Monday 2 July 2012

A Fighting Chance

Another rose flowering for the first time:


This is Rose Fighting Temeraire, an English Rose purchased from David Austin Roses last autumn. As you can see, the bloom is a different shape from most English Roses. It is one of four roses I planted in the front garden last November. It has an eventual height and spread of about 5 feet, so I placed it further back in the border than the other three. Would you believe it, the other three have all grown taller than this one. I'm hoping it is just a slow grower. I'll take more photos when it has produced more blooms.

Rose Fighting Temeraire is named after a painting by JMW Turner from 1839. It was named for the opening of the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, Kent last year.


This little chap came visiting last week. We don't get many bullfinches in the garden, but we have had quite a few this year, probably as a result of the weather. Oh, don't get me started on the weather. They've just announced that last month was the wettest June for over a hundred years.


And finally I am pleased to announce that Jane at Tidy Gardens by Jane has nominated me for the Lovely Blog Award. Thanks Jane, it is very much appreciated. I now have to tell you 7 things about myself, so here goes:

1. I love summer, you can't beat a good deluge or two or three or .....

2.  I was once the proud owner of a sports car; Kelloggs used to put some nice toys in their breakfast cereal boxes years ago.

3. I like seafood. I'm not going to mention that corny joke about 'see food and eat it.'  Oops, too late, said it now. Sorry.

4. I'm fascinated by thunderstorms, as long as I'm not caught out in one.

5. I love rainbows, and the pot of gold at the end. Oh dear, I'm sounding like a banker now.

6. I like strawberries, as do the blackbirds, the squirrel, and my dog. Latest score: 3 - 0 to me.

7. Three days after passing my driving test, I had an argument with a car park concrete bollard. It hit me from behind. They don't half move fast, those bollards.

I'm now supposed to nominate 10 other blogs, but as I have said before, I find this impossible to do. So may I direct you to my Blog List where there are some excellent blogs to read, it's just that there are more than ten of them.


24 comments:

  1. Gratuluję róży, gila i nagrody, z którą bym zrobiła to samo , co Ty. Pozdrawiam.
    Congratulations Rose, Gil and prizes, which would do the same thing as you. Yours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I send you my congratulations!
    Photos of rose and Gil are great.
    Best regards

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love your rose and your sense of humour. Congrats.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely rose, I really should try to grow more roses.

    Thanks for sharing such cute things about yourself, I've received a couple of those awards and need to think up some fun facts. Your idea of not picking between the blogs you follow is a good one too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've only just got interested in roses again. They seem to like the weather we're having this year.

      Delete
  5. Great getting to know you more! I also love thunderstorms. The louder the thunder and lightning, the better. I just don't like it when the storms knock out power to over 1 million people. Wonderful sense of humor! :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was one horrendous storm you had over there.

      Delete
  6. The rose is. Beautiful, delicate colour!

    Lovely to see the Bullfinch. I was thrilled to see one on my seed feeder last week, only the second time I have ever seen one in my garden, sadly I didn't manage a photo though.

    I don't like thunder and lightening at all and my dog hates it! I hope you exchanged insurance details with that pesky bollard ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Would you believe it, that bollard wasn't even insured.

      Delete
  7. Sorry about the first line! The predictive typing on the iPad can go badly astray sometimes!!! It should of course have been, 'the rose is a beautiful, delicate colour'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha, I have the same problem. When I do a google search, it has a mind of its own.

      Delete
  8. We have sooooo much in common, apart from our height (you're wayyyy taller than moi). We could almost be twins! Interesting facts (clearly you've been on the ol' vino) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wasn't on the vino, just a strong cuppa tea.

      Delete
  9. Hi Crystal,

    Lovely rose and congrats on the Bullfinch! :)
    We get them relatively regularly here; I think we have a few different pairs visiting because during summer we can have them every 30 minutes on the dot almost! But they do also tend to disappear for months. Hope you get to see babies soon - they're usually around later in the year, August and September. I've never managed to get anywhere close to the fledglings, yet the parents often allow me within a few metres?!!

    I love storms too! And actually, especially in summer when it's one of those heavy, hot days and running around in the rain to cool down...

    ReplyDelete
  10. A very pretty rose indeed. My favorite rose that is growing in my yard has the most awful thorny stems, but the scent and bloom make getting scratched anytime I go near it worth it, pretty much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of my new roses is supposed to be virtually thornless. It's not grown very much yet, so we shall see.

      Delete
  11. The rose does have an unusually-shaped flower for an English rose. Congratulations on your nomination - and the bullfinch! I haven't seen any bullfinches this year, which is sad for me, but probably a result for the orchard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, forgot that the bullfinches attack fruit trees. Hardly got any apples this year anyway, but that's down to the weather; no pollinating insects around at blossom time.

      Delete
  12. Roses are beautiful flowers, very much I like them and I am admiring. I am greeting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are putting on a good display at the moment despite the weather.

      Delete