do not have a sense of humor.

Over the years I have come to really like these summer flowering bulbs (or corms) with their swordlike spiky foliage and upright flowers that flowers through the dog days of August, where the roses seem to take a break before the fall flush.

My favorite Gladioli are those with purple or hot Pink flowers like 'Violetta' or 'Plumtart'. They are like other summer flowering bulbs very easy to grow. Just plant the bulbs/corms 6-8 inches deep in the spring when the risk of frost is over. I use them as fillers in mixed borders - planting them in groups of 10-15 corms. I enjoy the elegant foliage in June and July, that looks like a broad leafed ornamental grass, before the swordlike flower stalks appear and begin to bloom in August and September.

Another splash of purple: Wicked Old Tease:

Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:13:00 +0000

During a wonderful summer vacation at the French Riviera in 1993, I visited some Danish friends who own a wonderful summer residence in Antibes. In their garden I saw a big arching shrub rose covered in beautiful red and purple roses. I will never forget the first time I smelled one of these roses. The olfactory pleasure made my soul sing and for a moment time stood still. Every day I went to smell these roses and my friends told me that it was a Hybrid Perpetual called Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée they had gotten from Guillot Roses.

Some years later I had not forgotten that rose and wanted to grow it in my garden. I remembered the name and saw that it was available from a few rose nurseries. I ordered 3 plants and looked forward seeing them bloom the following season. When the roses bloomed I knew that they were not Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée, but another rose named Erinnerung An Brod. Of course I told the renowned rose nursery that I had gotten the wrong rose, but they insisted that it was the right cultivar.

I tried ordering the rose from a German Rose nursery instead, but the rose I got was yet again Erinnerung An Brod! It seemed hopeless getting the right rose. I then ordered one plant from Guillot Roses in France and when it finally bloomed sparsely the following early summer, I knew I had gotten the right rose! A few years later I saw Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée in Europa-Rosarium Sangerhausen in Germany. It was similar to the rose I had gotten from Guillot Roses, but they did not know where they got their budwood from.

When buying roses it happens that we get 'mislabeled roses'. Most often it is due to a mix-up of rose plants at the rose nursery - at different levels of the production. Other times they get the wrong budwood. When ordering this rose most people is going to get either Erinnerung An Brod or another red Hybrid perpetual: Souvenir du Docteur Jamain. It sometimes seems that ordering roses is; to quote Forrest Gump: ".. Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get"!

Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée is a hybrid perpetual, a class of roses with a varied ancestry, but all repeat flowering more or less. It was hybridized by Charles-Félix Verdier in 1884 and named after one of the Presidents of the national French Horticultural Society.

In 2004 I visited Guillot roses in France and saw where the rose I had gotten came from. I had the pleasure of meeting Jan-Pierre Guillot and asked him about the origin of this rose and other old garden roses. He told me that according to their files they got the budwood cuttings from the Hybridizer Charles-Félix Verdier himself in 1889. Guillot Roses describe Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée like this:

"Les Fleurs du Mal" do exist. Full and velvety, of a shaded black crimson, the flowers exhale in a burst of violet. Their scent should be forbidden such as is the intoxicating effect".

For those who do not speak French or are familiar with French Poetry: Les Fleurs du Mal are a volume of french poetry by Charles Baudelaire. Very interesting to read for those long winter days and evenings!

The flowers of Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée are about 3 inches wide and in early stages deep cupshaped. In later stages, some of the outer petals reflex a bit and the inner petals are quartered making the flower more shallow cupshaped. In early stages the flowers are a deep velvet crimson, but as the flowers age they turn a deep royal purple. It will probably do best if it can get some afternoon shade, so the hot sun will not burn the edges of the petals to a crisp. In full sun the flowers become more dark purple. They last a long time on the bush and become almost crisp dried black purple rose flowers, so they need to be deadheaded. I like to see all the various stages on the same rosebush:

In my climate (Equivalent to USDA zone 5b-6a) the rose become about 3 feet tall and 2feet wide, with some shoots reaching 4 feet. In the same climate zones in USA the rose will become a little bigger, due to the greater sun intensity. It has a upright growth habit, the canes arching a bit when it blooms. In warmer climates as in Southern France it forms a 6-7 feet tall and about 5-6 feet wide rose bush with arching canes. It blooms in distinct flushes. It takes a few years to rebloom well, probably since most HPs bloom on 'Old wood'- growth from previous years. The canes are almost thornless and the peduncles are smotth unlike many other red HPs.

It has better disease resistance than many other Hps, but do get a little blackspot and powdery mildew if not sprayed with fungicides. This year I am growing mine no-spray and leaf loss has been less than 10 percent (I remove infected leaves). In areas with high hlack spot pressure this rose is going to be hard to grow no-spray.

Over the years I have become more and more interested in propagating hard-to-get roses, or roses I know are becoming extinct. This way I am sure that the very rare roses, I give to Heritage rose Gardens and Rosariums truly are the right rose cultivars. It has taken me some time to get a good stock of these roses and I have exchanged budwood with some European rose Nurseries. One of them is Kwekerij de Bierkreek in Holland. This Fall they are going to send this rose to Ashdown Roses in USA. So the Rose can be sold from year 2010, when the quarantine is over.

I hope Kwekerij de Bierkreek send the right roses. Because I know how often roses get mixed up! Ashdown Roses already seems to have the rose. They got it from Peter Beales Roses in England ( Who do have the right rose). But I want to see what Ashdown Roses have before I am sure that it is the correct rose. Last Fall I ordered 10 roses for some friends who wanted this rose from a nursery I knew had the real Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée - guess what - they turned out to be "Fisher Holmes"! Perhaps this rose really is cursed (Un fleur du mal - an evil flower) since it seems so hard to get a plant? I just know, that if you see the beauty of these flowers and smell them, you will also be under the spell of this rose.

Later this year (It´s summer and I am busy) I will post pictures comparing the different roses sold as Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallée, but in fact are Erinnerung an Brod or Souvenir du Docteur Jamain so interested rosarians clearly can see the difference.

The Fairy

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:35:00 +0000

The Fairy is a fantastic polyantha rose, that has stood the test of time. It is so easy to grow and over the years forms a dense shrubby mound, that completely covers the ground.

Bred in 1931 by Ann Bentall in England by crossing Paul Crampel x Lady Gay (The latter being a Wichuriana hybrid). The Wichuriana ancestry is clearly seen by the small shiny leaves and lax growth, that in warmer climates almost makes the rose a small climber. It is extremely disease resistant, in fact I have only seen it getting a little mildew some places.

It has become one of the most popular roses here in Denmark. So popular that many are beginning to get tired of seeing this 'landscape rose' everywhere. I really like using this dependable work horse rose for low rose hedges, as ground cover rose and even in mixed borders. The flowers are small, but it is not for the individual flowers people grow this rose, but for the mass effect of the many small flowers. It also only has a very light apple scent.

It starts blooming a little later than most roses, but blooms continuously until frost and snow cover the roses. In spite of this, the rose is very hardy (USDA zone 4). And also does well in warmer climates and stands hot weather. The rose hangs on to its petals, but it is not necessary to deadhead the wilting dried flowers. Just use a broom and shake flowers off a few times during the season. The Fairy is very easy to prune, in fact a hedge trimmer is very useful, to trim it a bit every spring, if needed. The first 3 years I don´t prune it since I want it to cover the ground. After that I prune away the top third of the canes each spring.

4 years ago I used fairy roses to landscape a small front garden belonging to a elder couple, who because of health problems found it hard to work in the garden as much as they used to. They wanted something that flowered all summer and was very low maintainance. The small area underneath the red japanese maple tree was full of perennial weeds that they had given up fighting against. I suggested using Fairy roses for ground cover, used a landscape fabric to cover the ground (And kill the perennial weeds), planted 7 fairy roses and mulched with 3 inches of wood chip mulch. 4 years later it looks like this:

Quiet Please!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:26:00 +0000

When reading garden blogs I have noticed something that really turns me off : Music!
You go to a garden blog directory and scan the posts to see if there is some interesting posts you want to read, and when you click and the page loads - music starts blazing out the computer loudspeakers.
I read garden blogs to READ about gardeners experience with different plants, gardening and SEE beautiful pictures of flowers and gardens. I did not ask for loud music or LOUD Bird noise and water tinkling (always makes me want to P..)or classical music. Has garden blogs turned into 24-7 garden parties? I often quickly leave these blogs with music gadgets. I really wonder if these garden bloggers play music in their gardens all the time too? I like a quiet peaceful garden. If I want to hear music I can turn on my stereo and close the doors and windows, because I do not assume that my neighbours like my taste in music. I actually like to HEAR the wind in the big willow tree, and in the grasses and leaves. Sound pollution is a big problem, and gardeners are part of the problem with many of their power tools. The sound of peace and quietness and natural sounds is the ultimate luxury in our sound polluted world.
I wish garden bloggers would turn off these music gadgets. Or at least let readers choose whether they want to listen to music, screaming birds and cascading water, by clicking that option. On some Blogs you can actually turn the noise off. But it is easier to leave. Or am I one of the few gardeners who like the sound of silence, when reading garden blogs? I don´t think reading about or watching pictures of the beautiful rose "Quietness" becomes more interesting accompanied to music, screaming birds or tinkling water - do you?

Do you also have a Cottage Garden?

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:57:00 +0000

Recently some friends of mine came back from England and raved about all the wonderful "cottage gardens" they had seen over there. They showed me pictures of prominent estate gardens, most owned and maintained by The National Trust. Hidcote Manor, Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Nymans, Mottisfont Abbey Garden in Hampshire, and Gardens of The Rose. I tried to keep my mouth shut and enjoyed the fine garden pictures they had taken, but I could not help it, I had to ask: "Where is the cottage"?

"Cottage Garden" has become such an over exploited term among gardeners, that I have become tired of of the word "Cottage". All gardens these days seems to be "cottage gardens", according to the owners.

My parents had a very large "country garden". They had large perennial borders near the house. A very big vegetable garden and an orchard - with all the fruit in the world. I loved sitting in the tree house in a big apple tree, looking at the birds, sometimes just daydreaming and looking at the clouds on a warm summer day.

I often wonder how almost all gardens these days have become "cottage gardens" and why the term have become so popular that a growing number of garden magazines focus on this particular kind of gardens. I see rich people building miniature "cottages" on their property and create an informal garden with shrubs, fruit trees, roses, herbs, perennials and annuals. Nearly all my clients want a "cottage Garden" - maintenance free of course!

Some time ago I read a post on Zoë's blog Garden Hopping I simply love her blog and feast my eyes on her great pictures of great gardens! In her post about The Sissinghurst "Cottage Garden" she quoted Tony Lords sarcastic words about Sissinghursts Cottage Garden:

'This is as much a cottage garden as Marie-Antoinette was a Milk Maid'

Well I laughed so much at that! Because the words are so true! I think if I showed a picture of Sissinghursts Herb Garden to most people (gardeners or not) they would say it was a Cottage Garden. If I showed them a picture of Sissinghursts Rose Garden or White Garden they would also call them Cottage Gardens. How did it come to this? People seem not to be able to get enough of anything "Cottage" - there is even a Magazine Called CottageLiving! The other day I found a small sliver of wood in my cottage cheese. When I called the Dairy producer - the man on the other end of the line said "Well what did you expect at that price - the whole cottage"?

I think I know why cottage Gardens have become so popular that everybody who plants an herb and a annual in their back yard think they have made a "Cottage Garden" .
It is pure escapism! In this complex confusing world were children gun down their teacher and classmates, where everybody is suspected of being a terrorist in airports, an even organic grown produce has pesticide residues many long for something traditional and simple.

I also sometimes wish my life was less complicated than a cottage garden. Because the great estate gardens in England are not cottage gardens (sorry to break your illusions friends) And there is no such thing as a "no maintenance cottage garden".
I also long to be able to go back to that tree house in the orchard apple tree, looking at the garden. Because that country garden is no more. But we can not go back. No matter how many gold medals overhyped conceptual gardens get at famous garden shows, people still want cottage gardens and cottage living. Do you also have a cottage garden? Or do you have a real garden?

A Very Rare Clematis

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Each year I seem to grow more and more fond of clematis. From May to October different types of clematis put on a massive display of flowers. My favorites are; 1)Early large flowering Clematis, blooming abundantly in May-June and repeat a little in August-September f.ex. 'Multi-blue and 'Miss Batemann'. 2) Late large flowering clematis blooming July-September f.ex. 'Jackmanii Superba' and 'Gypsy Queen and 3) Late small flowering clematis - f.ex. clematis Viticella 'Polish Spirit' and 'Royal Velours'. I am especially fond of clematis in the blue, purple and burgundy colour range.

16 years ago I took some cuttings from a clematis growing in a friends gardens. She did not know the name of it but it was gorgeous! Rather large blue bell shaped flowers opening up to show yellow stamens, and it bloomed abundantly from June to September. Over the years I did a lot of research trying to identify the plant. The flowers looked like a Texensis variety or it could be an Integrafolia or viticella? It looked like Clematis Durandii on steroids.

Last year I posted pictures on a forum and some guided me in the right direction. My mystery clematis turned out to be: Clematis x diversifolia 'Hendersonii' One of the oldest hybrids in cultivation - A hybrid between Clematis Integrefolia with Clematis Viticella made by J.A. Henderson in 1835.

The Clematis is herbaceous in nature but unlike Clematis Integrefolia it does seem to be able to makes the leaf stems "cling" a bit, without having true petioles like most clematis have. I prune it hard each year in late February, to about 1 feet above the ground. When the growth starts the new shoots need a little guidance, and I grow it against a fine rebar mesh against a wall and it becomes 7-8 feet tall.

All guests in my garden admire this rare clematis. It is a real show stopper! No wonder since it always have hundreds of blooms from June to September. It does not seem to be available in USA or Canada, even though I am willing to send plenty of cuttings so it can be propagated and more widely grown. Many on the other side of the Atlantic really would love to grow this rare beauty. So I hope a Canadian or American nursery specializing in clematis want it bad enough to be willing to import it - since I do not want to break any laws sending plants illegally (Not that we have many pests - but they have enough already!). It sure should be more widely grown here in Europe too - but then again - how could they, when no one seems to know about it?

Here it is seen in the bottom middle part of the picture. The other clematis in front as a companion for Rose 'Albertine' is clematis viticella 'Etoille Violette'. Albertine has really put on some growth since last when this pictures was taken!

Heritage - David Austin Rose

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:44:00 +0000

Heritage has always been one of the most planted Austin roses. It is a fantastic rose, with all the romantic qualities of Old Garden Roses, but with all the qualities of a modern rose too. Bred in 1984 and always said to be one of David Austins own favorites among his roses.

The flowers are cupshaped - with pale pink outer petals that fade to white and the inner petals are blush pink. The outer petals most often form a concentric ring that enclose the inner petals. Sometimes the rose shows it's stamens. They have a very pleasant strong fragrance. Old rose with clove, carnation, honey, and a little musk. Some say they also smell a citrus note.

The first flowers are huge - while later flowers are smaller, but just as delicate. I have noticed that the flowers appear more fully double in colder climates than in warmer climates. People growing this rose in warmer climates also complain that this rose blows very fast on hot sunny days, which is true. When the weather is hot and sunny the flowers only last about 2 days before it drops the petals. On the other hand, I find this a good quality since the rose does not need dead-heading.

The rose is not very hardy. After a hard winter there might only be 3-4 inches of canes left. But what the rose lacks in hardiness - it has in vigor. Late summer the rose bush is about 5-6 feet tall again. I really like my planting of 3 bare root plants of Heritage, spaced 15 inches apart. This way they form one big rose bush that is rarely without flowers from late May to early November; when the frost takes the last flowers. It truly is one of the most continuously blooming Austin Roses. The rose has an upright to arching growth habit.

In my mild Scandinavian climate the rose is about 4-5 feet tall and 3 feet wide, but in warmer areas of the USA (USDA Zone 7-8 and up) I have seen huge specimens of this rose - more like 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide. That huge rose did not become, what some call a jolly green giant; meaning the rose will grow very tall, but not produce many flowers. That rose had hundreds of roses blooming. So in warmer climates the rose has the potential to be grown as a low upright climber.

The dark glossy leaves are modern in appearance and very resistant to blackspot here, a little less to powdery mildew. Others complain that this rose has little resistance to blackspot. It seems to vary a lot depending on the disease pressure in different areas. So this rose that is very healthy here, may be very prone to getting blackspot other places.

Heritage often produces 'sports'; genetic mutations causing some flowers on some canes to look different than the original flowers. One well known sport is Rose-Marie - a white sport of Heritage. 2 years ago I discovered a creamy white sport of Heritage on one of my Heritage roses. The leaves were also paler than the normal darker leaves:

I asked David Austin Roses if they were interested in getting some of the canes - but they said that they were not interested in using Heritage and it´s sports in their hybridization programs. They emphasized that if I chose to propagate the rose for sale, that I was not allowed use the name Heritage or David Austin Rose since they were trademarks. So if you discover a sport on your Austin Roses - Do not call it xxxxxxxx - sport of yyyyyyy -Austin Rose.

Some Heritage roses may take on apricot hues in warm weather. It is natural to see roses change their colour a bit due to higher or lover temperatures. But these colour variations are not sports. One thing I like about my mild climate is that Heritage always looks gorgeous here, and has better form and colour, than I see in warmer climates. Since I grow 9 of them I can afford the luxury to cut big bouquets, if I know it is going to rain, because no roses look good in the rain.

I predict that Heritage will become a classic. Few (Austin)roses are this popular 24 years after they have been introduced. I know Heritage is many rose lovers favorite - including Tasha Tudor, who passed away recently. When I come home in October I pass a Heritage rose near my front door. I am always amazed how great these last roses smell, perhaps because I know winter will come soon and it will be 6 dreary months without roses. Sitting indoors treating my SAD condition under full spectrum lighting, wilting like a dying annual, counting the days until the roses are going to bloom again.

Heritage Rose Bouquet

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Plougmann) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:03:00 +0000

Having a cutting garden is a luxury! I have about 200 roses in my cutting garden and often cut large bouquets of my favorite roses. I love to have their scent fill my house. Here is a bouquet of one of my favorite Austin Roses; Heritage. They only last about 3 days in a vase, before the petals start dropping - but I enjoy every minute of them.