A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

Gardens are not just case studies in design. They are stories of people’s lives.

Autumn was fabulous this year, where the colours could glow without fading, and the roses enjoyed the perfect conditions of cool nights and bright, sunny days for an extended time. Now that winter is upon us, it is amazing to see some roses still hanging on so late in the season. They are not in…

In one’s garden, a person may be one’s own artist without apology or explanation. Here is one spot where each may experience the “romance of possibility.”

Inspired by attending a recent gardening symposium and the glorious autumn weather, I’ve been pondering the best way to start my new garden. It is ever so tempting to get out there and tackle all the areas I’d like to change. However, I’m trying to be more patient and wait until I’ve established a design…

“As I leave the garden, I take with me a renewed view. And a quiet soul.”

The last time I wrote, we were sailing towards Dunedin along the coast of Southern New Zealand. Several weeks have slipped by, and the all-too-familiar rain and windy weather marked our last week onboard, thwarting our plans again. Instead of garden walks, roses, and majestic trees in Dunedin and Tasmanian gardens, extra days were spent…

There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.”

After several delightful summery days in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui in the North of New Zealand, we have turned south, and just like that, Autumn arrived. The tree-lined driveways at the wineries we visited are now glowing with burgundy and golden leaves. Mornings have been cool, yet the temperature gauge rises in the afternoon so…

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

Recently, I’ve embarked on a month-long adventure around New Zealand and am looking forward to visiting some of the country’s extraordinary gardens. It is always a thrill to head off from home with hopes and dreams after all the planning that goes into travel. The bucket list of what we hope to do and see…

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”

After the hot days of late and the high humidity during this summer, it is a welcome change to feel the touch of coolness in the air each morning. The Autumn season is here with the faintest sign of what’s to come and the beginnings of colour change in the trees. The breeze has a…

“A garden of Purple is always in bloom.”

Purple and lavender roses exude a sense of tranquillity and make the garden a serene and welcoming space that is also romantic and restful. This was my intention when I began planting several shades of purple, lavender, and soft lilac roses to the garden. The purple hues create the charm of an old-world, vintage garden…

Like sunshine in a garden, yellow roses whisper tales of hope and resilience.

Yellow is magic. It can lift our spirits and create cheerfulness and optimism. The golden hue of yellow roses spreads joy, happiness, and positivity wherever they are seen; in a garden landscape amongst lush green foliage, a wedding bouquet, picked fresh from the garden for a friend or a vase in the home. Yellow roses…

“There may be many flowers in one’s life…but only one red rose.”

Red roses, until last year, were not part of the garden except for the Kardinal Rose, and it is a mystery why I have never planted more before. Now, the garden boasts a range of red roses, including a mass-planted display of “As Good As It Gets” and several climbing varieties, “Dublin Bay” and “Fourth…

“New Year’s Eve is only ever what you make it: the momentous passing from an old year into a new one or just another day.”

Here we are approaching the end of the year. The time when we naturally reflect on the past 364 days and wonder how we could have managed things differently. Are we proud of our success in life and in the garden this year, or are we looking for a better outcome in the year ahead? “Tomorrow…

“It was December, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”

Seasons Greetings to you and your family. It is summertime in the Southern Hemisphere, and our Christmas is often outdoors with flowers, gardens, beaches, swimming, sunshine, fresh seafood and hot weather. Although we are often away over Christmas and miss some of the blooms, there are always roses galore at this time of year. On…

Sometimes it’s just not possible to do everything you want to do in the garden.

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.”

Spring is a heady time for gardeners, with bursts of long-awaited colour, although fleeting at times when nature brings seasonal winds and frequent storms. Although I’m encouraged and happy that it is Spring after the dreariness of winter, it is easy to forget just how unpredictable the spring days can be. “Never yet was a…

“Hoe while it is spring, and enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do not turn out well.”

Spring has flooded the garden with colour from hundreds of plants: salvias, geraniums, perennials, herbs and roses. The Lady of Shalott roses have been superb this spring, although, nature always has the upper hand. Looking closely around the garden, overall the first round of rose blooms did not open as well as expected. There are…

“I feel as if I had opened a book and found roses of yesterday sweet and fragrant, between its leaves.”

Wherever we look the cheerfulness of Spring is present: birdsong, blue skies, sunshine, rosebuds, an abundance of rose blooms, blossoms and flowers, greenery, bees and insects, with only remnants of winter remaining felt as the chill in the early mornings. “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Some roses show…

“Queer things happen in the garden in Spring. Little faces forgotten appear, and plants thought to be dead suddenly wave a little green hand to confound you.”

It is no secret that I’m fond of quotations, and this one perfectly describes the spring start in the garden this year. Once dead twigs are now verdant lush growth and the perennials appear as a carpet of varied foliage with colour peeking out under the roses. It also feels like we have had every…

“My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view.”

As I began to grow roses I gained initial advice from books on garden greats in history, the locals in the country town where I lived, and various rose nurseries and horticulturalists. I followed their advice and I noticed I had considerable knowledge of plant species and names even though I didn’t know I knew…

“It was such a pleasure to sink one’s hands into the warm earth, to feel at one’s fingertips the possibilities of the new season.”

All through winter, keen gardeners wait for the onset of Spring and long for it even if the coziness of winter is enjoyable. The change of season always brings renewal and vitality to garden growth in the early days of Spring, and it is an exciting time. Eagerly watching for signs of new buds and…

“And the roses—the roses! —they came alive day by day, hour by hour.

There’s nothing quite like a freshly picked rose from the garden. Still stunning but not comparable are the perfect roses grown for the cut flower market that sit outside florists to entice customers. Almost appearing too good to be true, commercially grown roses often lack perfume, whereas garden roses are intoxicating visually and in their…

“The more help you have with your garden, the less it belongs to you.”

Spring arrived so abruptly this year, with typical unsettled, windy, changeable weather. The early morning is cold, with sunny days at times then followed by frost and cold winds reminiscent of winter’s depths. It is Spring, and as long as one remains flexible to the moods of nature and mindful to wear layered clothing, it…

“Blossom by blossom the spring begins.”

The anticipation of the first day of spring has a sense of urgency, and although the warmth of sun-filled days is a comfort, there is still a frenzy of activity and long lists of tasks to be worked on in the garden. I tell myself daily that gardening is for joy, and there is plenty…

“If you have never had a garden you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know that it would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there.”

The essence of gardening is doing, digging, shaping, moving, and fine-tuning. After weeks of work, it is time for the best part, the planting. The bare-root roses have arrived; half are planted already, with the remainder soaking in buckets waiting for the welcome rain to stop. It is a heady time of year that culminates…

If you want good roses, sharpen your knife and harden your heart.

Chaos reigns in the garden this week, and it is time to take action even though the experts’ view is to leave pruning until all risk of frost is over. After a week or so of warm weather, too hot for August, the plants in the garden are confused as many have come out of…

In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move.

Unfortunately, the garden is unsightly and tired now that winter has settled in and the frosty conditions have begun. The leaves on the roses are falling or going yellow and many blooms have balled up in the wet conditions. The Pelargoniums continue to look fantastic, and it won’t be long before Clematis and Daphne are…

“I like generosity wherever I find it, whether in gardens or elsewhere. I hate to see things scrimp and scrubby. Even the smallest garden can be prodigal within its limitations.”

The essence of a garden is all about generosity, as Vita Sackville West confirms in today’s title quote. Garden, generosity is not only about the blooms and plants but also the space, the size and the scale of a garden and its location; the width of the paths, the height of the trees, arches, pergolas…

“Roses don’t tell they show”

It is not hard to smile when you have a garden full of roses, even though the foliage may be damaged and falling at this time of year. The intoxicating fragrance is also an attraction and markedly present at the moment. Each bloom is a surprise that en masse are striking and beautiful and I…

“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.”

In anticipation, I wait for nature to bring more cold days to give the roses the silent nod to sleep. After only a few days of chill, the garden is showing signs of slowing down, and moving towards dormancy even though many roses remain in bloom. Some are brilliant, almost perfect whilst others are lovely,…

It is always exciting to open the door and go out into the garden for the first time on any day…..

The garden continues to flourish with an array of wonderful roses out in bloom. It is heartening to see the splashes of colour as the temperatures turn cold and the skies grey, and all are a welcome treat. Some roses appear to enjoy the more northern hemisphere climate of the past…

“The intransigence of roses is something we have had to accept, and now … I know which are docile and benevolent from those which are headstrong; those that are pliant from those which are pig-headed.”

After considerable time tending roses, I now realise first-hand that Mirabel Osler’s statement is incredibly accurate. The research before purchasing roses has meant that most roses have been a dream to nurture; upright, generous and elegant. Their prolific blooms in gorgeous colours are amiable even with the prickles, but on occasions, after the arrival in…

Gardens have a way of coercing you into an undertaking or doing things you never intended to do, and when you have, you wonder why you waited so long.

It is a beautiful Autumn day again this morning spent in the garden planting out a few Salvia leucantha, Mexican sage bushes. Before I knew it, I had taken the irreversible steps in removing the supposedly ‘weeping’ rose that has annoyed me for so long, with its belligerent attitude, and refusal to weep over the…

Just step outdoors, see the light on the hills, the stars at night- that’s enough.

The weather of late is glorious and the days so clear. It is fresh in the mornings with the warmth of sunny days followed by the grandeur of an empyrean night sky.Nothing is more spectacular than the inland domed sky on a cloudless crisp cold night. At times like this, it all seems worthwhile living…

‘A garden is a friend you can visit anytime.’

Now that the flurry of Easter and all that goes with preparing a house and food for the family is over, our rural location seems deserted, and the sounds of children in the garden have quietened. Yet, the garden remains full of excitement and activity as if, by magic, hundreds of roses are in bloom…

“Golden Yellow; the Colour of Joy.”

The glow of ambient light in Autumn is so atmospheric as the cooler temperatures and changeable weather create a season of dewy mornings, and the dramatic light stays golden all day around the late-flowering rose blooms. For some time now, I’ve wanted to replace the overgrown French lavender and the two Princess De Monaco roses…

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order

Time outside gardening and growing roses is a favourite pastime, and the garden is where I spend many happy hours, although there are times when a retreat indoors is the preferred option. Today was such a day. Eager and energetic, I headed out early, only to find a short while later, I was rushing towards…

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”

Nature has gently eased us out of summer with hints of what’s to come; the mornings bring cool fresh air, but the high temperatures along the coast and inland last week tease us back into summer mode. So the bees in the garden are still very active. Throughout the garden, some roses have tell-tale signs…

Life In The Autumn Garden

Many hours have been spent in the garden this week. I’m taking advantage of the cool mornings that allow at least five hours of gardening before the sun’s intensity becomes too hot. It is cathartic, cutting back summer growth and pulling weeds so tall in some spots they were up to my shoulders. The word…

To everything there is a season.

Autumn, the crème de la crème of all the seasons, in my view, has arrived. I suspect the hot days may continue in the afternoons for several more weeks. Still, the hint of Autumn days’ freshness, clarity, stillness and beauty is apparent every morning, and it is magic. Autumn’s arrival may appear disappointing as summer…

“Gardening is a work of a lifetime: you never finish.”

Early morning this week was slightly cooler, creating perfect gardening conditions. As the sun came across the lawn, it still felt like summer but not so intensely hot. It’s a small sign but very welcome and reminds me that Autumn may not be too far away after all. Usually, garden work is brief or…

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.

The days spent in New Zealand and Tasmania were primarily overcast, but we are now in full swing of late Summer back in the garden, with temperatures reaching 40-41 degrees C and little to no rainfall. The only time to comfortably garden is in the early hours of each day. Summer gardens in Australia demand…

“Garden design is all about concealment and surprise.”

Now that I’ve had time to reflect on all I’ve seen in recent travels my favorite Botanical Garden is in Tasmania? The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens ( RTBG ) has a wealth of specialist collections ranging from the Lily Pond, the Japanese Garden, the Historic Wall, and the Gate Keepers Cottage to the Community Food…