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Page 3
'Celsiana' and 'Maiden's Blush' are huge and need to be part of the background, while 'Rosa Mundi' is petite and can take the foreground. These three bloom only in June - after that their beauty lies only in memory. You will have a rose garden still - but no roses. Life is not a novel and love can come in July, or even August - so in my own garden I want recurrent bloom. I would use David Austin's 'Heritage' - a pale blush pink that is wonderfully fragrant. Best of all, it is nearly thornless - the way one would hope a budding love affair will be. Symbolism is almost as important as beauty in a romantic garden. I would place five of those, evenly spaced, in front of the buddleia, and front them with three of the tiny shrub rose called 'Little White Pet' - only 2 1/2 feet tall and about 2' wide, with tiny flowers and a nice fragrance. Between them I would have clouds of baby's breath - Gypsophilia paniculata 'Double Snowflake' to give an ethereal look to the scene. Romantic gardens need to billow with excess - and nothing billows better than baby's breath. Edging the entire bed on both sides I would use a ribbon of silver again - either Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet' or Artemisia stelleriana 'Silver Brocade.' If I step back and take a look at all of this in my mind's eye I see that what I have painted is a rather pale picture of romance - so my finishing touches will need to add a bit of spice to the picture. One of my favorite tricks is to use clematis at the base of shrubs. Clematis x eriostemon 'Hendersonii' with its deep blue flowers and extended (nearly all summer) bloom period is a possibility. It can twine as it wishes among the roses and the buddleia, making them appear to bloom with two flowers at once. Or I may plant a few Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie' with its black-purple leaves to roam at will throughout the bed. 'Blackie seems to do wonderful things to add drama to a silvery pink garden without being intrusive. A few finishing touches are required. I would tuck night-scented stock into unobtrusive places to perfume the evening air - since evening is an especially auspicious time for romance. And there must be some white Nigella - "Love in a Mist" placed here and there where there are holes to fill. A few African daisies (Dimorphotheca sinuata 'Glistening White') are required, tucked just behind the front edging, since they are not only beautiful but provide ample opportunity for a good game of "She loves me; She loves me not."
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