Almost spring - NOT amateur radio

 

After what has seemed like a long, wet and dull winter, today felt more like spring. 

For the first time in months it felt mild outside so much so that I pruned my roses. Every year they grow well for a hard prune early in the year. Opinions vary about when and what to do, but I shall stick with what works.

We have had no snow, but several frosts. It is also wetter than I remember. I am sure we have not done with winter yet, but at least there is a hint of spring.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife loves her flowers and these do cheer up dreary November days! These roses certainly fit the bill.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

We have some yellow roses outside our bungalow. I usually heavily prune these in March. 

They have several flushes and look good at the moment with several in flower and some in bud.

Garden roses - NOT amateur radio

In the last few days, all the roses in our garden seem to be out. Most have a second flush, but they look grand at the moment. A heavy pruning helps.

Anglesey Abbey roses - NOT amateur radio

The roses at nearby Anglesey Abbey are in their second flush and look stunning. The dahlia garden there also now open  ..... at last.

Rose pruning - NOT amateur radio

Just realised that the roses must be pruned! They will soon be growing.

UPDATE 1547z:  Front roses pruned. 

Roses - NOT amateur radio

This collage shows some of the roses seen on our walk yesterday. 

Roses - NOT amateur radio

We had a very dull and wet May. It seemed more like March! In the last few days our roses have come on a lot.  This is one at the front of the house.

Pink Roses - NOT amateur radio

The pink rose in the photo looked like it was "stuck": there were buds, but we feared these were not going to come out.

In the last few days the flowers have started to bloom thank goodness.

Once again our grass is turning brown.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

The roses in the photo were in our garden earlier. At the moment, they look a picture.

Most people with roses seem to have them in flower now.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken last April when the roses at nearby Anglesey Abbey had not quite come out. Now they have just about all gone. Come next summer, these beds will be a mass of colour.

Roses, Catalonia - NOT amateur radio

Roses seafront

Although we were only there earlier this week, our holiday seems an age ago! Roses, where we stayed, was a delightful place.

It seems SE Spain has had some bad floods. Luckily the weather was very good for us, as the photo shows.

So we don't forget when we get senile, I have made a blog. See https://roses2019.blogspot.com/

Roses-Expres (sic) - NOT amateur radio

On our recent visit to Catalonia we went on the Roses-Expres. This is actually a road train up some very steep roads. At the top the mountain the views were amazing. The first picture was on several days ago. The brochure is new.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

These fine roses are in a neighbour's drive. They are keen gardeners. They have a big garden that needs a lot of attention. The hedges alone must be 200m long. It's a good job they enjoy it!

Roses - NOT amateur radio

These roses on our kitchen table were bought a week ago by one of our sons for my wife. They are still going strong.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

Last week we visited the David Austin place which specialises in roses. It is near Wolverhampton. I have never seen so many roses! That is me on the left.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

We have a pot of roses out on our patio. The colour is lovely. I am not sure how long they will look good.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

Our roses came out early this year. They look great at the moment but will be bare in a few weeks' time. Our garden looks good at the moment. The risk is muntjac deer will eat the flowers!

Early roses - NOT amateur radio

This year, our roses are in flower very early. The daffodils were late but everything seems to have accelerated in the last month. This rose is at the front of our house and gets plenty of sun.

Birthday Roses - NOT amateur radio

One of our sons bought my wife some roses for her birthday, which she put on the breakfast table in the kitchen.