Correcting color mistakes in the garden

Illustration by Sir John Tenniel

"Would you tell me," said Alice, a little timidly, "why you are painting those roses?"

Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, "Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake."

--Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Me too. I ought to have planted a pink Buddleia in my pink border and I put a white one in by mistake. Buddleia davidii 'White Profusion' is going into witness relocation on the other side of the house (as part of the federal Crimes Against Aesthetics Program).

I'm searching for a splendid pink replacement. Any suggestions on varieties?

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DVD Review: The Art and Practice of Gardening, with Penelope Hobhouse

Do you live alone in a stone manor house on a windswept moor?

I hope so.

Otherwise you'll have to forswear your family and friends when these two DVDs arrive at your door.

I can't stop watching.

I thought I was past my swooning Anglophile phase, but seeing the words Mottisfont Abbey puts me in a trance.

Penelope Hobhouse, the influential English garden designer, shows us a variety of delectable gardens.

A visit to the grounds of Barnsley House in Gloucestershire, home of Rosemary Verey, is wonderful. Taking a garden tour there with the charming Mrs. Verey, and watching her discussing her creation, is simply stunning. Mrs. Verey has passed away since this was filmed, so the footage is a treasure.

Such good structure and strong branching--I'm talking about the DVD menus, not the plants in the gardens. Menus allow you to choose English gardens or American gardens, gardens by style, or gardener's name--you wouldn't be interested in David Austin's own rose garden, would you? And while one is looking at these options on the screen, there isn't some repetitive drone of irritating music on a 20-second repeat, but the chirping of birds instead.

If one turns away from the screen, and hears only the fluting tones of Penelope Hobhouse interviewing a gardener, an American listener can be forgiven for getting a whiff of Monty Python.

After a good day's work in your own garden, get out the strawberries and cream, and take a relaxing tour of some beautiful English and American gardens. The problem is, they raise the bar so high you may be rushing outside with a flashlight to plant your own laburnum walk, just like the one at Barnsley House.

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Mute Monday

Photo credit: Dennis DeFevere

Rosa floribunda  'Easy Going', blooming happily in Palo Alto, California.

'Mr. Lincoln' rose for Inauguration Day

Photo credit: Bob Bauer, http://www.rose-roses.com

My jokes are on hiatus for a bit.

I bring you Rosa  'Mr. Lincoln' to honor our former President and celebrate an historic day in the United States of America. 

'Mr. Lincoln' was part of my childhood. My family has had great rose gardens all my life and this rose is a fragrant, velvety memory from my early years, along with one of his parents, 'Chrysler Imperial'. Garden fancies change, but I am imprinted with the form and beauty of those hybrid teas.

Abraham Lincoln had words for farmers, which apply to gardeners as well: Every blade of grass is a study; and to produce two where there was but one, is both a profit and a pleasure.