Greetings everyone and a warm welcome to all my new subscribers this month.
This last month of Autumn has had some chilly mornings and bright sunny days, along with some grey days and welcome rain. As we head into the first week of Winter, coinciding with a lockdown in Melbourne, I can’t help thinking of the resting roses going into their dormant period, knowing that, come Spring, they will burst into life refreshed and renewed.
I have two gardens to share with you this month and a very impressive rose, but let us begin with a moment in mauve.
Reine des Violettes, the queen of the violets, is a hybrid perpetual rose bred by Mille-Mallet in France in 1860. When this mauve rose was introduced Queen Victoria was on the throne. This highly fragrant rose will tolerate some shade and likes to be fed well.
It is not to be confused with La Reine Victoria (pictured above), bred by Joseph Schwartz in France in 1872 and introduced in Australia by George Brunning - St. Kilda Nurseries way back in 1876. It is a lilac pink rose that fades to lighter pink on the inside, with the petals curving inwards and creating a delightful old world rosette with a fragrance to match. It is also known as the Shell rose.
A very mauve rose with a winning fragrance is Charles de Gaulle (pictured above) bred by Meilland of France in 1974.
I have just discovered that in New Zealand this rose is known as Katherine Mansfield.
Pictured above is Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) a prominent modernist writer born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand. At age 19 she settled in England and became friends with Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence. In her short life she wrote numerous short stories described as being innovative, accessible, and psychologically acute. Katherine’s childhood house and garden have been lovingly preserved as a museum. The garden includes a collection of French Heritage roses.
Below is an excerpt from Katherine’s short story ‘The Garden Party’.
As for the roses, you could not help feeling they understood that roses are the only flowers that impress people at garden-parties; the only flowers that everybody is certain of knowing. Hundreds, yes, literally hundreds, had come out in a single night; the green bushes bowed down as though they had been visited by archangels.
And now some mauve roses from my painting inventory...
Angel Face: A mauve floribunda bred by Swim & Weeks (United States, before 1968).
Violet’s Pride: Another mauve floribunda, this one bred by Christian Bédard (United States, before 2013).
The Thank You Rose: one more mauve floribunda bred by Tim Hermann Kordes (Germany, 1997). Introduced as Plum Perfect in the US, and as The Thank You Rose here in Australia, with royalties going to Transplant Australia (over 25,000 of these roses have been sold since 2012, so a great fund-raising effort).
And finally Blue Moon, a hybrid tea rose which has been popular in Australia for over 50 years, bred by Mathias Tantau, Jr. (Germany, 1964).
I often think back to the wonderful time we had in Denmark at the World Rose Convention in 2018. On one of the many garden tours I saw Rosa filipes ‘Kiftsgate’ for the first time.
It had to be the biggest rose I had ever seen growing up through a tree. The people in the photo give you an idea of how tall it had grown. And below is what the rose looks close up, a truly lovely rose.
I didn’t give the rose much thought until a few months ago when our neighbours built a storage shed right up against our fence. And whilst it’s a perfectly nice shed, where I used to see blue sky and greenery I now see a Perspex roof. It was then I thought about the Kiftsgate rose again.
I looked up my rose reference books, of which I have many, and read about the vigour of this rose. I said to my husband, Brian. I would love to grow this rose, but it says here ‘This rose is not for the average garden.’ To which he answered ‘We don’t have an average garden.’ So I put in my order.
Five days later my potted rose arrived from Wagner’s Rose Nursery and look at how beautifully it was packed. And when I unpacked it (see below) I was delighted and surprised to see a lovely large rose plant. I planted it that very day and at first it didn’t seem to be very happy, experiencing a little bit of transplant shock, but 6 weeks later it has all new growth and is looking good, and I have great expectations for it
to provide a living screen along my fence.
Below is the description I was sent with the rose.
This description gave me the idea to investigate Kiftsgate Court, and I found that they have a lovely website.
Kiftsgate Court in Gloucestershire was built between 1887 and 1891 and was purchased in 1917 by Mr and Mrs J.B. Muir. It has subsequently been cared for by three generations of women gardeners, each one adding their own touches.
In this charming video, Ann Chambers, takes us on a tour of the garden.
Below is a picture of the original Kiftsgate rose bush and this is how it is described.
Taking up half the space on one side of the Rose Border is Rosa filipes ‘Kiftsgate’. The vigour shown by this rose, which we claim to be the largest in England, produces huge growth each year and three trees have been smothered by its spreading habit. In early to mid July it is a remarkable sight when it is covered in panicles of white blooms and resembles a cascading waterfall amongst the trees.
Australia's Inland Botanic Garden
In stark contrast to the green and pleasant gardens of England I now take you to the Australian Inland Botanic Garden which is celebrating its 30 year anniversary. The first semi-arid botanic garden in the southern hemisphere, began as a "little sheep station" with nothing except a rose garden and some trees marking the driveway entrance.
Today it is 150 hectares in size of which more than one third is natural bushland. There are two lake systems and an irrigation drip system. A feature of the gardens is three historic buildings which have been rescued from demolition on the surrounding properties and reconstructed in the gardens. Peaka Homestead was originally located on Pooncarie Station 140km from Mildura; it was built from Murray Pine drop log walls in
the mid 1800’s. Magenta Woolshed was originally located on Magenta Station in Balranald, and Garpang Homestead from Garnpang Station 150km north of Mildura, was relocated in the gardens and is now used as the Gift and Coffee Shop.
The gardens are located at 1183 River Road Mourquong, New South Wales, which is 9km from Mildura, and entry to the gardens is free. The rose garden is still an important part of the gardens and consists of 1,600 roses. The photos of the garden are from the Australian Inland Botanic Garden’s Facebook page because I haven’t visited in person. Yet.
Another feature of the garden is the Sturt Desert Pea bed. The floral emblem of South Australia and one of the most dramatic members of the flower kingdom. I have painted it on a number of occasions.
In my painting below look at the bulbous dark centres of the flower which are called the boss. The boss is so shiny that you can see the reflections of the blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
My second painting features a Sturt Desert Pea along with Agapanthus and Strelitzia, Bird of Paradise. It was created as part of a project initiated by the State Library of Victoria where we were encouraged to use their extensive bank of historical images for inspiration for artwork.
So that brings us to the end of my May edition of Arts, Gardens and Always Roses. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did researching and discovering lots of surprises along the way.
Please let me know if there are any special topics you would like me to include in future newsletters, I always enjoy hearing your suggestions.
Until next time,
Love and roses.
Michelle
Please feel free to share this newsletter with your family or friends if you think it would brighten their day. And they can join the list so they don't miss out on the fun each month by clicking on the pink button below.
My Novel: Rose Garden Reverie
A story of transformation set in a rose garden with rose care tips throughout the seasons.
The soft cover book is 110 pages long and costs $20 (Australian Dollars) per copy via the button below with free shipping worldwide.
Also available from online book sellers.
|
|
|
|
May the beauty of nature inspire you everyday
Michelle Endersby Art
www.michelleendersbyart.com
phone: 0400 473 173
[email protected]
|
|
