Each week, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts In a Vase on Monday and encourages fellow bloggers to find something in their gardens to photograph and write about. It’s such a lovely thing to do on a Monday morning that I try to take part every week. Some weeks, it’s just not possible due to lack of time but whenever I can squeeze it in, it’s a prompt to get out into the garden and find something, anything, to stick in a vase. December can be tricky but June is not. June is when there is abundance in my garden and when I’m in the happy situation of being spoilt for choice.
I’ve grown increasingly fond of roses in recent years. I used to think they were fussy and over-the-top and too much like hard work to keep happy but I’ve come round to them. I mean, what’s not to love about layers of silken petals in delicate shades of pink, say, that smell delicious?! Our latest addition to the rose tribe in our garden is ‘The Generous Gardener’ and I snipped two blooms off it this morning (the two palest pink ones). They were heading in the wrong direction so can be spared for the vase. The other two roses are unknown varieties – they were overgrown in the garden when we moved here. The brighter pink one, in bud in the centre of the first photo, is from a rose growing at the base of a pillar in the windiest spot in the garden. We cut it right back to its base last year to paint the pillar but it’s come back brilliantly. The two darker pink roses are from an old climber at the base of the back garden wall that was also cut back to renovate it – the flowers smell amazing.
Joining the roses are Geum ‘Blazing Sunset’, a couple of pink scented pelargonium flowers, Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ (from a plant that was moved, trimmed and has come back mostly red, which I prefer), Linaria, one Heuchera flower stem and a couple of leaves, copper beech leaves, a stem of mint, a lovely snapdragon, and really tall Briza (which has seeded everywhere, thank you Cathy!).
You can see from the photos that the light is pretty low today. It’s been overcast and dull all day after a sunny summery day yesterday but that’s perhaps fitting as it’s back to school for everyone here and all the teenagers had exams. History GCSE for the younger son, Psychology A-level for the elder and Science, Spanish and RE end-of-year exams for my daughter. It’ll all be over quickly for her this week, and all over for the other two by 19th June, thank goodness. They’re all home now, tired, hungry and a little shell-shocked so I’m off to make a cake. I know we’re all meant to be reducing our sugar intake these days but sometimes a large slice of cake is just what you need.
Whether you’re taking exams, baking for exam-takers, working hard or holidaying, I hope you have a thoroughly good week.
acoastalplot 
Beautiful I love the roses, peonies and lupine just now and lots of promise of things to come, hope all continues well. Love to you all Joy x
Sent from my iPad
>
LikeLike
Very pretty arrangement, Sam. The roses are lovely and the beech leaves are a nice accent.
LikeLike
Oh I love the dark burgundy and pink…a popular color scheme this week….and roses are fabulous.
LikeLike
Lovely colours Sam – the foliage really sets off the shades of pink and I love that tall Briza! Hope you and your children all get through the week well. 🙂
LikeLike
Your vase is a lovely confection for the eyes, Sam, and I’m glad to hear you’re providing something sweet for your exam-frenzied children too – they deserve it! I wish my own roses performed as well as yours.
LikeLike
Glorious roses, they really are wonderful aren’t they. Well done all on getting a good chunk of exams under way, I hope they all go well. And you’re right, cake is sometimes just the thing. CJ xx
LikeLike
Isn’t it great when you have pruned something severely whether out of necessity or not and it comes back all the stronger? I was unsure about pruning shrubby Salvia Neon but it is coming away again well, and hopefully more shapely than before. The darker rose is such an interesting colour, if the photo showed it accurately that is, and the stripy vase picks it up really well. Thanks for sharing – and enjoy making your cake and eating it 🙂
LikeLike
I like the way your flowers cover all the shades across the red and white striped jug.
LikeLike
Gorgeous roses! You are so lucky to be able to grow them , the humidity in Sydney makes them challenging to grow but we had amazing roses in the harsh conditions where we lived in the bush ! Great photos too, I can almost smell them!
LikeLike
What a beautiful vase! I am also a new convert to roses, I have planted two scented climbers this year and hope for abundant blooms next year. I have made rose petal jelly once, it is divine. Wishing all your children a successful exam period. xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
And such roses! I am jealous of all your luscious blooms. Sad to say, I had to cut ‘Sally Holmes’ to the ground after last winter, she is sending up new canes but rather slowly. My other roses – ‘Cassie’, ‘Darlow’s Enigma’ – have small white flowers, sweet but not luscious.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just lovely. I really liked that last photos of fallen petals.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The roses are obviously very happy in your garden, you must have the right soil (makes all the difference). Other than the roses I love the vertical accent from the Linaria. I have native ones growing in the garden but they are not as elegant as your pink.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very pretty Sam. Who can resist a beautiful pink rose? I have the Generous Gardener and it is well named as it is so generous with its beautiful blooms and it is so healthy.
LikeLiked by 1 person