My latest project:


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It's winter once again and time to begin the next garden project. Here is the new sitting area under construction. Built simply from salvaged railway level crossing animal grid and an old sleeper that I have had kicking around for 20yrs. It is situated by the railway line and is sheltered from all angles but will still catch the summer sunshine - if we get any.

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It will eventually have a used slate bed and a woodchip surface. All salvaged stuff. The topping will be a bench built from reclaimed wood.

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Gardening is easy. just take it little at a time. Don't forget that I have had this garden for twenty years, so I have had plenty of time to do stuff.

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  • 7 years later...

My project in the Garden for the last  year...has been trying to save a dying Rose.............

This particular Rose was planted a good few years since.........by my Late father in law in his small garden in Peterborough.........It was planted in memory of one of his daughters(my wifes sister) who died in a car accident...

            Her mother also passed a year ago.......and when their house went on the Market we decided to try and save this Rose........dug it up and brought it to our present home........

             Planted it with loving care......but earlier this year it looked completely 'Dead'....the wife wouldn't let me dig it up and get rid.........it meant too much to her..............Anyhow without her agreeing or even knowing......i transplanted it into a large fancy Plant container ..in the early spring.. along with some Earth and compost...........

                    At first it looked a hopeless case....so i cut it right back.......the wife was upset when she eventually realised what i'd done..............Anyhow the good news is......it has grown back to life...all green and bushy and this morning noticed it had two buds which i know will flower............Wife is over the moon..........knowing her sisters memory will linger on..............never knew i had such 'Green Fingers'........:)

                 

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Roses respond to tough pruning, Ben. I was told many years ago by a chap who was a very talented gardener that I didn't prune back anywhere near hard enough. In November, he cut his back to within an inch of their life. The following summer...a glorious display.

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My Dad was a very keen rose grower and when I still lived at home I would help him prune the hundreds of rose bushes we had.  He always pruned in early April, so different to Jill’s friend, but always pruned hard.  I do the same with the few rose bushes we have in our garden and they all grow pretty well.

At our previous house, down south, Dad planted a large bed of roses (probably 3 dozen bushes) for us but they didn’t survive many weeks at all because we had Muntjac deer roaming around and they seemed to like the taste of roses.   We then had this massive flower bed which we filled each year with marigolds, which I can’t bear, but the deer didn’t like them either and left them alone!  

 

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Dad used to grow roses to show, in The St Ann's Rose show.    He would nurture and love his roses just as though they were babies.  We had a summer house with a celler, the rose was picked, stem at the bottom crused, placed in boiling water, then put in the celler for a day. When dad passed away, on his coffin was a very, very dark red rose spray, these were called Crimson Glory. When they married these rose's were  in my mum's bouque which dad had brought for her.  My eldest brother's rose spray was Pink called "Breath of Life"  I choose a Yellow Tea Rose called "Bright Smile" and my younger bother choose the White Rose of "Peace" so dad would rest in Peace.

 

Now if you like Rose's don't want to plug too much (in case I get told off) but look at Rose's by "David Austin" they are real a real old English Rose.  And easy to look after.

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Lizzie, I also prune roses at the end of March/early April, although I trim them a bit in the late Autumn too.

 

Mary, thank you for sharing about the roses at your dad’s funeral.   Which ones to choose were obviously thought about very carefully.  Also, I never heard about putting rose stems in boiling water, although I do crush them

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Ah, Lizzie, marigolds. Not seen any for years. My maternal grandfather, Louis, was a keen gardener and always planted marigolds among his veggies. He said pests didn't like them and they protected his veg plants.  Since he lived with us when I was a child, our garden always had lots of marigolds. I suppose it was a natural form of pesticide. He also grew cornflowers and carnations and always wore either a cornflower or a carnation in his buttonhole. Snappy dresser, my grandad. Never went out without suit, tie, gloves, cane and hat.

 

I think roses can either be pruned in late autumn or, if the weather is unseasonably cold, left until spring but they are pretty tough plants. I have Bright Smile in my garden, Mary. I bought them in memory of a dear friend.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 8/2/2021 at 3:37 PM, benjamin1945 said:

My project in the Garden for the last  year...has been trying to save a dying Rose.............

This particular Rose was planted a good few years since.........by my Late father in law in his small garden in Peterborough.........It was planted in memory of one of his daughters(my wifes sister) who died in a car accident...

            Her mother also passed a year ago.......and when their house went on the Market we decided to try and save this Rose........dug it up and brought it to our present home........

             Planted it with loving care......but earlier this year it looked completely 'Dead'....the wife wouldn't let me dig it up and get rid.........it meant too much to her..............Anyhow without her agreeing or even knowing......i transplanted it into a large fancy Plant container ..in the early spring.. along with some Earth and compost...........

                    At first it looked a hopeless case....so i cut it right back.......the wife was upset when she eventually realised what i'd done..............Anyhow the good news is......it has grown back to life...all green and bushy and this morning noticed it had two buds which i know will flower............Wife is over the moon..........knowing her sisters memory will linger on..............never knew i had such 'Green Fingers'........:)

                 

Just an 'Update''

Bush in bloom......10 Beautiful Pink '''ROSES''......Smiling down my Garden for Donna............

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Well done Ben. Now, can you spare time to come down and try to revive my roses that I purchased from a company in Newstead of all places. Minature roses in a watering can. First lot, the leaves all fell off after about five days, a replacement sent. When opening the box, dropped leaves already evident, so back on t'internet, the result being full reimbursement. Still got some 'sticks' in a pot with few leaves on. So I could do with the Benjamin green fingers touch.

I'll lend you me bike Ben. ;)

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Ben, So ‘green fingers’ can now be added to all your other talents.  I bet Donna is pleased.

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Is your garden hedgehog friendly, Ben?

 

I make this appeal on behalf of Harold the hedgehog. Saw him last night at around 21.10. He's a big, handsome lad is Harold and he wants to ask everyone to do their best to encourage spiky friends like him into their gardens.  I'm sure Horace the hedgehog would have seconded that if he hadn't been too busy filling his face at the food pot!

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I would say yes Jill........Syd and Babbs go out most of the night and i know they have animal friends........would like to think an Hedghog or two are among them.......i put food scraps out every night and its always gone the next morning....more than likely Foxes...but who knows perhaps an 'Harold or two...........

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Spot on Ian..........first kissed her playing Postman's Knock .....when i was 14.........still bump into her in Bulwell now and again.........:rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

My Dad grew roses.  Mostly Hybrid Teas, which are the ones with single exquisite blooms, though he also grew a couple of 'rambler' types.

 

I recall one called 'Ena Harkness', which was a rich red colour.  I never really took to 'floribunda' roses, and even less to the currently popular style of roses.

 

When we were first married, roses such as Superstar and Blue Moon were very popular and I'm quite surprised to see that they are still about. Another one was a white called Pascali.

I bought a rose alleged to be Pascali, but it turned out to be a pink with deeply veined petals and a tremendous fragrance. I loved it.. but never found out what it was.

Over time though, I lost all of my roses.

Maybe I should get a few.

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You can't beat roses. I bought my parents a Golden Celebration standard rose bush for their 50th wedding anniversary in 1999. I still have it. It survived being transplanted. It's a David Austin rose.

 

Others I have were planted in memory of relatives and friends and include Iceberg, Blue Moon, Bright Smile and many others.  There's also Mermaid, which along with others, was here when I bought the house, including a gorgeous peach coloured rose which actually smells of peaches! When I was a child, we had a Dorothy Perkins rambler, pink and very prolific. At my previous house, I planted Boule de Neige and Felicitee et Perpetuee, both gave glorious, white cascades of flowers in summer.

 

My project this autumn is making an area of the garden desirable to house hunting hedgehogs. There seem to be plenty around and I want them to stay. Cheeky little beggars, they are, but a very good and worthwhile cause.

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11 hours ago, DJ360 said:

even less to the currently popular style of roses

 

4 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said:

including a gorgeous peach coloured rose which actually smells of peaches!

DJ360 and Jill, None of the modern roses seem to have any fragrance these days. I am re-modelling part of the garden and want to put in some Hybrid tea roses with a fragrance. Any recommendations, I like the thought of the peach one you mentioned Jill. Can you remember a name? I have done a search and come up with Jude the Obscure that smells like grapefruit and Evelyn and Eureka supposedly smell like peaches. I even found one that the catalogue says smells like sherbet lemons

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To be more accurate, Oz, I should have said it smells of apricots and is more that colour than peach. I've tried many times to identify it...and failed. It was here when I moved in 20 years ago and, since the previous owner of the house ran a garden centre, it was probably an orphan that didn't sell. The blooms are heavy and soon drop, so I never cut them.  I see there are recent apricot scented roses on the market but the one I have is of some age and not likely to be one of those.

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We have a beautiful Floribunda rose in our garden, which sometimes gets mixed up as a Hybrid Tea Rose, as it has single blooms. (Just looked this info up on the laptop). Ours is more white, and pink edged, very delicate, so pretty. It is a perfumed rose, but I have never noticed a perfume. It is called 'Sheila's Perfume'. Worth a look.

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11 hours ago, Oztalgian said:

Any recommendations,

 

It's too long since I grew roses Oz..and then of course there is also the issue of what is available, and what will grow in your neck of the woods.  I'd be inclined to do a Google search for growers, nurseries or suppliers in Oz.

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