You may remember that last winter I told you about my rose pruning effort and how I had engaged a professional rose pruner to help me.

The thought of pruning all my roses was a little intimidating at the time – but if truth be told I suspect that I was simply too lazy.

Well, pruning day arrived and the professional pruner brought some tools and some loppers and proceeded to lop off my roses in a most frightening manner.

All I could do was to stand by and watch helplessly – and hope that he knew more about pruning than I did.

I was wrong. I know now that I knew better. Much better.

At this point I can only refer to the lines of Elizabeth Barrett Browning because they explain exactly how I felt:

“High on the shore sat the great god Pan
While turbidly flowed the river;
And hacked and hewed as a great god can,
With his hard bleak steel at the patient reed,
Till there was not a sign of the leaf indeed
To prove it fresh from the river.”

I return to my story.

I had told him how high I wanted my bushes to be and he lopped them off to the required height and quite a bit more for good measure.

He didn’t even prune to an outgoing eye as this was regarded as last century retro thinking.

Oh well.  He was the experienced expert so I left him, made myself a cup of tea and peeped through the kitchen window to view the mayhem.

He finished the job in about an hour and a half – and to give him  some small credit – it would have taken me a week and a half to get my rose garden completely pruned.

OK so what were the final results of the rose pruning?

Well there was no major damage to report except for the massacre of my lovely “Double Delight” which took a real beating.  Such a beating in fact, that she still looks sad and hasn’t recovered her earlier vigour.

I can promise you that this pruning season I will tend her myself and prune very lightly indeed and only remove the dead bits. In another year she should recover.

But I’ll tell you one thing.  Never again will I let anyone near my roses.  Even if it takes me a month to prune them myself, I will do a few roses every day and get through the task my way.

A lesson learnt. Don’t presume that all so-called rose experts know a lot more than you do. Sometimes you as the garden owner have a better and more sympathetic understanding of your own roses.

Garden Queen - a true queen among roses

The top five roses in my garden include 3 hybrid teas and two floribundas.

I’m sorry that this article is limited to only 5 roses but you have to stop somewhere and the list could go on and on.

If you asked me to choose another 5 favourite roses I could do so  with ease.

But let’s take a look at my top five roses for today only – because tomorrow I could change my mind as there are so many to choose from.

So here they are:

My top five roses

Mr Lincoln -  a very large deep red rose
Double Delight – red. white and pink popular rose
Garden Queen – pinkish mauve – hard to describe but it’s lovely!
My Granny – pink pom-poms all over the bush
Deloitte & Touche – pink and orange roses and buds in profusion

• I have chosen Mr Lincoln because the bush is huge and so are the roses. I like a large, healthy rose tree rather than those spindly bushes that have been pruned back to the ground. (And I will talk about my pet pruning gripe another time.)  Mr Lincoln is a dramatic red rose with a wonderful scent and is completely trouble free in my garden.  It never complains and it gives me bunch after bunch of huge, sweet-smelling red roses for the vase.

• Double Delight is a firm favourite not only with me but with rose lovers all over the world.  This beautiful red, pink and white rose is generously displayed all over a strong growing rose bush. The scent is superb and the bush is large and healthy. It always seems to be in bloom. Lovely roses for the vase too.

• Garden Queen is another huge hybrid tea rose – in fact, it’s the biggest rose in my garden. The colour is a dark pink that tends almost to mauve. The bush is large and healthy  and grows extremely well if it gets enough water. It is also disease resistant. Garden Queen is a rose with the “wow” factor. And the perfume is irresistible.  A truly “wow” rose.

• And now we have two of my favourite floribundas.  I have  many more but today I will stick to two.  My Granny is such a generous bloomer that you simply have to love her.  The rose  is covered all year  round in medium-sized, pink pom-poms.  As they fall off so new pom-poms are produced in clusters.  They are low growing, profuse and always in bloom. I have these planted all along a black wrought iron, dividing garden  fence. And the sight is truly lovely.

• Deloitte & Touche is a firm favourite world-wide – and with reason. I have a  group of five of these floribundas grouped together in the lawn on a bank and it is always a mass of colour.  Against the green lawn this is a stunning display.  I have found the bushes to be amazingly healthy. They grow at an even knee-length height and they are simply covered with trusses of pink and pale orange blooms.

Try any of these roses and you won’t be disappointed. They are all healthy, easy growing and prolific.  What more can you ask for in a rose?  And to cap it all, the hybrid teas I mentioned are in my list of top ten fragrant roses.

So there you have it.  A personal description of the top five roses in my garden.

Bougainvillea and petrea planted together make a great team and create a dramatic impact with their colourful display.   They are ideal shrub mates as they come into flower at exactly the same time.

Here is a lovely corner in my garden where bougainvillea and petrea are blooming together.

Both these shrubs like a position in full sun so they are perfect planting mates.  But best of all, they come into flower at exactly the same time in spring.  And they certainly give a glorious display with their mountains of red and purple flowers side by side.

Many gardeners are hesitant about planting these prolific shrubs as they think they are too overbearing for smaller gardens.  But it’s a pity to lose out on such a dramatic show of colour as these two shrubs can give you. So here are a few tips to help you keep them beautiful but under control.

Grow Large Shrubs in Containers

Luckily these strong shrubs can be heavily pruned back to the size that is most suitable for your garden. In fact they can also be grown in containers which will automatically restrict the size of the plant to something much more manageable.

Here is a red bougainvillea that has been growing in a container for about six years and as you can see it is still very manageable. Even though bougainvilleas are notoriously rampant growers, I haven’t had to prune it back because the pot is keeping it in shape.

Red bougainvillea against a white wall

You can always try these climbers in pots first to check their habit of growth.  Then if you would prefer a more dramatic show you can transfer them to the garden proper.

Submerge pots under the ground

Here’s a tip for you if you prefer a more natural look for your garden without containers but still want to control the growth of your climbers: simply plant your climbers in their respective pots and submerge these under the ground till you can’t see the rim of the pot.

Then water as usual.  In this way the rampant growth of these climbers will be restricted and they will never grow wildly out of control.

I have had success with both these shrubs at the coast and inland so I have found them to be suitable for most climates.

Do write and tell me about your own experiences with bougainvillea and petrea in your garden.

My clematis is so completely covered in these sky blue flowers that you can hardly see the leaves.

I had no idea that any clematis could be so prolific. Well it is – and I can only gaze in admiration.

Last night it rained heavily and I thought the flowers would be scattered on the ground but by this morning after only one or two casualties it is as bright as ever. To prove it to you I took this photo – after the rain.

As you can see I planted the clematis in a large pot but I have trained some of the tendrils along the black wrought iron fence behind it.

Now this clematis has had a rather interesting history.  I bought it about two years ago as a young sapling with three plate-sized flowers.

It grew well and by the end of the summer it needed secure staking.  But then winter came and robbed it of every bit of greenery. It looked like a mound of dry sticks. All the stalks were dry and lifeless. So I cut it right down to the base and hoped it would survive.

By spring, my clematis, undeterred, began to grow shoots from the base. And during summer we had quite a nice show.

This recent winter it was very cold and frosty and once again the clematis was reduced to a mound of dry sticks.  But this time I decided not to prune at all so I only removed the dry leaves. The sticks seemed deader than ever but I decided to wait it out.

And what luck that I did!

Spring swept in quickly

And the clematis sprang to life in a matter of days.  Every dead stalk sprouted leaves and buds in quick succession.  There were fat buds all over the plant, peeping out from every possible corner and crevice.

And overnight they burst open into this spectacular display of blue flowers.

So now I am left with the question – is pruning such a desirable thing after all?

It’s a question that I will be looking at more closely when I chat about the results of the vicious pruning that my roses endured during July.

And about that litter of clematis babies that I told you about last time – well I have managed to propagate a lovely new plant – pictures to follow in due course. She isn’t very photogenic yet!

If you have had any experience with clematis, please tell me about it.  Any tips will be most welcome.  As I mentioned previously, clematis is rather new to me as we had previously lived at the coast.

So all you clematis lovers out there please pop in with any tips or advice because I have become an ardent fan!

My roses have grown well and I always buy a few new ones each year so my rose bushes have grown considerably both  in number and in size.

Not surprisingly, when pruning time came around this year, the prospect of pruning them myself was a little daunting.

In the past, I have always spread my rose pruning over a few days – a system that made my job a lot easier. But the downside is that it affects the blooming time if you prune at different times. This year I didn’t want to stagger the pruning as I want to have a big flush of roses in October.

In addition to this, my Mr Lincoln has grown to an enormous height – about 17 -20 feet and the canes are not canes but veritable tree trunks. The thought of pruning this monster was more than a little daunting.

So these are all my reasons for deciding to call in:

A Professional Rose Pruner

Well he arrived with all the necessary paraphernalia and I sat down with a cup of tea and watched him in silent triumph! This was the way to do it!

Fantastic! He went through the whole lot in about an hour and a half. He lopped off all the heavier canes in a matter of seconds. I was very impressed.

However!

When I checked the results after he left it seemed as if he had used a hedge cutter on my roses. It looked like a massacre. A fiasco. My beautiful rose canes had been chopped off mercilessly.

For a full week I couldn’t look at the rose bushes. I didn’t even inspect them to see if any shoots had appeared. And I swore I would never go the lazy route again.

Another however!

It is now a month later and spring has officially arrived. My roses have sent out shoots in all directions and I’m relieved to report that everything looks rather healthy.

With one important distinction.

In addition to the new leaves that are sprouting, most of the rose bushes are now sending out marvelous red shoots from their bases.

These will be the new canes that are every rose grower’s dream. In fact I love to see shoots like these even more than the flowers themselves because they hold so much promise for the new season.

So it remains to be seen if this was indeed a pruning fiasco or a fortunate mistake on my part.

It’s just remotely possible that this was a mistake that I may wish to repeat next year.

I’ll keep you posted about my rose pruning experiment.

When to prune roses depends on so many things: the weather, the location, the variety of rose and so on.

But as a rule of thumb,  I generally wait till the end of July until the danger of late frosts is past. During July, you never can be quite sure of the weather.

The problem with pruning too early is that the new growth is very tender and frost can kill off all the baby leaf shoots overnight and that would be a setback for the rose bush, causing die-back and a host of other problems.

Optimally, it’s best to prune just before the roses feel the first growing surge of spring.  As you know, gardening has a lot to do with feeling!

Meanwhile, I’ll sniff the air and wait for the first whiff of spring to alert me to “spring” into action!

But right now it’s a good time to sharpen shears, take out my elbow-length pruning gloves and check my rose bushes for fattening leaf buds on the canes.

Fattening Leaf Buds

A rose leaf bud starting to fatten

As soon as you see the leaf buds starting to swell it means that they are getting ready to burst into young leaves.

I don’t really go by dates.  Some gardeners insist that you should be pruning roses by the 15^th of July. But I think it’s more important to take a close look at the conditions in your own garden.

If your rose bushes still look as if they are in deep hibernation then it’s a pity to wake them up so ruthlessly!  It’s much better to wait until they show signs of stirring.

Also I still have plenty to do because we have a lot of compost at the bottom of the garden from last year’s leaves so I will be incorporating some of that into the garden beds.

What about a gardening service for pruning?

Every year we somehow collect a few more rose bushes. The result is that it’s becoming more and more difficult to prune them all.

This year I have been thinking about asking a gardening service to do my pruning.  But the problem is that I’m so fussy about my roses that I don’t know if I can trust anyone to prune my roses for me.

The idea would be to try to find a pruning expert I can trust – which isn’t always possible. The problem is, even if I could find such an expert, I know I would hover around suspiciously and offer my unwanted advice while trying to disguise my anxiety!

Light Pruning

I prefer to prune lightly. I know there’s a school of thought that advises heavy pruning. These people like shorter bushes so that the roses are easier to reach for picking – but that is a matter of choice, I suppose.

I don’t like to make the rose bushes suffer more than is necessary. I think they need a strong infrastructure to prepare themselves for the new growing season.

I like big rose bushes that look happy and healthy rather than the chopped-down versions that have to battle so hard to send out new canes.

If you have any preferences about rose pruning do share your experience and knowledge here! There is always something to learn.

And as gardeners it comes as no surprise to us when the actual process of gardening is recognized for its healing quality.

Just recently BBC news presented a slide show of pictures called Seeds of Recovery.  It’s all about the Headley Court Rehabilitation Centre in Surrey that has started a gardening therapy project for recovering servicemen.

They have a green house, and gardening facilities where injured and recovering soldiers can feel the therapeutic benefits of tending plants and getting their hands into the soil.

Here it is: Seeds of Recovery

As the poet Shelley wrote: “If winter comes can spring be far behind?

As you know, gardeners always have to think and plan for the seasons ahead.

So if you want a lovely spring show, plant your daffodils in the autumn when the nights are cool. They actually enjoy a period of cold before the bulbs start to sprout.

Daffodils are lovely planted in drifts under trees where they give a lovely woodland effect.  You can even plant them in little pockets in the lawn – as long as you remember not to mow there!

Daffodils are also perfect to grow in containers on your patio but make sure that they do not receive too much sun there. A position of dappled shade is best for them.

My only objection to these lovely flowers is that you need lots of them to make a decent show. So the trick is to try to grow enough flowers so that you can happily pick a bunch or two to take indoors.

How to Buy Bulbs

Be sure to choose only the best bulbs from your garden nursery.

Never be tempted to buy bulbs in sealed packets no matter how pretty the picture on the cover. You need to be able to see and inspect the bulbs that you buy. Make sure that they are plump and healthy – and don’t buy any shriveled bulbs.

How to Plant Daffodil Bulbs

Plant your daffodil bulbs about 6 inches deep in damp, rich soil that you have fortified with some home-made compost. And remember to plant them with the pointed part facing upwards. Because the point of the bulb will eventually produce the stems and flowers.

Plant your bulbs in a semi-shaded position about 6 inches apart. Keep the soil damp but do not over-water them. Then mulch with some good compost.

Daffodils are a real luxury. If you want to pamper yourself buy as many bulbs as you can and indulge in the show that will surely follow.

I have never seen any Calla marshmallow lilies in flower before but I did a bit of research and they are indeed beautiful creatures.

Apparently the marshmallow lily has clumps of dark green leaves and produces tall stems about 1 metre high adorned with these magnificent pink and cream flowers.

It appears that marshmallow lilies like dappled shade and flower in spring and early summer.

I’m rather excited about this. In fact I feel inspired – so much so that I have decided to make a planting of different coloured calla lilies together in one bed.  A mix of yellow, red and deep mauve arums together with these lovely marshmallow arums should make quite a splash of colour.

I don’t know if the different varieties (zantedeschia) will all flower together. I’ll have to find out if they need the same growing conditions. But as I learn more about these lovely flowers I will keep you informed.

Meanwhile if there are any calla lily experts out there, please share your wisdom about these lovely flowers.

Slice cucumber for pickling

Pickled cucumbers add zest to any meal. And when you can make them so easily and quickly there is no reason to be without them.

In my previous post,  Cucumbers by the Dozen,  I described how I had harvested tons of cucumbers from only six seeds.

Well this is how I made use of at least some of those cucumbers!

As a recipe this is truly a winner.  Quick, easy, fail proof and delicious.

The best part is that you don’t have to wait. You can eat them after two hours and they are delicious and crunchy.

So without further delay, here is:

My Pickled Cucumber Recipe.

5 or 6 Cucumbers .  But if I am using those long English cucumbers I only use 3. Keep the skins on and slice them fairly thickly.

Put them into a big bowl and add:

1 heaped teaspoons pepper corns
8 – 10 bay leaves
4 – 5 sections fresh garlic

Pickling Liquid

Boil together:

1 cup vinegar
3 cups water
3 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons salt

Allow the liquid to cool and pour it over the cucumbers. Allow to stand for 2 hours and bottle.

These pickled cucumbers couldn’t be easier and they are really delicious.  Let me know how they turn out!