Lavender Lassie

This rose is one of my favourite. Even though it has quite big prickly thorns, I've got it planted very close to the entrance of the house. The mauve or purple blend blooms are very double and big, up to 3 inch in diameter. Blooms are big and heavy, causing the canes to arch sideways, adding character to the overall shape of the plant. Sometimes after heavy rain, the cane collapse to the ground under the weight of the blooms.It is very fragrant, wafting in the air, a wonderful welcome as I approach the square of the patio entrance. Repeat cycle is very short and reblooms generously. It can grow to 12 feet, so I will put an arch to support the canes next spring.

Due to generous reblooming, this rose require heavy feeding.

Hermosa

.....a very old rose dated back to 1832, bred by an amateur rose breeder, Marchesseau, in Angers and was introduced by Rousseau nursery in 1834, also in Angers, France.

Its interesting to see beautiful flowers that had survived the journey of the years and had so many names given to it. It has been referred to as Armosa, Mélanie Lemarié and Madame Neumann.

Blooms are pink to lilac pink with thin petals and quite sensitive to rain, a bit like the petals characteristic of Souvenir de la Malmaison. The whole bunch of my spring blooms from this 2 roses was unable to open up during spring and early summer. The petals got saturated after the rain and they end up rotting inside the mumified dried-out outer petal crust.

This is a tricky tender rose for my climate. It has a Bourbon, China/Bengal genes in it. I’ve also read it being described as Indica Bourbonica.

It is hard to believe that Hermosa is the seedling of Old Blush after comparing the size and growth habit of this 2 rose plant. Old Blush seemed more tight, branching wide open, sideways spreading but remains relatively short, while Hermosa is much loose, lanky in its growth habit and taking less space sideways.

I think this rose will perform extremely well when grown in warm and dry climate. This is a healthy, black spot free rose. While others are losing leaves from black spotted leaves, Hermosa remain green throughout the growing season and kept blooming with a very short cycle. I will try and support its growth and let it bloom its heart out in the garden. Maybe it will adapt to the surrounding elements of my garden's micro climate.

Christopher Marlowe

Gardening for flowers has its high and low.

Gardening with roses has it high and low too.


There are rose varieties that bloom riot at one go and then, that's it. The following 11 months are quiet and nothing else but leaves and loud thorns.

There are a lot of varieties that repeat bloom again and again, each time producing riotious colours that are so loud, they sent me reeling to the garden centre looking for annual plants in neutral colours to help tone down the glaring tones.

...but I have been warned about Christopher Marlowe's true colours. I remember Rachel bought this rose plant during her impulsive moments. Once at home, she found the colours of Christopher Marlowe just doesn't quite workout with her existing roses and colour scheme.I remembered spending hours chatting and proposing to her into buying more plants to either tone down the colours, or to create a bridge that can linkup and add the flow of the rainbow along her fence.

....and then, one day I found myself walking in the garden centre and immediately attracted to the unique colours on Christopher Marlowe. One pot of Christopher Marlowe arrived in my garden. O wow. Suddenly the most boring corner of the garden lighted up! The following days, I scouted another garden centre and another and another. I ended up collecting 5 well established Christopher Marlowe. I dug out a round patch and planted them all in the same planting hole.

This is a fragrant rose. At peak blooming period, the fragrant waft in the air like a big tidal wave. On grey cloudy day, the colours of Christopher Marlowe really brighten up my mood.

Thanks to Rachel for introducing her impulsiveness. I wouldn't have notice this David Austin rose due to its compact short growth. Somewhat, in my garden climate, this rose never grow higher than 2 feet tall.


By late summer, this rose lost 70 percent of its leaves due to black spot. I don't bother with the black spot fungi spraying, but even with very little foliage left, they still repeat bloom for the last autumn display.

A blog break that is now "broken"

It felt like it was only last week when I got all excited about outdoor freedom of summer living, flip flop, t-shirts and shorts and was complaining about the very hot days without fan or air conditioning, ....tick tock tick tock, woke up this morning, autumn is staring right at my face.

The weather is bad at the moment. I have now added my local weather station on the top page. As I rumble and ramble about life in the alps, you can see for yourself if I'm shining under the sun or bundled up in layers of wool knits with chattering teeth. There's no sun at all the last couple of days. Some parts of the garden is beginning to look very gloomy as half of the colourful flowering plants are done with their flowers and busy making seeds. Weedy seeds can be seen on cobwebs everywhere. We have cold air coming down from the north pole at the moment and it is raining, foggy and grey sky, but this cooling temperature will create a magical autumn colour display for the next coming weeks. Had to push myself out into the garden, with an umbrella in one hand and took some pictures before the prolonged rain spoils those last bit of garden beauties.
Mevrouw Nathalie Nypels, sounds like a celebrity's baby's name (ha ha) This is a Dutch name and this rose was bred in the Netherlands in 1919. I got this rose as a bare roots last winter and she is less than 2 feet tall but she didn't waste anytime at all this year. Bloom cycle is very short and every few weeks there's a bunch of flowers on the bush. There are no fragrant unfortunately, but for the joy of blooms, and adding some colours in general landscaping, I find this rose is very hard working. I didn't have a "real" holiday this year because I forgotten to make proper plan during 2008 hectic year. It has never happened before that I was so busy to the point that I forgotten about planning annual leave but I am lucky to have such great friends who made my short 10 summer days spent with them unforgettable. I was in a beautiful region in northern Italy, breathtaking landscape, challenging climbing walls with endless treks for mountain biking and walking around. I will update my summer add-ventures blog later. More than 1000 pictures to resize!In between rock climbing and all the outdoor adventures, I also managed to document some roses that grew up on that altitude.

The chrysanthemum are full with buds, and the delphinium are about spent. It is very rare that I get to see the second repeat bloom but this summer was extraordinarily dry. That in a way did cut down on slugs mobility and their chomping activities.
Overall my garden is looking quite tired and very overgrown with weeds at the moment. Its amazing how tough those weedy wild plants could thrive even with very little rain during summer months. While I was away, I did missed some of the peak period of summer bloomers but there are others still busy making buds for autumn repeat.

We usually get our first snow at the end of October. Very soon, I must allocate some time for the endless must do tasks in the garden before the arrival of winter. I didn't do any garden upkeep at all during the peak summer time. It was simply too hot and cannot recall the last time I go around deadheading. Interestingly some roses like Stanwell Perpetual continues making buds without asking much for deadheading.
This year, since mid spring until now, Stanwell Perpetual has been very generous and very floriferous and there are still little buds forming even at this time of year. This is one rose I will take with me to the graveyard. Shall add that the next time I update the will. Ha ha.

How to tell someone their socks stinks?

Last month, I received an email from my friend Linda asking, "How do you let a person aware that their socks or shoes stinks?"

Well Linda, This is a very sensitive issue and many people I know dare not point it out to someone that their socks or shoes is making the air in closed enclosure very sour and smelling bad, worst in a car, a flight cabin or small office. Not many people can take direct hints in a positive constructive way but I have found that subtle and friendly approach always worked wonders.

Never ever use sarcastic remarks as this will embarassed the person unnecessarily. If it is in the airplane, the flight attendant is the best way to pass a small note to the passenger sitting next to you. Write in a polite way, on a small note, asking the person to keep his or her feet in the shoes throughout the flight. If you feel uncomfortable about letting the person next to you aware that you could smell his or her socks odour, you can also asked the flight attendant to spray some air freshner in the cabin. The flight attendants are trained to discreetly walk up and down the aisle with a small air freshner spray hidden in their palm.

A small trick I've used that helped me through sticky times is to have a few sachets of wet freshner which I carry in my bags all the time. This wet tissues comes in many different scents and I like the citrus aroma as it is very refreshing and great way to clean the hands at the same time neutralising bad odour in the air. It is also not overwhelming strong like a perfume we usually dabbed behind our ears. I usually don't put on strong concentrate fragrance when flying because some people are allergic to the fragrance of concentrated perfumes.

Most of my colleagues at my office knew that I am a very happy go lucky person and always making jokes, to lighten up the daily stress. I often use jokes to hint about socks or shoe sales and the importance to change socks daily to avoid foot fungus from breeding in the shoes. After 2 years, sneakers especially are known as a notorious breeding ground for fungus and these fungus can contaminate other shoes as well. When foot fungus got mentioned, most people become concerned about foot and shoe hygiene. This tactic usually worked very well. A while ago, I approached a junior intern and asked him, " do you have a cat at home?"

His answer was, "yes, why?"

"I'm just curious," I said, "thought I could smell something like cat's pee from your shoes even when you're a few feet away, but don't worry, its not a very strong one. I just happen to have a very sensitive nose," and told him a few things about my cats at home and how they like to sleep under the shoe racks. I use to have cats before but not anymore.

After lunch that day, that young intern stopped by my office and thanked me for letting him know about his shoes. Apparently, during lunch hour break, he had bought a new pair of shoes.

I immediately seized the opportunity and complimented him on his choice of style and said, "you know, your shoes will take up better mileage and smell fresh even longer with a daily change of socks. Cats don't really like fresh smelling shoes."

Ever since that day, we established a better working relationship, and more open to each other during project discussions with a level of trust like never before. I think people generally are concerned about this sort of things. It is just that, our own nose is immune to our own bodily smell and without the help of another person's nose, we will never know how much we stink.

Just like in many real life situations, it is not what is being said that matters, but how it is being said that makes the difference.

Comte de Chambord Twit me

I probably am the last person on earth joining the flock of other Twitters, but finally I am twitting.
I can see twitting is great for busy people who is always on the go. I'm not sure if I want to connect it to my mobile phone yet. To twit means; to harass with persistent criticism or carping. Will that be too overwhelming for me? I'm going to take my time and think about it. In the meantime, I still have to find out how to link Twitter to this blog.

OK. Got that done.
follow me on Twitter

Many years ago, when my gardening craze started, I haven't got a proper green house and my "make do nursery corner was then a just big huge planting tubs under the trees in the woodland" just next to the existing garden. The bottom part of the big tubs are filled with proprietary commercial soil to keep my seedlings plants nursery pots moist all the time. One rainy summer, I failed to check the collected rain water resevoir level and the bottom part of the watering system was flooded and the bottom part of the roses pots was standing in still water. After a while, when I was ready to plant the roses into the ground, I found the rootstock of Comte de Chambord had rotted and the plant had produced its own roots. As I gently pulled it out of its nursery pot, the plant separated into 2 plants. What a boon that was! I planted them in 2 different parts of the garden, one under dapple shade of the woodland and another in full sun on the bank of a south facing slope.

The one in the dapple shade is doing much better and the blooms opened up full like the picture above. The blooms from the bush that's on the slope bank are more exposed to strong sun and rain, failed to fully open up to its maximum, usually half opened and then they are finished. Intermitten rain and sudden strong sun is not good for any type of blooms for that matter. There's no way I can change my rainy weather unless I move south and garden in the Mediterranean climate. Every day I learn to make the best of whatever the weather brought forth and count my blessings for all the beauty in life. What good will it do to whine and complain about depressing and disappointing matters? Such is life. Things can only get better with positive mind set.

Comte de Chambord is a very beautiful rose when fully opened like above and smells divine. It is disease free plant, not one dot of black spot and requires no maintenance at all other than a bit of fertilizer after the first flush and dead heading to encourage second repeat bloom in late summer or early autumn.

American Pillar on the Fourth of July

I have a few roses bred by American's rose breeder but American Pillar is one that is doing really well in my alpine cool garden climate.
As you can see, on a cool grey summer day, the colour really stand out!

To my rose gardening friends in the US; Cyndy, Nanine and her yellow truck, Paul from Ashdown Roses: my warm thoughts are with you.

To my dear precious followers of this blog; without you all, this blog is nothing but lonesome rambling.

To the tech. support experts; Chuck, Bonnie, and everyone from there including Collette who lend me their guiding hand, put up with my whining and helped me through difficult times coping with the trial and tribulation of maintaining this blog, for without you all I probably would have quit blogging few months ago.

This blog still exist because of all your persistence in your support and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Happy Fourth of July to all of you my dear friends in the USA and God bless.