My Favourite Garden

The Man that Can, Toad, Bumblebee and I spent some time wandering around my favourite garden this afternoon. Regular readers may recall my visit to the Botanical Gardens in the Springtime, and my wish to visit the re-modelled Rose Garden in the following season.

The roses, a sight to behold and a great many scented, were too numerous for me to remember, but this particular one caught my eye. It is called rosa 'Blue Moon' and is such an unusual lilac/grey colour. It's a repeat flowering, delicately scented, hybrid tea rose.

This is rosa 'Black Beauty', again a repeat-flowering lightly scented bloom. Red roses are of course a sign of unconditional love, and this has to be one of the darkest of red roses I've seen, hence I suppose the name. The photo doesn't quite do justice to the deep colour.

Some other roses to feast the eyes upon

This delicate pink bloom (below) is that of rosa 'Valentine Heart'. A sweetly perfumed, repeat-flowering floribunda rose.  Pink roses denote friendship, appreciation and admiration.

Another feast of loveliness that only lacks the invention of a scratch and sniff computer screen

A view of the Rose Garden

And another

We were never alone in the gardens. We had a couple of playful and extremely inquisitive squirrels following us around, and had we some food with us, I am certain they would have taken it from us. Next time we shall be prepared.

Strangely I feel no animosity to these little grey creatures...I see them as comical, cute and almost tame. I do not however see the family of squirrels who frequent my own garden in the same light. They are destructive, annoying little...so-and-so's that I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to feed!! Does that make me a Nimby? (not in my own back yard).

Of course the Botanical Gardens isn't just about the Rose Garden, and I spent a good couple of hours wandering around taking photos of colour combinations and drinking in all the lovely lusciousness of it all.

This is a leaf-cutter ant...in case you're wondering. It's hiding in a bed of an impressive collection of Penstemons.

What public garden doesn't have at least one traditionally planted Victorian Garden, planted according to the seasons? This one, situated by the Gatehouse as part of the heritage landscape was apparently shown on the 1853 Ordinance Survey map, and while the plants obviously aren't the originals, they are planted using varieties that would have been available to the original designer, Robert Marnock.

A flower's appeal is in its contradictions - so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect. ~Terri Guillemets