Time once again for Six on Saturday, but not much work has been done in the garden due to more rain every day. The garden really is so sodden, walking on the grass just turns it into mud so I’m keeping off it as much as possible. Maybe I need to think of a paved path round the edge of the lawn so that I can get up to the top without causing so much damage at this time of year, worth thinking about I think. My six this week are a mixed bunch, some flowers hanging on, some new just starting to flower and the odd autumn foliage.
no 1
Flowering all summer and still hard at it is Geranium Rozanne, an amzing plant. It has been flowering non stop since May, how much longer can it carry on?
No 2.
Another that has flowered its socks off since the beginning of summer is Rosa Graham Thomas, another reliable rose which never seems to run out of steam, must cut the roses back to give them all a rest.
No 3
Iris unguicularis started flowering a few weeks ago. Up till now, just the odd flower has appeared, but I can see quite a number of buds waiting in the wings. I remember one day last winter when this plant was sporting over 40 flowers open at the same time, I wonder if it will achieve that this winter?
No 4
My Camellia in the back corner of the garden is gearing up to be absolutely wonderful in a few weeks time. Lots of buds are already there and starting to open, you will be seeing this shrub again, I’m sure!
No 5.
Mahonia x media Charity is well into flowering mode now and looks lovely in the bed round the dead oak.
No 6.
The Horse Chestnut or Aesculus in the corner of the back garden has reached its climax I think,. I can’t remember it ever having turned such a wonderfully bright orange colour before, it gives the garden a lovely warm glow, no matter what the weather.
Tha autumn tints are still hanging on, but only just about in some cases. The weather was wild last night and I know more leaves have come down, but the garden has been looking very orange and yellow this last week, the red leaves came down with the previous gales mid week, but the build up has lasted a good month and the results were well worth the wait. The garden certainly goes out with a bang! Only 6 more weeks and I’ll be showing you snowdrops, not long to wait, must get on with my tidying of the woodland so that I’ll be ready. Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations for organising us, pop over to him for news about gardens around the world.
This week, between two showers…., I also looked at my camellias, and there are a lot of flower buds, which is very promising for next year!
‘Rozanne’ is a sure bet. I could present it every week, it would still have a wow effect (like yours does because featured !)
I think Camellias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas are all covered with lovely fat buds due to our horribly wet summer, we’ll get the benefit next year! Rozanne has been far better than I expected, must try and increase her.
I don’t have any roses but, every time you feature one, I realise I need to correct this! “Graham Thomas” is such a beautiful colour. The iris is also gorgeous.
You can’t go wrong with David Austin roses, I thoroughly recommend them! I’m hoping the iris lives up to expectations, it was so good last year, maybe the heat in the drought last summer, I don’t know.
Geranium Rozanne is a great plant for reliable late-autumn colour. Mine is fairly new and has stopped flowering now, but I have high hopes for the coming years.
I hope your lovely Iris is as successful this year as it’s been previously. The horse chestnut is looking fabulous!
Rozanne took a couple of years to get going here Catherine, but now is well into her stride and she is amazing with the length of time that she flowers. I’m so pleased the horse chestnut has coloured up so well this year, it hasne’t looked happy for the last couple of years and I was a bit concerned about it as it must be a few hundred years old from the size of the trunk.
I think you will have realised that you meant Mahonia ‘Charity’ which is looking really fine, and I hope you bumblebees are feeding on it.
Thank you Noelle, that must have been a really senior moment! It has been duly corrected, thanks to you. I don’t knowe if the bumblebees are still flying, we are having so much rain every day, surely it will stop soon.
A lovely selection. I miss Graham Thomas – it didn’t survive getting moved in my garden a number of years ago – which was a shame as it flowered for ages. Great autumnal colour in number 6 too. I hope all this wet weather comes to an end some time soon.
I’ve just taken hardwood cuttings of Graham Thomas Graeme, as I don’t think it is very happy where it is now, it gets flooded there every winter. For twenty years it wasn’t flooded, but something happened about 7 yrs ago, not sure what and it now stands in water for about 4 months over winter.
Your Graham Thomas looks pristine, Pauline – although I still have a few rose blooms around they are not as perfect as this. The weather seems to have been pretty wild for you this autumn, so I am glad you still have things to enjoy in the garden. I know the benefits of being able to access a garden throughout the year, so if you did decide on a path I don’t think you would regret it
The gardener and I are gradually getting the roses cut back Cathy, so not many still flowering. The weather has been dreadful, I long for a dry spell so that I can get a decent amount of work done, goodness knows if that will ever happen!
Looks like you are having a truly lovely Autumn display Pauline. Graham Thomas is really remarkable, flowering for so long. Such a lovely rose.
I think the colours have been brighter this year Denise, but not sure why. The wind soon blows them away, but having the changing colours for a month or so is worth it. Photographing my rose reminded me that it is time to start cutting them back, another job to add to the list!
A lovely colourful six, ‘Graham Thomas’ is in my six as well – it just keeps going.
Graham Thomas is a super rose, I have just taken hardwood cuttings of it, hope they succeed.
Such a lovely selection of flowers! ‘Rozanne’ has appeared in a few different blogs now and I feel like I reallly must give it a try. We had the same problem with the muddy grass, especially in certain areas we can’t help frequenting. It was one of reasons I ended up just turning part of it into a mulched path, so that we’d at least be stepping on something less slippery and messy.
Thanks Angela, Rozanne has been amazing this year, I think she has liked all the rain! A path would solve lots of problems, but it will be a job for next spring now I think.
Thanks Angela, Rozanne has been amazing this year, I think she has liked all the rain! A path would solve lots of problems, but it will be a job for next spring now I think.
Our lawns are sodden too, a path sounds like the way to go. What a lovely selection, great seeing flowers at this time of the year.xxx
It makes sense doesn’t it Dina, I have to find a way to get up to the top of the garden without slipping everywhere!x