favourite plant

Hello all

Just wondering what your favourite plant?

vegetables or flowers?

Mine are runner beans for vegetables but flowers I like hebe plants lots of different sorts evergreen and small little flowers, but I do like lots of flowers, tulip bulbs are beautiful.

This year the achillleas, next year? who knows

Broad beans, chard (it would be spinach if the stuff would grow for me!) Roses,roses, and just a few more roses.

Verdun, I think I forgot to mention roses

Why can't you grow roses?

Can't believe you can't grow roses. You just have to choose the right varieties for where you live.

http://www.classicroses.co.uk/

Favourite flower this year has been lily 'Black Knight' unfortunately the lily beetles thought that as well so may not have any next year. Next year it will change I'm sure.

Favourite veg -not very experienced here - I guess lovely yellow courgette 'Floridor' 

That pollution issue could explain why my roses did so well in London, but up here in the Fens the air is pretty clean but the roses seem to love the earth. Perhaps you had 'rose repeat disease'?

A gorgeous bourbon climbing rose called Zephrine Drouhin...smells yummy!

I haven't had a lot of success with roses. I have glauca and moyesii, both of which have a tendency to yellowish leaves, not an attractive mix with purple tints of Rosa glauca. This year I bought '3 for 2' and got Charles de Mills, Sarah van Fleet and Felicia. The first 2 don't look too bad but Felicia looks weedy and sad. If I stick with rugosa cultivars will I have more success do you think?

I don't know where Charles de Mills fits into the classification of roses but I don't think he's a rugosa, he doesn't look like one. He hasn't gone yellow (yet) so he may be a success. 

I have a hankering for those romantic floppy pink ones. Nothing too stiff and hybrid tea looking. I've got a Peter Beales catalogue and am overwhelmed by choices. 

I own up to spraying the roses from v. early in the season, about now I strip off all leaves with black spot and put into household rubbish (I have nowhere to burn them). With this treatment the plants are ok until about August when black spot starts to appear again; usually because I have forgotten part of the spraying regime. They get more attention than any other plants, but I think it is worth it.

Verdun...sorry to hear that about your Zephrine and other shrubs, defonately sounds like the coastal air to me Im growing mine in a huge pot on a north/east facing wall. It needs plenty of air circulation though so have grown it up a wigwam. It did look stunning. Like artjak I spray all my climbing roses and roses very early spring with diluted washing up liquid...does the job.

Clematis,all-of them.

My favourite garden flowers are roses. Favourite wild flower is bluebell - oh the scent of an English bluebell wood. Favourite vegetable is runner bean - pretty to look at, fun to pick and tastes delicious. Photo of rose Madame Alfred Carrière in my garden.

I do feel envious when I see such wonderful photos of mature plants on this forum, like your rose Alfred Carriere.

Although my house is 60 years old whe we moved in 21/2 years ago the only way forward was to gut it down to the soil. I managed to keep 3 lilacs but only one has now survived. So I am starting from scratch. I have tried to concentrate on shrubs and fruit as they take longer to mature, this winter I have been planting roses, and long for their maturity.

I have planted a few perennials just to brighten it up and last summer it was full of annual rudbeckias and cosmos.

I like that rose,put that on my wanted list. What a lovely garden you have.I think the scent of flowers ,roses in particular are essential for the garden.

Tinkling Tinsel you started like me. That bit of garden had been a neglected farm yard. We dug everything up, lots of brambles and nettles, had some more earth delivered and started again, 21 years ago. I sowed a lot of annuals for the first year and we planted the background of shrubs and roses. I've been collecting perennials ever since. Just 2 or 3 years make a big difference. Your roses will be lovely.