A Spotty Rose

Out in my garden yesterday and I spotted this rose. Although rather pretty, it's not quite right. The rose is a white one, and always has been, until yesterday.

The white roses are planted alternately with pink ones, and two members of my family think it is cross pollination  from the bees. Me, well I think it is something else. Cross pollination can create all kinds of weird and wonderful things, but that is usually done through the seeds. My roses keep coming back each year from the same plant.

Some other responses have been 'lady bugs' ( which I know eat the aphids) , and 'fairy dust being sprinkled' which is rather a creative answer.

We have had some rain and I think it may be some kind of fungus, but I am not sure. Another thought is some kind of bug.

Whatever it is though, it has resulted in a very pretty flower, which I would like to have all the time.

A Caterpillar

A few weeks back one of my stitching groups had a day out to see "Transformations - Art of the Scott Sisters" which is still showing at the Australian Museum. (until 25th June) The art works were of course superb, and had so much detail.

Of course I knew I had caterpillars in my garden, who doesn't? The exhibition however,  had me psychically looking for them and other tiny wildlife that may be present.

I found his little fellow on my roses. I have Googled & Googled but still do not know what he is.

A Stick Insect

Look who I spotted today! This big fellow obviously didn't like being disturbed in amongst my climbing rose. I was de-heading some of the rose blooms that had suffered during the recent heat, and when I looked up I spotted this huge fellow climbing the wall. Don't worry, he is still safe, and was still climbing the brick wall when last seen.

Busy Little Bees

Well, it's been a while, what more can I say. Just a shot of the bees busy working on my roses. They are out in full flower now, following all the nice rain that we have had. Nearly 6" in the last month. My garden is singing & so are the weeds.

Buds A Plenty

Back in March we had quite a bit of rain, consequences of which my climbing rose is just covered in buds just like this one. Maybe in about a week it will be covered in pink blooms. Here's hoping.

Perfection Continued.............

The Jennifer Rose.....continued

A Closer View

The Jennifer Rose

A picture paints a thousand words.

White Rose

The roses are out in all their glory.

Pink Roses

I've lost count how many roses there have been this spring on the climbing rose on the back fence. It has had one flush of flowers already so far this spring, and now there are new shoots coming which I am sure will bring still more blooms.

The New Season of Roses

The new season of roses has already started. This is one of my climbing roses on the side fence, complete with aphids. The fence has already been a wall of pink blooms, and I have trimmed a lot of the dead heads back already. As I was doing this task I noticed all the new shoots after all the rain, so hopefully there will be more lots of more flowers to come.

The Last of the Roses

Yesterday was pruning day, pruning my roses that is. They were covered in black spot & rust from all the rain that we have had. Also because of the rain, there were new shoots coming everywhere, and probably new flowers too. But it is winter, they are supposed to be dormant, and now is the time to prune, so I did. Quite often I get lovely bunches of flowers when I prune, but this year I just got this one. The last stem from my Jennifer rose. It lookes & smells divine.

Perfection V's Imperfection

Perfection can sometimes be dabbed with imperfections. My beautiful Jennifer Rose, sunburnt slightly even though it is not quite open.

Rain, Hail, Or Shine?

Mother Nature sure is handing it out lateley. Yesterday it was hail. For over 10 minutes it pumelled my garden & left an icey white blanket in it's wake. Lucky it was only small so the damage was minimal.

The roses have lost most of their petals.



The geranium baskets were covered in it,

and so were the orchids. The positives are that everything got an icey drink, and the ikky red dust has finally been washed away.

New Growth

The shrub roses are shooting.

The First of the Roses

The first rosebud of the new season comes from my climbing rose on the side fence. So far the only one, but I am sure there will be others soon to follow judging by all the new pink growth that is happening.

The Very Last of The Roses

We finally got a break in the weather. A dry day last Sunday ( well morning, anyway), gave us a chance to prune the roses. With all the rain we have had they were still blooming profusely, and with the recent rain there were new shoots appearing everywhere. Most of the blooms were spotted with the rain, but I manage to salvage a few to put inside. Not that these will last long either. Cool nights & mornings mean that the air con is on heat & roses will not last long with too much heat. So these will be the last rose pics until sometime in spring.

The Last of the Roses - Pt 3

The last of the White Icebergs. Pruning will happen soon.

The Last of The Roses - Pt 2

One of my pink roses from the front garden. There are only a few blooms left.

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The weather yesterday was nothing short of dismal. It started with one of those very deep pink sunrises that was spread right across the sky. A little like the colour in the center of this rose, (Sorry, no pics) and I wondered what was in store for us. "Red in the morning, shepherd's warning" & all that. The cloud stayed for most of the day, with intermitant splashes of weak sunshine, and the temperature only made it to 10.9 deg C. Brr.................... Today is looking much better with bright sunshine already.