Annuals as cut flowers, and update on gardening jobs!

We are in the south as well. The Red rose has been in flower for about 10 days now and olivia came out today. I reckon the next one will be Gertrude Jekyll

We’ve had some of our roses in bloom for a couple of weeks now. Not lots of flowers but gradually increasing. One bush, I can’t remember the name of it, is absolutely covered in flowers, and still has many buds yet to bloom. It’s got single petals and is a bright yellow. Normally flowers in May, but has started to flower a lot earlier this year - probably due to the mild winter. Some of the other bushes are only just beginning to show buds, so I suppose it depends which rose it is as to when it first flowers. The greenfly are putting in an appearance, unfortunately.

Ww - you have roses in bloom! We are in the south but only have buds at the moment. I have bonica which is usually the first to flower and little rambler. The will go from March to November. I do have a number of old and David Austin varieties too. Can't have enough roses!

Oh blimey I picked the wrong rose! I took the photo and chose the wrong one in the library.

That one is Constance Spry which isn’t out yet and only flowers the once, but is imo fabulous

This one is Olivia - sorry to confuse

lisa what’s that? It looks like mock orange but isn’t it too early?

Are you going to put them into the grass moggie?

This is the next rose out. Olivia Rose Austin. A shrub rose and excellent doer flowering from now until the first frost. I have three planted in a group making a big splash of colour.

looked out window today and the council have finally cut the grass. now i can get on weeding and planting wilfd flower seeds......hurray ......

Your garden sounds like paradise grandmafrench all the lovely stuff that can’t be grown here.

Yes I live in Sussex and the actinidia goes pink as it gets hotter. Sun burn? . But it is a lovely shrub.

Love love love that plant, WW2
We had that against a brick wall in Sussex and everyone used to admire it. Ours was very pink. I know you'll know, but it's a variegated Kiwi Vine (Actinidia Kolomikta). I am now definitely going to get one here whenever anyone is selling plants EVER again.....your lovely pics have just reminded me.
What can we grow?
Yes, oranges and lemons. The blossoms on ours have just been bashed by the unseasonal 4 day rain fest!! Makes no difference really because once the baby fruits are there, one of the dogs knocks lots off with his nose - saves me thinning them out I suppose - and chases them around the courtyard like little marbles.
We have in our garden, 2 big Grenadine/Pomegranate trees. Pretty leaves in spring but 4 years ago when we moved here was shocked to see trees full of flowers (almost like camellias) that I didn't recognise. The fruit then let us know what they are. We have mixed hedges of Oleander in various colours, Stephanotis, Eleagnus and Buddleia,Red Tip Photinias and Portugese Laurel, all grown for perfume and bees. We have an Olive tree, a Strawberry tree and a wonderful fruit tree - a Japanese Medlar. The delicious yellow soft fruits which taste like a cross between apricots, peaches and mangoes are very common around here and wonderful to enjoy straight from the tree. Lots of lavender, Russian sage, curry plants, Rosemary and Santolina. Anything really which will withstand heat and dry conditions (the winds dry everything although fortunately we have free water from an underground spring). We currently have pots of Osteospermum covered in flowers of all colours, the tail end of the tulips and Alliums coming up; some Morning Glory in bud and big stone pots of Umbrella plants near the pool. I'm saving one big pot for a Bird of Paradise plant which I would like for my birthday. Last year we (actually DH) painted the house, but this year we were really going to get to grips with the garden and start changing/adding stuff. However, the heat will be upon us well before the garden centres are allowed to re-open, so we are limited to feeding and pruning and just normal maintenance now. Only thing I miss in the garden from Sussex and Northern France are roses. We used to have such gorgeous ones. However, although I sometimes see roses happily blooming in more shady gardens locally, our own plot has too much sun and as soon as the blooms I tried were ready, they were bleached of all colour. So, gave those away. New garden, new plans I suppose !

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Lovely, Whitewavemark2

Another

One of my favourite shrubs

grandmafrench so what can you grow that we can’t in the U.K. or at least doesn’t do so well? More exotic stuff I would imagine. Lemons and oranges for sure?
Yes I have read the winds are pretty fierce at times.

Blimey lisa mine are still just beginning to show their buds growing.

I’ll take a photo of one of my favourite shrubs when I’m dressed.

Jobs today include watering the potted rhododendrons., seedlings, feeding the sweet peas. A bit of weeding. Persuade DH to get the pressure hose onto the top terrace as it’s got all the detritus left from the winter bird food, like suet etc.

Glorious blue sky but chilly wind. Once it warms up though it is fine.

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Frost ww2 ? Not very often. First year we were here we were caught out though, even our neighbours were too relaxed and on two nights we had -6 degrees. Our citrus trees were not happy - they should have been covered. But ours survived. Sometimes in the winter if the wind comes roaring down off the Pyrenées, it's achingly cold and cuts through you whatever you're wearing, but mostly it's surprising in winter; always blue, always sunny and often allowing you to sit outside and eat. So, yes, lots of nice things can grow but not lovely roses like your étoile above......unless you have a lot of shade, the sun quickly bleaches all colour out of the blooms, which is sad. Isn't gardening a real life saver at the moment !

A climbing aero would be yummy, but it’s a Rose. Strange autocorrect!

Ooo, that’s lovely ww2. I planted a climbing aero I’ll de Holland last Autumn. Is grown really well and strong. I can’t wait for all the buds to open now.

First rose of the year. I think I’ve put it somewhere else. It’s an old French rose called Etoille de Holland - lovely perfume and a good doer. Flowers until autumn.

namsnanny night perfumed garden update. Datura beginning to grow. Keeping it in the conservatory until the nights are warm. Night scented stock seedlings have been planted out in various pots on the terrace nearest the door. It’s very sheltered so hopefully they are ok. Nicotiana is growing in the greenhouse in their pots and night phlox still need pricking out. I think I need to sow more night phlox.

I love bumbles as well. We grow a winter clematis and they visit the flowers the whole winter. I do try and grow everything for pollinators.

Cold wind today so staying in.

I’ve put the pots with the rhododendrons in a sheltered spot. They’ve survived the whole winter until the spring winds.
grandma french you are lucky as I’m sure you can grow all sorts of lovely stuff that won’t do so well in the U.K. Do you ever have frost?

Bumble bees are so sweet. We have them here in the S..of France almost all year round. We have many hedges of Eleagnus and the flowers almost make us - and the bees - drunk on the perfume from late September until the New Year. Then the little fruits are the birds, especially the starlings, and one of my dogs - fruits that he eats endlessly! When we lived in Normandy we had "bee adventures" which still make us laugh now, so although we declined the offer of having hives in our grounds, we did learn so much about bees from a mad keen apiarist. I have a huge pot of night-scented stock which has been flowering since last summer and I am longing for a time when we can get some seeds from the Uk again to fill the corners of the garden. We used to grow tobacco plants, which I would like to do again for the perfume and also I am looking out for a Clematis Montana for a wall here. I used to have the one named "Elizabeth" which smells of marzipan. So pretty. Autumn flowering cyclamen and freesia grew wild in our garden in Greece and we had lots of cyclamen in our little wood in Normandy. Big pink and white clumps attract the bees so the cyclamen must have nectar. Currently I have huge hedges of Stephanotis which is a real "knock you down" perfume and we are waiting for the flowers to die before lowering the height of the hedges this year.
I have a Datura whitewave, rescued in a sale from the garden centre, but disappointingly - although we have massive blooms - it doesn't have the wonderful perfume. I shall look for another - I was put off in the past because certainly the perfumed one is poisonous and I worried about small GC. However, safe to grow now. Good luck with a perfumed garden, such a lovely idea.

Wwmk2 … Your perfumed night garden sounds magical. How are the seedlings coming along?
Some of my Cosmos are a bit leggy. :-(

Grandmafrench … I love the idea of keeping bees, but not now.
We always get a Bumble bee visit us on Christmas Day! Since we noticed he visited the Cyclamen flowers one year, we made sure we have some every winter.
I've just planted loads of Cyclamen coum under a tree. I don't know if the bees like them, but they do flower throughout the autumn and winter, so I'm assuming they will have some nectar.

Coolgran … Your poor Dad, all his careful work on the floor!
Thank goodness he didn't break any of the glass windows,
So funny to read though
I'm glad you shared that story, it really gave me a chortle!

I’m hoping that my idea of a night perfumed garden will attract moths.

So far Ive got a datura looking like a twig with a couple of leaves and seedlings -night scented stock, nicotiana and night phlox. Fingers crossed.

Those are the stories that family histories are made from !

I adore bees Namsnanny and they are SO important to us, aren't they. I shall think of your bees turning up from as far away as 3kms just to taste your new plant. They'll probably all get drunk on the honeysuckle and have a big party !

I'm an avid amateur but not great with seeds.
My dad was brilliant in the garden and grew everything from seed, keeping me well stocked with bedding plants.

A funny story.
Every Spring dad's greenhouse was full of seedlings, then pricked out etc. He gave loads away to the neighbours and had a wonderful 70' long garden that was full of sweet pea, dahlias, gladioli, cosmos, all for cutting projects smaller bedding like marigolds, etc.
His greenhouse was shelved beyond capacity. Over 40 trays of seedlings watered faithfully and the greenhouse window opened daily and closed at night.

Dad was fond of a drink.
One night after a few, he went to water his seedlings which were coming along beautifully. Temporary shelves squeezed in and balanced on all sorts of tin cans. No rhyme or reason to it.

His balance wasn't perfect and he stumbled, hitting a shelf or two. Well.... When one shelf toppled they all toppled. Dad on the floor of his greenhouse and the majority of his 40 seedling boxes scattered around him. They weren't even all lightweight plastic trays. He used old wooden fish boxes as well.

Poor dad, he sobered up pretty quickly. All his work.

Next day was a busy one. All hands on deck. Everything out of the greenhouse, shelves reassembled, seedling trays set up and as many seedlings as possible saved. We did ok. He was always well overstocked anyway.

He never ventured into the greenhouse again after having a few.