In A Vase On Monday ~ ' A Good Year For The Roses'

Each Monday Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' invites bloggers to share their vases of floral and foliage pickings. My vase this week is mainly a chance to show of my new rose 'Boscabel', which I bought as a bare root rose last autumn. I could only bring myself to pick the one flower which shows off the rose at it's best I think as far as colour is concerned. As the flowers mature they morph into a much paler pink. This rose is most deliciously scented. It is from David Austin and the scent is described in their catalogue as a "medium -strong myrrh fragrance" which "has a hawthorn character with hints of elderflower, pear and almond". Well my noise is still making it's mind up about that description but whatever wafts in my direction is  a pleasure to breath in. I have Jessica from 'Rusty Duck' to thank for bringing this rose to my attention in the first place on her blog.

Keeping the single stem of 'Boscabel' company are :

• More roses in the shape of 'Blush Noisette' - the flowers in this photo are looking paler than they do to the naked eye.
• Astrantia - variety long lost in the mists of time.
• Some dark foliage in the shape of physocarpus opulifolius - 'Diablo' I think.
• Soft blue scabious flowers from a perennial, which came with the label scabiosa 'Irish Perpetual Flowering' but which apparently also goes under the name of scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'.
• Spires of linaria purpurea also known as purple toadflax. It is what might be called a generous self seeder.

The liquid refreshment is a something that I very rarely drink apart from on the odd trip to National Trust tearooms, where it often seems to be available and is most refreshing on a hot day. I recently came across it for sale at our local delicatessen so thought that I would treat myself to a bottle to imbibe on a sunny summer afternoon.

For those of you who haven't come across the song 'A Good Year For The Roses' before now do click and listen to the other Elvis.



Blogland seems to be in a temperamental mood at the moment. Blogger has stopped emailing comments directly to me and for the last few days I've found myself unable to comment on Wordpress blogs. I'm getting a message to say that I'm not logged into my Google account but I am! I do have a Wordpress account so will have to log on to that and see what transpires.

Thanks as always to the lovely Cathy who so ably steers the good ship that is 'In A Vase On Monday'. Enjoy your week and your plot of earth.

P.S. I'm unable to comment on Cathy's latest post at the time of writing using either of my dramatis personae. I will return later in the day to see whether I fare any better.