Chinese Crackers

The absolute star of our Spring, or should I say early Summer garden has been the Lijiang Rose which as its name suggests has come to us from China, via in our case la Rosereraie du Desert. The flowers are very strong pink, but what gives it its 'gosh factor' is the immense quantity of flower, and the height to which it will grow. Ours is climbing up a dead tree and has only reached about 3 meters but apparently if circumstances permit it could go to ten. Alas, nothing is completely perfect in this world, and as regards the Lijiang Rose the sadness is that it is only once flowering and this early in the season. It also, as already suggested, needs a large space, so it is for the large garden, but its leaves are very healthy and not unattractive in their own right, so for a large Gascony garden I suggest that it is a must.

Technically it is not in fact a China Rose. Most of you will have come across some of these even if you did not know that they were China, for instance Mutabilis that large coppery single flowered rose that is almost continuously in flower, perhaps also Sanguinea, which one might call a red version of Mutabilis, and one of my favourites. But if you visit La Rosereraie you will find over fifty different varieties. For a Gascony gardener they have the great advantage of enjoying our summer heat while most of them repeat extremely well.  The nursery, situated near Aignan in the West Gers, is having a 'portes ouvertes' on Sunday May the 4th. I am told that the garden is looking particularly good this year as a result of our mild winter, so if you like a rose, make an effort to go. And I can guarantee you that even if you think that you know something about roses, you will see roses there that you have never seen before.

Our other Chinese Crackers have been the Tree paeonies. They flower earlier than the herbaceous ones, and ours are already over. Moreover, as with all paeonies their flowers are over in a thrice, which is to say about three days. On the other hand during those three days they are wondrous to behold, so if you are looking for 'gosh factors' they are well worth having, the only snag being that they are rather expensive to obtain. We are lucky enough in the Gers - at Montegut not far from Auch - to have in Richard Pardo at the La Pivoine Bleue a leading paeony expert and a visit to the nursery at this time of year is a mind blowing experience, but do not forget to take your check book with you as you can find yourself in three figure sums all too easily.  I was lucky enough to be given one of his Gansu Mudan tree paeony hybrids, and even luckier to have produced some new ones from seed. These have only taken three years to produce their first flowers. These do not come true but that is rather the fun of it, and I am very happy with what I have got. It should be said that you can find them at a rather more affordable price at a garden centre. The plant itself will be less good, and no doubt forced in order to produce a flower as early as possible, but, and this is really the only point that I wish to make, since I am in no way an expert, in my experience they are, despite appearances, extremely tough. Mine are planted on a south facing hillside and are given no special treatment, except by deer, which on fortunately only one occasion attacked them, and despite this they seem to flourish. And one last thing. The flowers may last all too briefly, but the foliage remains very attractive all summer long, so however you obtain them they are well worth having.