Mainly roses...

[curiouswombat]

We continue to have warm, dry, sunny weather - it is a proper summer!

I was up early this morning as my sister and I had an appointment at Castle Rushen at 10.00. We left in good time, and got there early - so we sat in the gardens and nattered for a while, before being part of the first group to explore Labyrinth. This was a theatrical event taking part in the castle - as a small group we were taken up and down the circular staircases around the ramparts, in and out of different rooms - but I will leave posting more details because I am hoping there might be a few official photos, as we weren't allowed to take pictures - and, to be honest, it would have been difficult and distracting!

However, as Jackie was going to Mum's, by lunchtime I was home and was able to sit in the garden to read, and eat lunch. Then a shopping trip to Tescos to stock the cupboards and the fridge, and to a local electrical suppliers to buy a new microwave as the old one now has no light and the turntable doesn't work... before retiring back to the garden with my book.

I got an urge to tidy the shed as it got a little cooler this evening - one of those jobs I've been going to do for ages!

But I also thought I would share a few pictures of the garden as I spent so much time there today...



What do this bud, and this flower have in common?






Well, not only are they both roses - but they are the same rose - they are on my one full sized rose bush - Carcassonne.

I do love her - she has pink buds, then blush flowers that become pure white when they are fully open.







My friend lindahoyland takes beautiful pictures of her flowers by night - and I gave it a try a couple of nights ago - but mine aren't as good as hers! However, here is Carcassonne at night -



And, on that shot, I noticed those nice neat, curved pieces out of the leaves - do they look familiar bojojoti?

And finally a few others -

This is a miniature rose, that looked dead for most of last year, but I gave her a chance and this year she has produced a couple of flowers already -



Here is one of my dahlias -



And a close up of the ageratum that is in a couple of the pots - because it looks wonderfully alien, in close up!





Now to go and hang out some washing to dry overnight. What a pleasure to be almost sure that it won't rain, and that by mid morning tomorrow they should be dry!

Comments

[shirebound]

Oh, how gorgeous! Your garden must smell magnificent.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

That rose is gently scented - and I have a rather straggly lavender near my usual seat, too.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I've always like the cabbage shaped roses as opposed to the more modern ones.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Me too. And she is a rather pretty cabbage rose.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

*breathes* This is why we need Smell-o-vision.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is gently scented - so e-smell would work... if only!

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

Your flowers look stunning. You have every reason to be proud of your Carcassones. And the ageratums just made my day. I lover their colour.

What more can you ask from a Saturday than time with a good book in the company of such lovely flowers? Nothing if you ask me.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The ageratums are tucked into a few of the pots as they are like low pillows of colour - but such fun when seen properly. And I am really pleased that Carcassonne does so well, as she is actually growing in a large pot.

It has been a good day.

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

What beautiful flowers. The roses especially.

It is much cooler here. The sun is hiding behind a thick sheet of rain cloud.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We've still got temps of 22 or 23 - and sunny. It looks likely to stay like that for another 3 or 4 day,s too, if the BBC 5 day forecast is right!

[clodia-metelli.livejournal.com]

Carcassone is gorgeous. I love the bud, and that crumpled landscape close-up, and the folds of the chrysanthemums.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a lovely rose - and the only one I have that is (a) not a miniature, and (b) with a name I remember!

I have that crumpled landscape as my desktop at the moment.

[kathyh]

What a beautiful rose. I love the difference in colour between the buds and the open rose.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is lovely, isn't it? As good as having 2 or 3 different ones!

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

What beautiful roses! I have totally failed at roses. One old climber on the side of the garage that looks pretty ratty now from bugs and rain, but does bloom earlier in the year. That's it.

The ageratum close up is amazing! Would never have thought of trying that.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

This one grows in a pot, but lives just under the edge of the pear tree - so it gets good light, but not as much as if it was out further, and it seems to suit it.

Isn't ageratum fun when you look at it close-up?

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I love your rosesThe night ones came out quite nicely.!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I had trouble getting the night ones in good focus - but it is odd how I hadn't noticed that I'd had a leaf-cutter around until I saw that picture.

[manoah.livejournal.com]

How lovely. We failed miserably at roses. We do have some nice day lilies in different colors. They do well.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I have one pot of day-lilies - D-d is allergic to them and so they live as far from the table and chairs in the yard as possible for when she visits. But this year the buds didn't open, they have shrivelled and gone brown. D-d said she thought this was a Very Good Thing, of course!

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I've never seen an ageratum before, I think I'm in love!

Such lovely flowers. You're so lucky to have such a beautiful place to spend time in.

- Erulisse (one L)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Ageratum is a low plant that I always think of as a bit of a 'filler' as it is low and colourful. It's also called the floss flower.

My tiny back yard really is a nice 'outdoor room' - I do like it when the weather is good enough to sit out there and read for a while.

[desdemonaspace]

Incredibly lovely. You have a wonderful eye, and camera!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The eye has got better over the years - the camera is now about 5 years old, and not terribly expensive at all - the modern equivalent is about $100 or so. But it has a really good 'macro' function that allows for lovely flower pictures.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Carcassonne is a magnificent rose!
Aren't those Dahlias and not Mums?
Ageratums remind me of my mother's garden. That's an old-fashioned favourite of mine and I love that colour blue.
You have some real beauty in your summer!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Aren't those Dahlias and not Mums?

Oh gosh! Of course they are - I must have had a sort of mental typo - it's my age!

Ageratums are such useful plants, too - little cushions of colour.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

Your leafcutter bees don't make as precise circles as mine. The cuts at the bottom of the photo look circular, but the other cuts need remedial help. You have leafcutter bees that cut like I do--imprecise and lopsided!

I love the color of your miniature rose. The silvery plant next to it--do you call it dusty miller?

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

I meant to add that I love your Carcassonne. I am drawn to that old-fashioned shape of rose.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

She is pretty tough, too - she has to be to survive growing in a pot, I think, and a rather haphazard approach to pruning.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I only think of the silver plant as a Cineraria - although it reminds me of ragwort, known locally as cushag. But I do like the name Dusty Miller for it!

They aren't such neat cuts, are they? But I think they are still probably made by a leaf-cutter as we do have them. Perhaps a drunken one or two?

[x19narya90x.livejournal.com]

Beautiful pictures - what's the lilac flower at the bottom?

ETA - you did say in your post, sorry! Didn't see the first time as I was too busy goggling at the pics :)

Labyrinth sounds intriguing; can't wait for more details :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I am trying to write a piece to describe Labyrinth, for posting later.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

So pretty! I love that rose - how nice to have different colours at different times!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I like the cream with the pink tinge phase of it best, I think.

[the-winterwitch.livejournal.com]

These are gorgeous! The Carcassonne sounds indeed cool - so many colours on one plant at the same time, I love that. Your dahlias make me want to have some of my own. Somehow, I have never considered them before, as I knew only rather unappealing - to me- varieties. But these definitely make me change my mind.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I do love my rose bush.

I much prefer these, simpler, dahlias to the pompom ones you see in exhibitions.

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

they are all beautiful! What I like about the carcassonne roses is the delicate-ness of the color, and that they are all slightly differently tinged. i also love that simple rose. what kind is she?

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

i made this entry public so you can see what I planted. Mine are still super mini, though. I don't know how many years i have to wait before i see any flowers.

http://siro-gravity.livejournal.com/394667.html

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

What I like about the carcassonne roses is the delicate-ness of the color, and that they are all slightly differently tinged.

Yes, me too - I am always so relieved when she starts to unfurl new leaves and show that she has over-wintered all right.

I'm afraid I don't know what the little pink one is - it is a miniature one and I lost the name label a few years ago!