Tag Archives: David Austin roses Boscobell

Roses, Dahlias and Sunflowers in a September garden

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Hi there! Welcome to my blog. I’m happy to say that the weather has been favorable! We welcome September in with high hopes of a beautiful autumn. The flowers in the garden might be what I’d describe as summer flowers, but they continue to look beautiful as we start the fall season. Of course, weeding takes place all year round and has been keeping me busy! It is one job that I never seem to get completely finished. 🙃

I made another flower arrangement this week (of course!). This time I added coral and pink roses to the dahlias. I was quite happy with it.

I’m adding in a non-gardening photo this week, too. I’m away in Waterford with our local cycling club (Cuchulainn Cycling Club) and I had such a brilliant ride yesterday that I had to share. It was along the Copper Coast and it was quite challenging for me. But boy was the hard work worth it for those views! Ireland is truly a beautiful country.

I’m joining Garden Ruminations for our Six on Saturday meme. It’s fun to see what’s growing around the world!

Enjoy the tour.

In Peace,
Dana

collection of sunflowers (Claret being the biggest)

1 – Collection of sunflowers. They are still looking good! It’s definitely worth planting different varieties, and lots of them, to keep the supply going. While I love the traditional yellow and brown, the dark colors of the Claret are a nice contrast.

collection of David Austin roses: from top right: Boscobel, Emily Bronte and Eustacia Vye

2 – Collection of David Austin roses: from top right: Boscobel, Emily Bronte and Eustacia Vye. I had to wait a while for this second flush of roses, but it’s now lovely to see roses again. The blackspot does not seem to be quite as bad as it usually is at this stage, which is great to see.

View of the cutting garden with dahlias, gladiolus, and sunflowers

3 – The cutting garden. This has dahlias, gladioli, and sunflowers. I love having the flowers all together here. It’s a fun collection of shapes, textures and colors and it makes me smile every time I see it. 🙂

A pink and coral flower arrangement with dahlias, roses, gladiolus and verbena.

4 & 5 – A coral and pink arrangement. I challenged myself to use the Boscobel and Olivia Rose Austin roses with the dahlias. The dahlias include: Totally Tangerine, Fancy Pants, Great Silence, Daisy Duke and Jowey Frambo. Gladiolus: Pink Parrot. Verbena Bonariansis. I used chickenwire to help the flowers stay in place. It’s a bit awkward, but much better than having nothing (and floral foam isn’t good for the environment). I was happy how the colors worked together! I think the Fancy Pants dahlias are my favorite for their unique shape.

Pictures from my bike ride along the Copper Coast in Waterford.

6 – Pictures from my bike ride along the Copper Coast in Waterford. Woohoo! I was so darn pleased with myself at the end of this cycle. It was challenging for me, but between the views, the weather, and the group I was with, it was such an awesome experience. I was definitely feeling the dopamine after this! (We did a 64 km route, which isn’t considered a long route, but it was perfect for me.) I can’t say it enough: Ireland is a beautiful country and so worth exploring! You can learn more about the beautiful Copper Coast here.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Have you planned your next trip to Ireland yet? 🙂

Enjoying the warmth of Summer

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Hello! Welcome to my blog. It might have taken its sweet time in getting here, but summer is definitely gracing us now! The garden seems to be happy about the warmth, but could certainly use a good soaking (preferably over night, please and thank you). I would say that July is definitely a time when the garden is at full throttle. I’m mainly deadheading roses, weeding, and watering at the moment. I try to get a small gardening task done in the morning and another one in the evening, in order to stay on top of things. I’m not really staying on top of things, but it’s nice to think I am. 🙂

More lilies have bloomed this week, and the sunflower bed is starting to show color as more flowers are starting to bloom. It seems there are a few different varieties, which I’m happy about. I had very poor luck with my early seedlings this year and did a few different plantings as the first batches didn’t survive. So honestly, I’m glad to have anything at all.

While I haven’t found a place in the ground for my delphinium yet, they still look very pretty in containers. My goal would be to eventually create a sheltered spot for them. This is not the easiest of tasks given our windy location, but we’ll see.

This is also lavender season! The flowers are perfect for either making wreaths with now, or cutting to dry for use later. I know what I’ll be doing all day tomorrow!

Have you noticed the difference in the garden as seen in the feature image, above? It’s really filling in. The sunflower bed is all the way to the right. They aren’t very tall, but there are lots of them.

I am joining the Propagator for his Six on Saturday meme. Feel free to join in!

Enjoy the tour.

Sunflower with erysimum bowles mauve

1 – Sunflowers. In the collage above, the top right picture shows Sunflower Helianthus Ester. The other three pictures in the collage are of Sunflower Claret F1. Funny store here, the new Claret F1 seeds that I bought this year didn’t survive. So these Claret sunflowers (non-yellow) are all from my own seeds from last year’s flowers.

As for the second picture, that relatively short sunflower grew from our compost, so I’m not sure of the variety. It is in our ‘Rainbow garden’, sitting pretty next to the Erysimum Bowles ‘mauve’ plant, and in front of the globe artichoke plant.

Lotus Dream mix lilies
lotus dream mix lilies with Scepter'd Isle roses
Lotus Dream lilies with Scepter’d Isle David Austin roses

2 – Lotus Dream Mix lilies. It really seemed like overnight that these lilies decided to open up. They are highly fragrant, and I love the scent! These pictures don’t show it, but quite a few of my lilies were eaten this year by an unidentified bug/worm. I’m just glad that they weren’t all destroyed.

view of the rose bed and house
Boscobell David Austin roses

3 & 4. The rose bed and Boscobel David Austin roses. Although the first flush of roses is now just about finished, since the Boscobel roses were late starting, they still look fabulous! They are a salmon-pink color and (of course) beautifully scented. This bed really shouts out ‘pink!’ and I love all of the different shades. The Lotus Dream lilies are also in this bed.

Delphinium Cobalt dreams

Delphinium Shelby

5 & 6 Delphinium Cobalt Dreams and Shelby. The top picture is of Cobalt Dreams. I planted them from seed last year and kept them in a container all season. Before the cold weather came, I planted them next to the playhouse as that is the most sheltered ‘sun’ spot. They overwintered well, even came up in the spring. But the Bleeding Heart plant completely covered them and they stopped growing. So we dug them up (three plants, actually) and threw them in pots. This is the first one to flower this year. It is beautiful.

The second delphinium is called Shelby, and also quite beautiful with a blue ruffle outer layer. I bought this at the Rare & Special plant fair in Cork this spring. I have it in a container, and it seems to be happy enough. A big ‘to-do’ for me is to create a sheltered ‘sun’ spot in the garden so I can have these lovely plants in the garden and not just on my sheltered deck.

And that is a wrap for today’s Six on Saturday. Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed the tour. Which was your favorite plant? 🙂

In Peace,
Dana