All About David Austin English Roses

Iris ‘Benton Olive’ in Sarah Price's garden

Tom Sterenberg is sharing some photos today of roses he’s grown in the sometimes difficult climate of the Canadian prairie.

Perhaps not known for his greenfingers, it seems apt to quote the musician Paul Weller, who in 1978 gave us the great lyric ‘No matter where I roam, I will return to my English rose’. Because no matter how many other garden plants come and go, the popularity of the garden rose never seems to diminish. You might not see many in a Chelsea Flower Show garden but us gardeners know some good plants when we see them and roses regularly top polls for the nation’s favourite flower.

A welcome sight in the garden in March/April is the Pulmonaria Roy Davidson

The English Rose Darcey Bussell bred by David Austin

Edible pod peas provide instant gratification from your veggie garden. You can just pick, pop them in your mouth, and enjoy. No shelling! No forks! No dishes!Of course, you can also

Tall Canna Lily Varieties are a must have if you want to add a drama to the landscape. Keep on reading to choose the best type and also find details on How Tall Do Cana Lillies Grow!

For those of us who love roses, they are the indisputable queens of the garden, and we would never be without their beautiful flowers and their scent, which hangs on the air in summer. Rose haters are perplexed by our unwavering devotion and complain of the rose's susceptibility to sickness; this is fair, since many roses can be affected by fungal diseases, including the rather medieval-sounding black spot, which marks leaves with dark blotches. Thankfully, the worst outbreaks of rose sickness can be prevented with clever cultivar selection, planting, and maintenance, so that your summer profusion of roses is nothing but a joy.  

Propagating is a fun, inexpensive way to produce new plants, either to use in the garden or to give as gifts. Roses are relatively easy to duplicate, and you can never have enough roses, so it's well worth a go.  

Rosa ‘Boscobel’ in a walled garden in east London

For a calla lily, a container is like an ATV, allowing the plant to boldly venture into new territory with style.In the container-free wild, a Zanted

A quick search for “picnic aesthetic” on Pinterest brings up photo after photo of a perfectly curated picnic setup: homemade heart-shaped cakes, bowls of colorful fruits, and bottles of San Pellegrino or pitchers of lemonade spread across airy, white linen blankets, usually accompanied by a bouquet of wildflowers. What you won’t find in these curated picnic pics are styrofoam cups, paper plates, and plastic utensils—and while a big part of that comes from the desire to create a pretty photo op, sustainability also plays a role.