David Austin Roses. All four in my garden have started blooming.

Vanessa Bell

Abraham Darby

Lady of Shalott

Olivia Rose Austin

David Austin changed roses forever. There was nothing wrong with the roses we had. Old French roses. Hydrid Tea roses. All of the old heritage and vintage roses. I've grown them all. But then..... along came David Austin English Roses. All the beauty and scent of old French Roses with the re-blooming of Hybrid Teas. I think I may have heard angels sing. There has been no going back for me. Here are the four I am currently growing and in love with. 

First Olivia Rose Austin rose of the year

David Austin English Roses are my passion. I love them beyond reason. This Olivia Rose Austin will always be one of my favourites. This is the first open rose of the year. The plant has grown huge and is thickly covered with buds. Most of my roses are this year. I see some lovely bouquets in my future. 

The best spring garden I've ever had !

I have no idea what happened in the garden this spring, but it is truly the most beautiful and healthy spring garden I have ever had. I've been gardening on the west coast for 45 years. Here are a few pictures of what is happening. 

My holly has holly leaf blight. Oh dear.

I bought a house a few years back that had a holly tree. I was very happy to have one. I have had Holly's for about 40 years. It seemed to have some weird little quirks that I figured was due to it being an unknown variety. It would drop a lot of leaves in the winter. The berries turned black very quickly. And the tips of many branches died back every year. It had not been cared for so I assumed it was neglect. Then it did this!! 

Notice how few leaves are left. Just a few at the top. So I googled it. I was stunned to find out that it is Holly Leaf Blight. That was yesterday. Today we cut it down. I picked up every leaf I could find since we have had lots of west coast wind storms over the winter. It took us all day. Sterilising everything I used because I have a variegated holly from a cutting I took from my old tree and I do NOT want it to get this.