Roses and Perennials

Some exuberant combinations of perennials and roses in the island bed at the top of our garden this Summer.

Achillea ‘Blue Boa’ (it’s really purple not blue), R. Lady of Shalott, Lilies and Veronicastrum ‘Pink Glow' and R. Munstead Wood

R. Jude The Obscure and Salvia uliginosa

R. Munstead Wood and Veronicastrum ‘Pink Glow’

Rose Munstead Wood is a beautiful rich magenta here in the warmth of Summer and much darker and more crimson in early Spring and Autumn. I love the contrast of the voluptuous rosettes with the glowing spires of the Veronicastrums.

R. Munstead Wood, R. Lady of Shallot, Achillea ‘Blue Boa’ and also glimpses of Stachys byzantina

R. Jude the Obscure and Salvia uliginosa

Jude the Obscure

This little cluster of roses almost looks like three fluttering fat cherubs to me. The roses never open fully and so remain perfect orbs of pale apricot.

And the smell? Powerful and intoxicating - like lychees and sweet white wine.

Despite her delicate and demure appearance she is real tough - battling through our heat wave, drought and bush fires and consistently pumping out blooms and looking really healthy. She seems to like it hot and is coping with being next the house and getting a blast of hot afternoon sun too. Also her flowers are held upright on strong stems despite their size. I do try to give her at least 10 liters of water once a week when we haven’t had much rain. She has had compost and Sudden Impact and now some more mushroom compost.

This is a rose I would highly recommend to anyone with hot summers and I think it would do well in Sydney too. Just put her somewhere where you can enjoy her fragrance.

The only thing I can fault Jude for is her blooms do shatter quickly and so she is not such a great rose for a bouquet but still worth picking to be on the bedside table for a few nights.

And I love her so much I have bought three more!

Update:

My Judes are growing from strength to strength, and getting quite large and providing armfuls of flowers for the house. A very special rose that does very well in the Blue Mountains.