..thanks Nik for letting us know... although no more roses for me right now...

where else will you be able get buy DA roses at a reasonable price in the UK please?

http://www.oldroses.co.uk

Thanks nikthegreek. Shall have a look at the site.

sue east...

..besides the link Nik has provided above, for bare root roses supplied during the winter, although I admit for Austin roses I prefer to get them direct from DA...

... but I can advise you that, if you are in UK yourself, then your local Wyevale garden centre, and maybe others too, will have DA roses at least half price right now, full container sized plants, probably in flower...

...I bought these 3 the other day... that's 'Felicia' on the right... as I'm a member of a 'Gardening Club' here I also get discounts so these cost me about £5 [$7.50] each... but usually at half price they would be about £10...

...well worth going along if convenient...

Wow! your rose plants look quite large. It is unbelievably cheap. I had just been to the Wyevale garden centre website and the sale is over, on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I cannot get there, for the sale. Never mind, another time perhaps.

Do you just register at the Wyevale garden centre site, to become a member of the "gardening club"?Do you have to pay to be a member?

Thanks for the info.

hi Sue... that's a shame, that you cannot get there, as the sale will still be on at their garden centre's....50% off their roses...

...I see you can register now online for their Garden Club... that's what I've got although we registered at the garden centre... it's free and you just leave your name and address, email, that's about it... they send you a card in the post - like a bank card type... when I shop at Wyevale, and I do quite often although their plants are a bit more expensive, you pay and give them your card which they swipe, which builds up points which turn into money over time.. they then send me money off vouchers in the post.... I had £13 worth of vouchers to spend on my roses... and this is the time of year to get those bargains... I go every year at this time...

Hi Marlorena, I have never been to Wyevale's, but it's good to know that there is a sale about this time of the year. I shall visit it next year. Re the garden club, I expect they want to get your details and sell you things or sell on your details. That's what all shops want to do.

I got my last DA rose from a French nursery and like all DA roses, sold normally, they are very expensive. I shall now trawl through the website, Nik gave and continue to look for bargains.

...are you in France Sue?... I have heard that it's not easy getting the kind of plants you want from French nurseries... I'm not sure they're into gardening in such a big way as we tend to be... would you say?...

Sorry Marlorena, for my mistake. I replied to you, day before yesterday, but I did not click on "submit" A "senior moment" I'm afraid. Yes, you are right about the difficulty in getting the kind of plant from France. There was a garden fete, so I was able to buy the rose, from a nursery man from Benny Bocage. France has the most fantastic floral display, I've ever seen. The towns and villages receives floral badges graded on how good the town/village looks. Most of the display you see, are done by volunteers and even the children from the different schools are involved. They are very artistic, humorous very exuberant most of the time.

They even use vegetables like leeks and maize as part of the display. I think the British are now catching on with the regards to vegetable displays.

..that sounds like a nice place to live... I've just looked it up.. Le Beny Bocage in Normandy... I think the floral displays must be similar to what we have here called 'Britain in Bloom'.... my local town, Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, often does well in this competition...some of the roundabouts along the main roads are really very good too...with some lush plantings of all sorts... a local one has roses, cannas... floral displays, all surrounding large Birch trees... it's really very well done..

..I have to admit, I didn't associate that sort of thing with France... although the little village of 'Chedigny', which I think is down near Tours, has lots of lovely old roses growing along the roadside verges and in the town itself... which is what I prefer...

..in case you're ever down that way...

.. no problem about senior moments.... I often get those... I think most of us do on here... best wishes, and enjoy the rest of the summer....

I've never been to the Beny Bocage area, but I do know a french woman who lives there. Yes, I believe it's beautiful there. I think the French tend to use ground covering roses to plant along the side of their roads. The reason being, that roses need minimum care and they tend to be very hardy. They also make a stunning display all through the summer. It cheers one up, when one drives along the road.

You are very lucky to live in Wisbech, as there are several garden centres and nurseries in that area. In our area, the council or community award some money to a person to look after the nearby, plots, dotted along the road. I had noticed that a plot 20ftx4ft had lain empty and unused, meaning that it is full of soil and weeds, of a couple of years. So, I took it upon myself to plant all sorts of flowers on that plot. It caused a lot of controversy and animosity as it was supposed to be looked after by the person, awarded with the money. Anyway, I just did it to brighten our road up, rather than leave it to the weeds.

...I suppose you could say that you rocked the boat somewhat there, but I would have been grateful myself, if I lived there... not many people take that kind of initiative, I find...

...yes I am spoilt for choice with nurseries etc... and of course around here it is said that we have the best soil in the country... very fertile agricultural land... although my 60 foot length of front garden is reclaimed from an old road, now made one-way... and I have to dig quite deep through the old road base to get to the original soil.... darned hard work...! but plants that require good drainage thrive in it...even some roses surprisingly...

...I hope you like it, wherever you are....

ps. just to add, besides the local nurseries, there's a David Austin rose field just around the corner from me, can't find out who owns it so far, but if you're looking for a DA rose, this one below is one I'm going for, as amongst all those roses it was the one that has stood up to wind and rain better than most.... so many others were looking a bit manky to say the least...

'Queen of Sweden'... just thought you might be interested...

Marlorena would you stop that please? Pretty please? Not everyone lives in rose country and not everyone has access to 'agricultural' soil to plant one's roses. Green with envy..

.aah..but you've got the Aegean.... I don't think I would ever get tired of that..... besides your long list of plant goodies posted on another thread....that I can only dream about...

Thanks for your encouragement Marlorena! Like Nik, I am envious of you. Your garden seems large, so you must have lots of space to grow what you want. Very envious! I have a 24ft square garden with a large shed, in the sunniest position of the garden. It was there, when we bought the house, but it is not the best place for it. Your council or whoever planted round your area, seems to have some imagination using plants like cannas. The French use bold planting like cannas, brugmansia, palms, bananas and castor oil plant as well. These plants work really well, as it gives structure and form.

The raised plots in our areas are filled with indeterminate shrubs and ivy all year round. They then become leggy, woody and a tangled mess. The planting done by council workers are not much better. The main street has petunia and ivy in pots , every year and the front of the council building has low ground hugging plants and the whole thing looks two dimensional.

Can I come and live in your area?

..it's funny but when we moved here I had barely heard of this area.... we lived on the south coast and as often happens, we got lumbered with nuisance neighbours and we decided to move out after 15 years.... we came here not knowing anything about it, as it was a cheaper area to buy a home in.... once here I realised that it's also a great area for horticulture...

..masses of migrants here too, doing essential work in factories and agriculture....

...my garden isn't large at all, in fact it's quite small.. it's just a bungalow with garden all around but none of these areas are large.... I have neighbours on each side and I have to keep things under strict control as they wouldn't want my garden to encroach on theirs.... fortunately, at the back I have no one else to worry about...

...many of my roses are young and not yet established... but I try to think that there's always room for one more... especially when winter comes around and we start thinking of these things in desperation for summer glories..... it would be a jungle here if I didn't control it...

...there's a lot you can do with a small garden... I hope one day you might post a photo of a favourite rose, or shrub... I'd like to see that...

Your garden in Cornwall is spectacular! If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it's a garden from a stately country house. 1/4 of an acre is a substantial piece of land. You had what people can only dream of.

I did take a couple of pictures from my humble and not so neat garden, this year and last. But l deleted them. I do have some roses, but they are quite young. I have "Just Joey" and "fragrant cloud," both of which I only bought last year. I did buy 3 bushes of "double delight" but they prove a disappointment, as the flowers are small and yellow/orange. I expected the flowers to be fragrant, cream and red. I have them for the last 3 years, so they are not quite established.

I was thinking of getting a DA climber for my arch. At present the jasmine is climbing over the trellis and arch, but, it has not flowered much the last few years. I might just get Crepuscule, a noisette, which might do well. I am also thinking of getting "Sharifa Asma" But, I am not sure whether the flowers shatter easily. I think "Queen of Sweden" might be too big for my garden.

Thanks for the recommendation. and it is good to know the characteristics of different roses.

..oh gosh thank you Sue, I'm glad you liked the garden... no stately home though, ... nothing more than a very modern 'new build' type home, but because it was on a corner plot, it came with a most unusually large garden... as soon as I saw it I wanted it.... here is another photo showing one of my arches...with a much younger me underneath.... I don't mind posting it as it's a long time ago - large specs were fashionable then - and if I look miserable I was at the time due to a double family bereavement and my husband who took the photo worked away from home, so I got immersed in the garden...

...I had a large lawn in front of the arch with ornamental trees, and hedges of 'Iceberg' roses each side of the arch... loads of things going on... the pink rose on the arch is 'Alexandre Girault' ... 'Paul's Himalayan Musk' can be seen climbing a willow on the left... paths led everywhere to other arches and lots of roses, mostly older roses in those days, like Hybrid Perpetuals and Damasks....forgotten most of the names...my dog seemed to like it which was important to me, for her to have a free run of the garden.... she had a miserable early life with another owner, and I just wanted her to be happy... although she was really my husband's dog, and whenever he came home, she ran straight to him... typical !

...'Crepuscule' is supposed to be a lovely climber, I think it's popular on this forum with many ladies.. as is 'Sharifa Asma'... I've grown the other ones you mentioned, in my earlier days, they were always popular...

It was a super garden!!! That's kind of garden I am trying to have one day! This is a UK thread, but I can't help it to check out the beautiful garden photos! :-) Thanks for sharing!

summersrhythm..... thanks so much and you're always welcome to chime in, as is anyone of course.... being in zone 6 I'm sure you will have a garden full of wonderful roses.... I started from scratch and it was a lot of hard work for a few years, but then I found peace and tranquility, and it was just a question of maintenance.... my late mother lived with us until she passed, and she had her own section which I didn't interfere with, as we had different tastes....

...all bulldozed down after I left which was to be expected... people prefer to ride around on a lawn mower cutting a huge area of lawn rather than grow roses, which seem to be far too complicated... but that's how it goes...and we have to accept that... I still look at it on google maps and my heart sinks...

I am so sorry to hear that your old garden is no onger there, it was such a beautiful dream garden.......many of us would love to have one like that, it was outstanding! I wished you took all the roses with you at that time. I guess some people just don't have hearts for roses.......that's really sad.

I enlarged the photo above and the roses and flowers are sumptious. It is truly a dream garden. I forgot to mention that I also have a rose bush call "vigo" It's white in colour and the scent is absolutely delicious. The one negative thing about it is, that the petals shatter in a day or two, but the scent, more than make up for it. I also have a polyanthus which flower continuously, and is not affected by the strong wind or rain.

..thank you both so very much.... but you know what they say... a garden dies with its owner, or in this case, when we sell up and move...

...I was determined to make a rose garden there, as people were always saying, and still do, that roses don't grow well in that part of England...[too damp - too near the sea]... and I was wanting to prove them wrong... and I never had any need to spray anything either... I only lost one rose there..one called 'Gloire de Ducher' which simply refused to grow for me...

...I've not heard of 'Vigo', Sue... so I shall have to go research on that one...

I see you have such a lot of rose bushes, so you must be very experienced in growing them. I tried to grow "Dame de Couer, "which is rated by some authors as a good rose. But, it died on me after a few weeks. If I have more space I would like to grow "the Prince" "Jude the Obscure" and "Charles de Mills" which is a gallica rose.

...I think those are all quite popular and should do well for you Sue, whichever you choose... I've not grown any of them as yet, but I often use the 'search' function on this forum and it can reveal all sorts of threads on a particular variety....full of interesting information from those that grow them...

....one I really would like to get, and I've been thinking about it for far too many years is 'Parade'... a climbing rose...it's been around for ages...and one day I really must...

...I might be experienced but only in an amateurish way Sue... I'm just an amateur rose grower and gardener... I don't think I know that much about them if I'm honest, compared to many other members here.... I buy what I like regardless of whether it's entirely suitable for my conditions, and like to experiment, always knowing that there's always another rose if it doesn't work out...and I'm prepared for the expense of trial and error....

...I've even grown a few as annuals... even this year I've already discarded I think 4 roses that I only planted last winter... I need to hit it off fairly quickly with a plant of any description.... patience not being a great virtue of mine...

..I don't know about you but sometimes I see roses in other people's gardens, all looking manky, old and gnarled, unkempt... and I think, why are you putting up with that..? when there are so many other lovelies we can be growing...

...here are a few pics I took today... not all roses, but I hope these might be of interest... my garden is full of mistakes, but I hope they don't show too much....

Helenium 'Rubinzwerg' with Aster 'Monch'...

Gaura 'Whirling Butterflies'... I love this white perennial although it has to be staked...

Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers'... I'm liking this new rudbeckia very much and want more for next season... it's in totally the wrong place right now...

Rose 'Gruss an Teplitz'... just starting another flush... and I love the scent on this one too... and it's proving vigorous on poor ground here...

..the everblooming rose 'Kew Gardens'.... this is one of my favourite shrubs of any type..

..and when it's in full flow....

...hope you like, and please share if you have any yourselves...

Your Helenium Rubinzwerg has totally blown me away. I have lusted after several varieties of heleniums, but have never been able to grow them. The reason is that, the cats in the neighbourhood uses my garden as a toilet. The dig and scratch before doing their "business" Consequently, they dig up my seedlings and plantlets. Their urine and feaces also kills the plants. I have tried everything to deter them, but to no avail. My husband says that, what I have is not a garden, but a junk yard. I am sure you will be shocked to see the state of my garden. I place all sorts or pots and wire netting, near to my plants and any bare patch of ground, to stop them. Today, I found a load of feaces on top of one of my plant pots. So, I really cannot win.

However, I am very persistent and I am going to try planting helenium again. I do love those plants. Your "Kew gardens" is also looking very beautiful. I'll try and take some photos of what I have.

..I sympathise Sue, empathise even, as I also have a cat problem here...so many neighbours all around have them, and I think a few are feral that pass through... even with my dog it doesn't seem to deter them...although some have been given a mighty fright if he's about when they show up...

...I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve in dealing with it... one is to plant ground cover... I have Geraniums everywhere, so that very little soil is available for them to dig...

...where I have removed plants, and have not yet replanted, there is lovely fresh soft soil, ripe for digging... so what I do is to chop up pieces of bamboo cane, about a foot long each piece, and stick them in the ground a few inches apart, so about 6 inches is sticking out.... I might need a dozen sticks or more... doesn't look nice but the cats don't have room to squat... I find piles of earth where they've dug a paw in, but they give up and go somewhere else...

...however, I also have shingled areas - no lawn here - and one cat will just dump it on top of the shingle.... there's isn't much I can do about that one...

...so I do know what you mean, and I find it quite distressing at times, especially when it used to happen more frequently... it has subsided for me somewhat lately...since I've been using these methods...

...glad you liked the Heleniums.... hope you get some eventually.... I love them too and would like to try different varieties...

Below is a snapshot of my garden.

agapanthus

Thanks for the tips on cat deterrence. I have shingles and peas sticks and and anything I can use. I also use a lot of geraniums all over my garden. I am going to buy some helenium seeds to try for next year.

I looked up on "parade" the climber, and it sounds a really good rose. I have changed my mind on crepuscule. The DA catalogue described it as having a strong fragrance, but in other catalogues they described it as having slight fragrance. So, I will start again and look for something else with a strong fragrance.

Crepuscule has a mild fresh Tea fragrance to my nose. So does Lady Hillingdon. I believe there are not many Teas with what could be described as 'strong' fragrance (but I might be mistaken). Mme Jules Graveraux is a climbing tea with a fruity fragrance which I would describe as 'quite strong' reminiscent of many DA roses (vice versa might be more correct).

Sue, that's a pretty corner of your garden... I love the rose by the apple tree... and also the Agapanthus... I think the Echinops is the plant in the background?...

..a nice country garden feel... thanks for showing us...and always ready to see some more, when you are...

Yes, I realised my mistake as soon as I signed out. Never mind, as usual, I am in a hurry and don't bother to check, what I've typed. I like "Lady Hillingdon" but it's a very tall plant. I want a short one, about 8-10ft. I don't think my arch can carry all the weight of a heavy plant. I also like "blush noisette" but again, from the pictures, I see that the spread is too wide and would be too heavy for my arch.

In any case, I shall be visiting some friends and will be away for some weeks. So, it will have to wait till I return. Enjoy your holiday week-end and rest of the summer!

..yes thank you Sue, and you too.... thanks for the chat... best wishes...