I don’t know about you but the terrible weather we have had has been fantastic for my roses. They are more floriferous than they have ever been and each flower is simply enormous. They seem to have been less confused by the weather than the earlier plants. Everything was late and then all the others seemed to rush into flower at the same time.
The Daphne flowered until April (which it has never done before – a full sixth months since November!). I had tulips flowering with daffodils and now have roses flowering with tulips – in June! Even the new standard roses in my North facing front garden (1 x ‘Champagne Moment’ and 2 x ‘Cream Abundance’– which is actually very pink on the outside as you’ll see in the video and has a stronger scent than advertised) have put on a spectacular display – much better than I could ever have dreamed of from roses in their first year. Roses are notoriously slow starters and normally take about three years to really look their best. But these three look like old hands already.
I thought you’d enjoy to see them so watch the short video.
The Clematis have done extremely well too. I suppose they anyway enjoy the same conditions as roses – long cool roots runs, water and then sun, and I have fed them better this year. My Clematis Sieboldii has been particularly spectacular. It came into flower very early and is still looking great and is covered in buds so I have hope for a long flowering season.
And it’s not just my roses and Clematis. Everywhere I go they are amazing. It’s almost worth all those awful months at the beginning of the year but I’m not sure. OK the roses are great but we have to live here too and I think, on balance, I’d have preferred an earlier Spring.
