A touch of Optimism

I am not quite sure why this should be so as it is not clear that the garden deserves very many marks. One reason may be just relief that it has survived another summer without too much damage having been caused by secheresse. Probably a more important one, and this supported by the fact that in my garden diary for this time last year, there was also a note of optimism, is that by the end of a summer I have been able to claw back what I lose rather too spectacularly to the weed offensive in the Spring . The problem then is that because of our heavy soil it is very difficult to get on the ground quickly enough to check the offensive. As the ground dries out one can begin the counter-attack, primarily in my case with the mattock, with the result that by the end of the year one is under the illusion that order has been restored. However what may justify my present mood is the fact that slowly and in some case surely, the good things are getting bigger, so that there is less room for the bad things to prosper. In other words my policy of colonization seems to be bearing fruit.

Where this is most obvious is on my 'wild rose' bank, and since this is the first thing that you see when you get to the top of our drive, this is a considerable advance. 'Wild rose' is not in fact a very accurate description for amongst the roses to be found there are two famous classics, Fantin Latour and Madame Isaac Peirere. Both are in fact toughies, especially the former, which they have to be since the bank is exposed to every kind of weather and the soil is a mixture of clay and brick. But I call it wild because for the most part the roses there are single in flower, often white, have significant hips, and sometimes with the hips, good autumn colour. More importantly their foliage is good from the moment it appears in the Spring. Perhaps the best example is Rosa soulieana. This has very attractive glaucous foliage,though perhaps not quite as glaucous as R. glauca/rubrifolia, single white flowers in great profusuion, and then lots of orange hips. It can grow tall, up to at least 3 metres, puts up with all kinds of weather, and is never ill.

Also to be found there is Rosa carolina., apparently called in America the 'pasture rose', since it is to be found growing in pastures, presumably mainly in Carolina! But it grows equally well in the Gers. The flowers are single but of a good strong pink. Quest-Ritson says that it has a perfume that travels, but I have to admit that so far I have not had a whiff of it. What pleases me most is its attractive foliage and reddish stems, at least when young, and the fact that along with hips it turns a good autumn colour. No autumn colour but very good foliage are the feature of my last two recommendations, Rosa moschata and, apparently a hybrid of it, R. Darlow's Engima. The name of the latter intrigues. Apparently it is a quite recent chance discovery, but why Darlow? There was an Albert Darlow who bred cattle, but there is no mention of his liking of roses. Anyway both are not surprisingly very similar; simple white flowers that repeat well and are fragrant, they will grow to at least 3 metres high, and could be used as a smallish climber, though mine are kept as bushes. But as suggested already what first attracted me to them when first seen at La Roseriaie du Desert was the very fresh green of their leaves when many roses around them were suffering from excessive heat and drought.

Still roses are not the only thing that are beginning to make an impact. Suddenly for instance the cistus bought for the most part in very small godets are becoming quite large shrubs, shrubs that cope well with our hot summers, and being evergreen look good all the year round. They are the sort of plant that I buy in a rather promiscous way, without ever really mastering their differences, yet alone their names. If you want to know more about them consult the Filippi catalogue (www.jardin-sec.com); there is also a book,'Pour un Jardin sans arrosage', which is available in English. Also to be found in the catalogue are the three ceratostigmas - C.griffithii, C.plumbaginoides, and C. wilmottianum - but also in that of Les Senteurs du Quercy (www.senteursduquercy.com), which like Filippi's is full of useful information. In an earlier blog I confused the first two. C.griffithii was actually the one I was most anxious to have, it being a more imposing, not to say invasive shrub. Thinking it was C. plumbagnoides I was delighted to find a lot being sold cheaply in Gamm Vert only to be disappointed when they did not grow in the expected way, performing much more as a vivace than a shrub. Still both are extremely useful. They can virtually disappear during the winter, make a late start in the Spring but by this time of year are covered with strikingly blue flowers and increasingly with extremely vivid autumn colour, a feature which for me gives C.griffithii the edge just because it is a bigger subject. But what I appreciate about both is that they resist the secheresse, something that I more and more look out for. Happily, with over 60mm of rain in the last forty eight hours the secheresse is over, and we can sit back and enjoy the autumn 'fireworks', which are just getting underway.