Peonies are definitely my favourite plants in the garden at the moment, closely followed by the roses. The peonies have been in flower for weeks it seems and just keep going. The scent coming through the open sitting room window from Peony Monsier Jules Elie (the huge pink one in the photos) is so strong. The double white is Duchesse de Nemours and the beautiful deep red one is possibly Karl Rosenfeld. My favourite though is the single white flowered variety – it was bought as Duchesse de Nemours which it obviously isn’t but what a find! It is such a clear white and the scent is amazing. A quick search on the internet shows that it might be called White Wings, but who knows. Sadly it only has one flower this year, I think many years of mulching the flower bed caused the plant to be too deeply planted and it didn’t flower at all last year. Last autumn I dug it up and replanted it and it has grown better, I will be careful not to mulch too deeply round it in future and hopefully with patience (mine!) it will be covered in flowers again in future years.
Then the roses. We have sandy soil which is not ideal for roses, but we have planted old fashioned shrub roses mainly and picked those which are meant to be good for poor soil. This year they are flowering so well, I am hugely impatient, not good for a gardener, but the wait for masses of flowers has been worthwhile. The photos show Rosa Louise Odier, Gertrude Jekyll and Charles de Mills. My absolute favourite though is Rosa Tuscany Superb which is only just starting to flower. There won’t be so many blooms on the plant this year as the shrub was moved last autumn, it has survived and is growing but I will have to wait patiently for it to go back to its former glory. Last year we planted two roses in huge terracotta pots – both David Austin roses recommended for growing in pots. Rosa Olivia Rose Austin was a must as we have two daughters with middle names Olivia and Rose and Rosa Desdemona which is a beautiful creamy white with an amazing scent. Both are growing really strongly and a perfect addition to the garden.
Who knows what will be my favourite plant in a week or so – I can’t wait to find out!
Tales from a Country Garden 