Roses

I grow quite a lot of roses from cuttings.   Half-ripe cuttings planted out in the Autumn seem to be the most reliable. They take very well in this soil: I used to put them in little lines in the veg patch and then transplant them if they took.  I don't bother with this any more, I just put the cuttings into the ground where I want the plant to be.  Usually they succeed, and it saves the effort and the damage to the plant arising from transplanting.

These blue climbing roses are vigorous and disease-free, and also free of charge thanks to Leo who gave me the cuttings from the plant growing up the side of his house.  There are seven plants here in all, climbing up the back of my shed.  Even though the individual flowers are barely more than an inch in diameter, there are so many of them that the effect is impressive.  I am hoping that over time they will flop over onto the tiled roof as well.

These orange climbers are also from cuttings, again courtesy of Leo.  These ones are not yet big enough to climb, but they are intended to cover the back wall of the lodge.  I like the way that they change in colour from bright orange to nearly white.

And here's some free rose pics.