Can you ever have too many roses? I suppose the answer to that question depends on how much you can stomach squishing greenfly between your thumb and forefinger, as that seems to be a fairly incessant task at the moment.
Have been cutting my Constance Spry, Gertrude Jekylls, New Dawn and Falstaff to make some lovely scented bunches for my market stall, and have even braved the thorny stems of the picture perfect noisette, Felicite Parmentier - so blush pink and lovely despite the spikes.
New Dawn and Contance Spry - soft, pink and lovely.
Finding the perfect cups to match them is always fun - I don't especially like Royal Albert's 'Old Rose' pattern, but you would think it had been designed specially to host Falstaff and Absolutely Fabulous, my yellow stalwart.
Dark Falstaff roses with the yellow floribunda Absolutely Fabulous
On the back of all this romantic rosiness, I even braved a trip to the rather gorgeous local wedding shop last week to offer them a weekly bunch in exchange for displaying my card. The flowers do look like they have found their rightful home amidst all the wedding gowns, so am hoping (and feeling scared) about getting some enquiries via that route. Mind you, I can remember feeling the same about market stalls earlier in the year and now take these in my stride.
I'm spoilt for choice in the garden at the moment for scent, color and form. Even picked my first dahlia last week, so am hoping that they will all start swinging into action over the next few weeks.
Must get down to the allotment today to tie in all my sweet peas and to check on the progress of the soft fruit. Am pretty sure the gooseberries will be ready for picking, and with any luck the fat pigeons will not have torpedoed the netting on my cherry tree. Last time I checked, it looks like being my best ever cherry crop (the tree is now about 5 years old), so am very excited as they are one of my favorite summer eats. The redcurrants in my gardens are also starting to blush and I'm hoping that the ones on the plot are slightly further on as they get a bit more sun in that location. I sense a jam making extravaganza in the next few weeks so will have to start burning the midnight oil to process all my garden bounty at this rate!
