W/C Apr 30: a rose, a camellia, a knot garden, erigeron

A nice frothy Rosa Banksiae Lutea

This beast is in its third year on the front of the house now. It's a south-facing wall, so the plant gets absolutely baked all summer long, which by the looks of it, it seems to enjoy. It got quite bad mildew towards the end of last summer, especially at the top of the plant, so I pruned a load of the diseased bits out to try and persuade it to put on some healthy new growth. Totally worked. Currently the leaves and stems are vivid and luscious and the flowers create this magnificent sunshine froth. The idea is for the rose to completely dominate the right-hand side of the house, to smother the bit of roof above the front door, to surround the bedroom window, and to just look absolutely epic hanging off the house every spring. I want it to get massive so it creates a real impact. The yellow on the white render on the house looks banging, and when my wisteria eventually flowers in 2037 or something, they're gonna put on quite a show. There's another rose to the right of the Banksiae, which isn't as vigorous but should, I hope, get big enough to go across the top of the door this year and mingle with it. I don't know what rose it is, but it was a cutting from my Dad and has been nicknamed The Non-Climbing Climber because of its initial reluctance to do what it was supposed to do. It's pink, and smells good, and should come into full bloom just as the RBL is beginning to fade. It then tends to flower until October / November, which is decent.

A rotting camellia flower

Quite cool I think. Looks like past-its-best confetti, or like it's been stained by a teabag. I like how the flowers of this Camellia Japonica Nuccio's Jewel cling on until the bitter end. Their life will end, of course, on the compost heap.

A knot garden

I've started doing a part-time Diploma in Garden Design at the British Academy Of Garden Design, and one of the things I had to do for my first assignment was draw a sketch of a traditional English knot garden. For some reason I decided it would be good to base the design around the shape of the pentagram, which naturally led to there being a coffin-shaped water feature in the middle of the garden. I reckon this would be quite cool in, say, Ozzy Osbourne's back garden. I think occultist man Aleister Crowley would appreciate the vibes too.

An erigeron which will not self seed

Look at it, the bastard. The garden is full of nooks and crannies and gaps and cracks and holes, all of which would be a perfect home for a self-seeded Mexican fleabane. But no. People avoid this plant because, they say, it gets everywhere. But no. The whole point of this plant is that it will slowly but surely start to dominate whichever area it gets planted in. But no. Nice that it's out though. I look forward to seeing it in flower for the next six months. (And I've actually bought two more, as plugs, to dot around the garden and surely SURELY activate some self-seeding magic.)