Home » Plants & Animals » English Gardening » Friends and Acquaintances

Friends and Acquaintances

© Graham Leatherbarrow

These last few weeks have finally seen the arrival of summer, with hot sunny days culminating in the inevitable thunderstorms. With temperatures in the upper seventies, it has been ideal weather for sitting in the garden or catching up with the summer pruning. This improvement in the weather was something of a relief I expect for the organisers of the Commonwealth Games, which were held just down the road from here. Manchester’s reputation for rain is somewhat undeserved and just to prove we sometimes do see the sun ‘up north’ it was good to see so many people enjoying themselves in some really superb weather.

Good weather does make a real difference to the appearance of the garden too. It is always a real treat to rise to blue skies for a change and see what surprises lie in store in my own tiny plot. The main rose season of June is now behind us, but there are still some interesting roses to be seen in late summer. China roses are a great bonus for small gardens, being fairly small and compact in growth, they can be accommodated into most town gardens with ease. Their great virtue by far is their willingness to please. Starting into bloom as early as April, members of this select band of roses continue with the show well into autumn.

China roses appreciate a sheltered position in sun say against a wall, where they will flower as constantly as any other rose. They have rather twiggy but robust growth and do not require much in the way of pruning. The blooms form small clusters of almost butterfly daintiness. My own particular favourite is rosa chinensis Mutabilis. This shrub can reach over eight feet in more favourable positions, but in more exposed sites it can appear quite small and frail. In my own garden this rose continues to put on spectacular show and will carry on for a number of weeks yet. It has pointed copper-flame buds, which open to a peach colour, soon turning pink and eventually almost crimson as the flowers age. It’s one of the most graceful shrubs around with impeccable habits, so give the china roses a try.

Another rose worth considering if your garden is sheltered and favoured by mild winters is ‘Mermaid’. This is a large-flowered canary-yellow climber, starts to flower rather late and continues well into October. The flowers are nearly five inches across with a golden centre. It can be slow at first, but when it finally gets going can cover 25 to 30 feet easily.

Front garden path	rosa mutabilis	An old climber 'Mermaid'	Lilium speciosum album	Japanese Beetle
Teazel,

The copyright of the article Friends and Acquaintances in English Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Friends and Acquaintances in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.