A few photos for July, mainly roses, plus some photos of my new 'push reel mower'.
The end of June and the beginning of July is the period of the year for roses.
Roses grow quite well on a clay soil, and are one of the very few good plants that I am able to grow.
Roses need sunshine, so I can't put them anywhere. I don't have a 'rose bed'. My roses are mixed up with other perennials, and annuals.
Just below is a view looking along a path made of paving stones. There are roses (and perennials and annuals) on either side of the path...
This is Alnwick Castle, visible, second from the right, in the previous photo.
This is a David Austin, and one of the first of my roses to bloom. Scented.
This is Abraham Darby, another very early variety.
Abraham has very large blooms, and is strongly scented. A weakness of this flower is that the blooms are often so heavy that the stem is unable to hold them upright, and the heads tend to flop.
This is Graham Thomas, a strong sturdy rose, with a good scent.
According to David Austin's website:
Graham Thomas has been voted the World’s Favourite Rose by the World Federation of Rose Societies which represents over 100,000 rose lovers in 41 member countries. The award was announced at the 2009 World Rose Convention in Vancouver, when the rose was inducted into the society’s Rose Hall of Fame.I don't very often find bees in David Austin's roses. But I did manage to get the photo just below. I think this photo shows what some people find so special about Graham Thomas. It's not the bee. But, in this photo, you can see the luminosity of the petals, how light appears to come from within the rose itself...
Emma Hamilton
My favourite rose, in terms of taking photos, is Emma Hamilton. David Austin describes this rose as "unusual colouring... useful for creating a little excitement in the border".
It's strongly scented, but what I like about this rose is the colour...
The buds start out as a deep apricot, and then graduallly turn to a veined pink.
The two blooms in this shot are the same rose, at different stages of blooming.
L D Braithwaite. Large blooms on a strong plant.
Unfortunately this rose has only a very weak scent.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
Slightly similar to Braithwaite, with large crimson red blooms, but again, virtually no scent.
Crown Princess Margareta. Scented. This rose forms a large spreading plant...
Janet. Scented...
The Generous Gardener. Slightly scented...
Iceberg. Very little scent...
Here are a few roses which are not David Austin's. These are mainly grown by a company named Mattocks. It's simply the brand which is stocked at my local garden centre, Wyevale.
This is Fascination, a pretty little rose, and long flowering. Not scented.
Port Sunlight
Golden Beauty.
A slightly scented floribunda.
Cleopatra, a very large blousy bloom, in a deep rich red, slightly scented...
This is a view along a grass path, running between roses and other perennials and annuals...
Single Rambler Rose
One drawback of many of the David Austin roses is that, being double, they are not attractive to bees.
This is an old single rambler rose that I have, which is very attractive to bees. This variety is not repeat flowering, so in a few weeks, it will have finished flowering.
This rose is trained along the front of the house...
I took a simple cutting from this rose, which I simply stuck in the ground, beneath an apple tree. And now the rose covers the apple tree.
A honeysuckle also covers the same tree. Somehow, the tree still manages to produce apples.
My Push Reel Mower
I have quite a lot of grass. I have grass paths through a flowery lawn and a meadow, and I have grass paths through flower beds. Grass is a serious business for me.
I have several mowers. Currently I have a push petrol mower, a self-propelled petrol mower, and a hover mower. And I also make a lot of use of a strimmer.
So I'm always interested in new mowers. I recently discovered 'push reel mowers'. These are 'old fashioned' mowers, with rotating cylindrical blades. That you push.
Are they serious?
I read several reviews on Amazon, and everyone who'd bought a push reel mower seemed amazed and delighted. So I decided to buy one of the least expensive models available, just to see what it was like.
It's very easy to lift; I can lift it up with one hand. It's very manouverable. It takes less effort to push than a push petrol mower or hover mower. It cuts better than a hower mower. And there are no fuel bills. And the price was only a fraction of the cost of a power mower. I guess the blades will need adjusting and sharpening at some time, considering the pounding I'm giving it.
My only reservation about this model is that it's not silent. It makes a clattery noise as the blades go round, but it's still a lot quieter than a power mower. There is a new generation of hand mowers with 'contact free' technology, and which are said to be very quiet in operation. The range actually available in the UK at the moment is still very limited.
The acid test was to try to cut a new path through long grass. It took about six passes back and forth along the path, but the little mower managed to do it. There were a few tough stalks (cats ear) still standing, but they were easily dealt with using a light-weight battery-powered strimmer...
Cutting a smart path, through a meadow, or around a flowery lawn does show that this meadow is 'meant' to be here. This is particularly true if growing a flowery lawn by the house. You need to demonstrate to neighbours that it's intentional.
Also, you, and the animals, can then walk through the meadow without getting wet. I believe that some moths and butterflies also particularly like the tall grass along the edges of paths, because the air and warmth can penetrate through the grass.
In 2008, Gardening Which magazine ran a comparison between powered and hand mowers. Their report is here: Hand mowers can outshine powered ones.
These are the reviews of the Bosch/Qualcast hand mowers at Amazon UK:
Reviews of Bosch/Qualcast mowers at Amazon UK
That mower is similar to the one I bought, though having a lot of grass, I bought the wider 380 model.
These are reviews of Brill hand mowers at Amazon US (these mowers are not readily available in the UK):
Reviews of Brill mowers at Amazon US
More Recent Photos
There are more recent photos, showing my garden in August, here:
My Garden in August
Related Posts
My Garden in June
My Garden in May
My Garden in April
I love your garden ! The roses , so many , are wonderful. I had a push-mower once, it did not do a very good job on the weeds I call grass in my yard, but I liked pushing it very much. Much better than a gas powered mower, and I enjoy the clackety-clack sound they make. Very nice , thanks for the post, Gina
ReplyDeleteAside from all the practical considerations - quicker, cheaper, better for the environment, etc - hand-mowing is actually fun.
ReplyDeleteThis must be the first time I've ever cut the grass, when it didn't really need cutting, just for the fun of using the mower.
Your garden looks fabulous, and so pretty with the path through the roses and perennials. Your roses are wonderful, I enjoyed reading about them.
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting to hear about the push-mower. They have been gone for some years, but recently I have seen them in many shops here.
I didn't know how popular these mowers might be in continental Europe, which tends to be more ecologically aware than the UK.
ReplyDeleteSome of the more expensive models available in the UK are made by Brill, a German company.
There's a large range available in America, many made by Brill, and imported.
Some very expensive models give a 'putting green quality' cut.
Beautiful photographs! I love the scent of roses, very dreamy. My garden seems to have some type of blight. Perhaps it's the beetles chomping away. I am in great anticipation of my gladiolas...just have leaves right now. My oriental lilies are on the verge of blooming...
ReplyDeleteScent does seem to be a major feature of the David Austin roses. On his website he says how strongly scented each rose is.
ReplyDeleteOriental lilies are very nice. I have a few which have the buds on them, and should be in flower quite soon. I think the photos of them will have to wait till August photos. Some flower through till September.
What a scrumptious post.
ReplyDeleteAnd you certainly have achieved your gardening objective. One of the nicest I have ever seen.
Thank you so much for the information on the quiet hand mowers. I wish they were made compulsory, or failing that, all motor mowers fitted with a silencer/catalyst.
Brill, the German company who make the more advanced hand mowers, were also responsible for introducing a range of petrol mowers called 'Silencio', claimed to be the quietest running petrol mowers in the world. That was back in 2003.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit. I have opened the feed and ventured into the following world by joining you too. Scent in white roses: there is a rose which resembles Iceberg and has a truly delicious perfume: Rosa "Margaret Merrill" from the Harkness stable. (Yet another 'Margaret')
ReplyDeleteWhat an extraordinary post. I loved all the rose portraiture, and the contest entry photograph is wonderful. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteI was thrilled with your garden - your beautiful healthy roses and the meadow too. Love the sound of push mowers - I use a small one to keep grass lightly trimmed in summer. Keeps me fit too.
ReplyDeleteI think we have a lot in common looking at your reading list and as a psychotherapist, I know a bit about Jung though I'm more of an existentialist!
Anyway so glad to have found your blog
Laura
I know hardly anything about the use of Jung in psychotherapy. I noticed on an old page of Maggy Anthony's (author of The Valkyries) that one of her favourite links was a psychotherapy clinic in London, The Marian Association.
ReplyDeleteMy best Jungian post is probably one called Garden Style and Personality:
http://roburdamour.blogspot.com/2010/02/garden-style-and-personality.html
I may have got some of the details wrong. I didn't expect it to be vetted by professionals. But it was a good idea.
My posts on The Valkyries (listed under Recent Posts) was quite good. Also The Earth has a Soul:
http://roburdamour.blogspot.com/2010/03/earth-has-soul.html
Used to have a push-mower for the rented house. It is good and enjoyable exercise. Lovely noise, compared to the other whiny monsters. And yes it leaves a better finish, even if the 'lawn' started as just trimmed weeds. Good entry for the competition ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd the juxtaposition of a formal path with "wild" prairie is electrifying, wouldn't you say? I've longed to pull up my fron tlawn and meadow it, but seeing my parents struggle with establishing one on 6 acres has me hesitant--at least until someday when I have 100 acres and will go nuts scattering seed. Lovely garden you have. Nice words about it, too (and that comign from a writer, mind you, and not an arrogant one at all, right?).
ReplyDeleteJuxtaposition is an interesting term, especially when used of gardens.
ReplyDeleteRenaissance gardens tried to juxtapose nature and formality. Juxtaposition then leads to questions about unification. The historian Schama, talking about the history of garden design, said that at this point 'gardening became philosophy'.
The path through the wilderness is the path that we're all on.
Some day our pasture may become a meadow but I doubt it will ever look as enticing as yours with that mower in the picture. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful garden! I can smell the roses from the picures. It must give you a lot of pleasure.
ReplyDeleteSister Midnight,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your various comments. It's nice to know that someone's reading my more obscure posts.
These photos are truly captivating! Summer is my favorite time of the year because it is the time when everything blooms at their best (including me). Hehe!
ReplyDelete