Evening Light

Although we're expecting a thunderstorm tonight, we've had some glorious evenings this week. This is the time of year when the evenings are at their lightest and longest and there's a magic in the air as the sun gets lower in the sky. The light is softly diffused and it feels as if a spell has been cast over the garden making me feel drowsy and relaxed in its warmth. We are heading towards the longest day, and as the evenings lengthen I'm trying to make the most of them, wandering around the garden dead-heading and smelling the flowers.

All these photos were taken just before nine o'clock yesterday evening and the sun was still strong, shining through the petals and leaves of the plants at a low angle. Our 'Compassion' rose, which grows over an arch, was looking delightfully soft and peachy-pink.

This rose was here before we moved in and I think it's 'Graham Thomas'. The light caught it on one side, throwing the other into shade.

The blue geraniums looked like they're made from translucent tissue paper.

The peony flower is in shade while it's veined leaves are lit from behind.

The same is true of this palest of pink 'New Dawn' rose. The petals remind me of icing sugar but its leaf is a luminous lime green.

I'm so pleased with this pretty little pale pink allium which I picked up for little more than £1 in a supermarket this spring. I've only seen purple ones before, and really like this delicate pink one. 

The sun's rays have caught the hint of pink in each floret.

Finally, not to be left out, Clover posed on the top of the fence in the sunlight, with eyes aglow and fur glistening.

In contrast, it's raining now but hopefully there will be more of these magically long evenings to come. It's been a warm and sticky day at work, and a storm may be quite welcome tonight if it comes.

 After the first rainfall this morning I sniffed the air as I walked between lessons and noticed with pleasure the unmistakeable smell of petrichor. If you've never heard this word, it means 'the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil' - yes, that wonderful summery smell when it hasn't rained for a while. I was very excited (yes, I know) to discover this word a couple of years ago and to know that this seasonal phenomenon has a name. 

Well, it may be dingy, dark and damp outside but at least the pots and garden are being watered tonight. Hope we get some sunshine this weekend too x

June Evenings

This week I've been making sure to enjoy the lovely summer evenings we've been having. Life is busy, but there are moments here and there after work when I relish being outside in the light. June is such a gorgeous month, with the longest evenings of the year, so I've enjoyed watering the plants that I have in pots in the little area outside our kitchen door.

I listen to the house-martins screaming and swooping overhead as I fill the watering can, and the evening air is cool after a warm day. The sun's rays are still surprisingly bright and warm, even at 9 o'clock in the evening.

Yesterday after work I picked some roses and made some more rose-petal shortbread.

The petals looked gorgeous in the colander together in so many shades of pink, their perfume heady and sweet.

I've also started to pick the redcurrants which are ripe now. They really are one of the prettiest of fruits. The berries look like translucent glass beads, and I imagine making a necklace from them in my mind's eye. Instead I'm freezing them with a view to making some jam or jelly.

The raspberries are ripening too, but we're eating those straight from the canes, sweet and warm in the sunshine. Raspberry is one of my favourite colours, and I love it here against the soft green leaves.

When I do go indoors, it's fascinating to watch pairs of goldfinches coming to the bird-feeder for the niger seed. They're incredibly busy at this time of year feeding their young, making endless journeys to the feeder all day long. Their plumage glows with flashes of red and gold in the sunshine.

Life doesn't get much better than a warm evening in June x

Roses

There's something very special about roses. They are very close to my heart, and are many people's favourite flower. They are so evocative of summer, making us think of summer weddings, country gardens, perfumed bouquets and, of course, romance. They have been appreciated and collected for thousands of years and have a long, rich history.

 Poets have written about them, from Robert Burns' 'My luve's like a red, red rose' to D H Lawrence's 'full-blown yellow Gloire de Dijon roses'. Medieval poets wrote songs about them, such as 'There is no rose of swych vertu' (anon c 1450), and Shakespeare famously referred to them in Romeo & Juliet: 'What's in a rose? That which we call a rose /By any other name would smell as sweet'.

In June the roses are at their peak, and most of ours are in flower now. The garden is at its most perfumed in this month and on a warm evening their scent hangs in the air. I try to drink it in, making the most of it and wishing I could store it up for the long winter months. I've managed to squeeze a few roses into our garden, and some were already here when we moved in, like New Dawn which climbs up our front wall. It's such a delicate pink, and with a sweet fragrance.

There's also this lovely rich yellow rose which I think may be Graham Thomas. It's not very strongly scented, but the flowers are very full and cup-shaped.

This one is my favourite. I think it's Gertrude Jekyll, and its blooms are exquisite - very full, with many folded petals in a deep, clear pink. Best of all is its perfume. It's very strong and sweet, and reminds me of Turkish Delight. 

I love its shape as the bud opens up, like an elegant goblet.

There's also a little rose which we refer to simply as Gran's Rose. This is because it was taken from a rose bush which belonged to my great-grandmother by my parents, who are keen rose-growers, and given to me. She died aged 97 when I was 3 and, although it's not a spectacular rose, I am very fond of it.

This gorgeous peach-coloured rose was also given to us by my parents, and I've managed to forget what it was called, but its colour is so very pretty. They also recently gave us a rose called William Shakespeare which will flower a bit later on. I can't wait to see it in bloom!

Here is the apricot rose in a vase with a red climbing rose which grows over the back of our garage. (This photograph was taken last year - our lavender isn't out yet).

Growing over an arch is Compassion, which is pinky-apricot in colour. Its scent is quite light and fruity, and the centre has the most lovely stamens. 

On the other side of the arch is Etoile de Hollande which has deep red blooms with a strong, heavy fragrance. I love it, but it's flowers are so heavy they always droop.

We recently bought Mortimer Sackler, which is another climber. This one is a very graceful plant with open, cup-shaped flowers and a delicate scent.

I love its buds and leaves which are very elegant and twirly.

This is a pretty rose which was here when we moved in. It's small with lots of tiny pink flowers, and no perfume.

I spotted some more beautiful roses in the Botanical Gardens in Bath recently. It was a warm, sunny day and I took the opportunity to photograph some different varieties. Here's a gorgeous moss rose - the stems and sepals are covered in a scented 'moss'. You can see it very clearly in this photo, and I think it's very attractive.

Here it is in bloom, with a bright yellow centre.

Here's the centre of a pretty cream-coloured rose, with stamens that remind me of the centre of an anenome.

And this is a wild rose, also known as dog-rose or, my favourite name, eglantine. This is the rose which all the other varieties originate from, and I love it for its simplicity. Delicately scented, and with five pink-tinged petals, it can be found climbing through hedgerows at this time of year. 

Well, this has been a long post, hasn't it? I could talk all day about roses, and there's so much to learn about them, but I think I'll stop there, and pop outside for another sniff of that wonderful scent.

See you soon x

P.S. You can find out more about old rose varieties at David Austin Roses - there are so many to choose from, and they're all gorgeous!