Spring in the back garden
April 21, 2019: Finally we're getting some warmer days (70s Fahrenheit) mixed in with the
overcast mornings and cool evenings. How do we know it's spring? The nasturtiums know! Click the image
above to see the back garden in greater detail.
The David Austin roses are all a-blossom too: new this year are 'Desdemona,' 'Sharifa Asma,' 'Munstead
Wood,' 'James L. Austin,' and 'Olivia Rose Austin.' Take a gander at right for a vase full of spring roses.
Also in the back garden are Dianthus 'Telstar White,' pink erodium, blue and white petunias, lobelia, and several
non-Austin roses such as 'Cardinal Hume' and 'International Herald Tribune.' The back garden is given
filtered light by a 10-foot-tall Brazilian Sky Flower tree which has yet to burst into bloom, but that
will happen soon...and when it does, the hummingbirds will be ready.
A rose by any other name
The David Austin roses, planted bareroot on February 2nd this year, are opening up with a spectacular
display. It makes me wonder why I waited so long to add them to the garden.
Click the image at left to enlarge it.
Clockwise from left: a non-Austin salmon-pink rose,
'Colette,' deep red 'Munstead Wood,' light pink 'Olivia Rose Austin,' and deep pink 'James L. Austin.' These
were all cut from the back garden and the vase of blooms perfumes the entire room.
I picked these varieties because they're all rated as good container plants, which they're proving
to be. They're also (so far) resistant to any fungal diseases like blackspot or rust, which have
visited some of the front garden roses for the first time.
Austin roses are bred to look like antique varieties but have the vigor and disease resistance
that old-fashioned roses don't usually exhibit. They're also wonderfully fragrant, a feature that many
modern hybrid teas no longer offer.
These roses were certainly worth the investment!
