yarrow2

Fear of messing with old roses

Help needed from someone who knows roses.  In February 2012 I was lucky to be able to get some old roses from my late mum's garden and so planted them in my garden.  Most of them had been in mum's garden for many many years.  They seemed to settle well in their new home.  I have two questions:  I think one is at the end of it's life and don't know what to do.  The other - I'd love someone to tell me what 'kind' of rose it is (bush, floribunda - whatever).  I know absolutely nothing about roses and to be honest I'm nervous doing anything with them.

Here is the one which I think is at end of life.  It produced one  green stalk with one bloom on the end - it bloomed 27th June 2012, lasted 8 days and that was it.  The other stems look dormant to me.  I'm wondering whether 'that's it' - dig it out and dispose of - or what?  I'm sentimental about having these roses of course - but wonder if it's the real end of the line for this one.

 This is it today.  Would be great if anybody knows what it's called - although I'm supposing roses are extremely difficult to identify.  It only had a very light perfume, nothing that you'd notice.

Thanks for any advice.  Second rose question coming below.

Garden Gallery 2013

Should look very good - it's also not mine - its Edinburgh Botanical Gardens!

Is it still ok to feed dried fruit to birds bearing in mind the young

Lavender Lady - I throw dried fruit in a little bowl then pour over boiling water from the kettle and leave it for half an hour until it's cool and the fruit is soft.  I've never known if it's a daft thing to do or not!  My peanuts, I pour a pile of them onto a tea-towel, cover with the other end of the tea-towel and then attack them with my little mallet or hammer until they're tiny fragments.  Yes - it's mad in this house!!!!

Garden Gallery 2013

And...sorry if this is a bore but I was so excited to see some colour in the Botanics when my garden is so dull dull dull.

Pieris Japonica 'Flamingo'

Hepatica transsylvanica

What are these tiny muscari type things called - I couldn't find a plant label?

 And I love these saxifraga - but missed the label on these as well.

Garden Gallery 2013

More  from alpine house.

Garden Gallery 2013

sotongeoff - fantastic garden.  Looks amazing - and lots of work!  Lovely! Nothing interesting in my garden but for some colour am posting some pics of Alpines from Edinburgh botanics which I wander around regularly.  I'm amazed at the fritillaries - but can never get clearer pictures through the protective grill .

pinching out

Hi Gardening Grandma - thanks for taking time to comment.  And Davie-S - good to see you're still gardening.  Weather is rotten isn't it.  I agree with you both  on cutting it back.  ( I was getting a bit disheartened not being able to really get into the garden due to the scaffolding and stuff - and thinking that everything was going to be growing madly before it's cleared away and I can really make a start to the year.  As a result I thought my saving grace was seeing it growing healthy looking new shoots and thought I could just leave them.  You know - the amateur error of getting excited at seeing growth and thinking 'That looks good - I'll just let it get on with it'.  I'll wait until it warms up a bit - cut it down and then give it a really good feed and a topping of fresh compost.

And then hope that we get some sun this year!!!!!

Thanks so much for the replies. 

Filling a new raised bed.

I forgot the whole point of keeping within the subject of this topic - it's been suggested to me that with topsoil that I ought to consider adding Reshredded Mushroom Compost in the mix to fill the raised beds.   Any of you with raised beds experience ever added this stuff in them?  Or is that a bit much for raised beds which will be basic veg and a lot of probably flower  perennials and annuals?

Filling a new raised bed.

Can I ask a really dumb question?   My small lawn area floods every winter and I end up re-sowing it every Spring.  It always comes up well and looks great by the summer - but I'm tired of dealing with it in this way.  I've decided to cut the workload and just put a couple of raised beds on top of the lawn. 

My conundrum is - should I did up the grass before I put raised beds on top of it - or can I just put down raised bed frames right on top of the existing dampish lawn - which has very little grass as it doesn't come up after winter i.e. huge patches of compacted soil and little grass?  Or, do I need to dig up the area where I'd put down the frames and do something with the soil which would be the bottom of the frames?

Thanks for any advice.

pinching out

OOps... it's not in a 'post' - it's in a pot!

Mystery plant

Broken branch Pieris Forest Flame

Can anyone identify?

Zaluzianskya 'Orange Eye'

Can any confirm identification please?

Skimmia japonica 'Thereza'

Fear of messing with old roses

Ice-cream Penstemons - 'Melting Candy'

Geraniums (not Pelargoniums)

Identify bug?

Identify these anyone?

Aruncus

Identify plant

Hydrangea macrophylla

Geum rivale 'Leonard's Variety'