Hello my dear Gardening friends,

My dear neighbours had planned a wonderful "Greek-Macedonian" night for us; it was a lane party, so that all the neighbours could get together, eat, drink and dance. The food was wonderful everyone provided their own special and, in some cases, ethnic dish. The taped music was just right. The band, "The Olympians", started to play and so did the dancing, but after the third song, down came the rain - and we had to go indoors. The evening was a success despite the weather, but we were disappointed to be cheated of an evening of live music and dancing outside under the stars

I had a question about “black spot” that plague of roses; it has been a problem with all the rain. Black spots or patches develop on the leaves and even in some cases on the stems, from mid summer onwards. The leaves yellow and eventually drop off. Plants left untreated may even die back. You must remove all infected leaves and stems and destroy them - place in garbage bags and put out with the garbage, do not burn them and certainly do not place in your compost piles.

If you have had to cut the plant back – make sure that you have cut it hard back (at least two thirds of the plant should have been removed), then feed and water it well to encourage a quick recovery and new growth. Do not, however, feed more than once now; and new growth will be killed during the winter. Do not prune back any “well” rose plants.

Clean up all dead and infected leaves especially going into the winter - you do not want black spot wintering over in the garden. Where it is a problem, spray with a fungicide as a precaution, and in severe cases, you may have to replace the old rose plants. Captan was always used, but I’m not sure what is available this year; check with your local garden center, or at a local Flower Show, about the best product to use for your area.

Black spot is worse in the country than in the cities, and some rose varieties are more prone to black spot than others. Make sure that you always purchase disease resistant plants.

For all you rose lovers, I picked up a book called 'Roses, Pleasures and Treasures', by Peter Coates; it is a small book, with beautiful pictures and is the story of roses and what to do with them, their origins, their use in art and lots of other tidbits.

For example, dip small rose petals in egg white, and lay on a greaseproof paper sheet covered with caster sugar, leaving them to dry in either a cool oven or warm place. When dry place in a jar with the sheets of paper between layers, and use for decoration on cakes.

From another charmingly named, very old book, called ‘The Queen's Closet Opened’, by Queen Henrietta Maria. This is her cook's recipe called, ‘The King's Perfume’:

Take 12 spoonfuls of bright red rose water, the weight of sixpence (a quarter) of powder of sugar, and boyl it on hot embers and coals softly [maybe a cooling BBQ ?] and the house will smell as though it were full of roses, but you must burn sweet Cypress wood before, to take away the gross ayre'.

It might be easier to just buy a rose spray, but do try it for fun.

In Calabria, the poorest part of Italy, peasants still make a liquor of roses which is strongly scented, and is said to have not only an inebriating, but also aphrodisiac effect (better than viagra).

Sague di Rose, Rose's blood, is made of the rose flowers themselves, not the hips. Even in World War II rose hips were used as a substitute for Vitamin C. Rose hip syrup was distributed in schools in England along with Cod Liver Oil. I think that they came to us from Canada. Little did we know how dangerous was the crossing by those brave merchant seamen, and how many of the men died, trying to bring us food.

I have been asked how to deal with dry gardens and what plants should one purchase etc.?? I can't imagine anyone having a dry garden this year!

You can learn how to tell about dryness by examining the leaves. Moisture is most commonly lost through a plant’s leaves. Their colour, texture and shape all indicate how well they conserve water. Plants with grey or silver leaves, reflect the sun's rays more efficiently than the sun absorbing green leaves and thus minimize the rate of evaporation from their surfaces.

Plants such as the Artemesia family have some of the best reflective leaf surfaces. These include Silver mound, Silver King, Silver Brocade Snow in the summer (Cerastium biebersteinii), and even the herb tarragon, (Artemesia dracunculus). In this group you will also find the frost tender lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus), which I love - leaves with soft furry texture have so many fine hairs that add to reflecting the sunlight, shading the surface and protecting against the drying effects of not only the sun but the winds too.

The beloved lambs ears (Stachys byzantina) is a good example and one that the children enjoy touching, as is Russian sage, (Perovskia atriplicifolia) don't you love that name? Mine is blooming at last. Oriental poppies (Papaver orientalis), and rose campion (Lychnis coronaria), too.

The larger the leaf surface the more moisture the plant will lose. The smaller, narrower the leaf the better, for it is equipped to withstand drought conditions. On the prairies the grasses, blue fescue ( Festuca cinerea) and little blue stem (Schizachyrium scaparium) will survive very well without rain fall and for your garden look to dianthus, thyme, lavender, and rosemary ( Sempervivum) and all members of the sedum family store water in the stems and leaves, These are the best of the perennial succulents.

Plants with long taproots survive long periods of drought, for they go deep into the soil looking for moisture, and include black-eyed Susan's (Rubekia), etc. Many perennials will develop long roots if you do not water them frequently, but when you do, make sure that you water for a long time, deeply, especially during the first year that you plant them. They will learn to seek out their own sources of moisture instead of relying on you to water them. The biggest secret of all is to mulch, mulch and mulch again –scompost, shredded leaves, coco mulch, bark chips, or even layers of newspaper, whatever you have on hand or can afford to purchase will work as a mulch.

My pansies are still growing and blooming well, they are in the shade – and have been fertilized. That is one of the benefits of our cold wet summer; usually by this time the pansies have finished blooming and we are waiting for the cooler weather to bring them back again. I had an e-mail from a friend near London; they almost got a frost the other night. Keep an ear out for frost warnings and cover your plants, for we still have lots of warm weather to come and it would be a shame to lose our plants so early in the season.

As you know, I love daylilies and Irisa. I found this little story in Canadian Gardening French Connection, and just had to share it with you:

“Compared with the glamorous modern hybrids, Iris variegata (formerly I. squalens - the dirty iris) is no plant to write home about, with its mostly greyish yellow flowers streaked with purple-brown [sounds lovely to me]. It does, however, have a prestigious history;Napoleon's first wife, Josephine, grew it and even had it painted by the famed floral artist Pierre-Joseph Redoute.

Years ago I was given a clump of this it is. Planted it in rich soil, it grew lanky and top-heavy. One fall I dug it up and threw the whole thing on a grassy bank, in full sun. There is spent the winter forgotten. The following spring, it grew strongly and bloomed beautifully on solid short stalks where it had been abandoned. Napoleon was short and ordinary looking. He too thrived in difficult situations. Perhaps that tough iris reminded Josephine of her beloved man.”. Alain Charest.

See what happens when we stop pampering our plants; they either grow better and stronger, or just die!!!! Loved this story and thought that you might enjoy it too.

The 'Queeny Purple' hollyhock has been chosen as the 2004 annual award winner by the all- American Selections. This is a non-profit group that fosters the development of new horticultural varieties. As well as being the shortest Alcea rosea available, 'Queeny Purple' is the first purple hollyhock marketed as a single colour, rather than part of a mixture. This annual will reach a height of 50 to 75 centimetres (125-187inches).

To add this royal member to your family of flowers next year, start seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the average last frost. Or sow the seeds outdoors in late May or early June; once the soil temperatures reach 16C or 60F. (Did they even reach that this summer?!) Plant in sunny location and keep the soil damp - there I have wetted your appetite for next spring - check the garden catalogues for seeds.

Well my dears I think that is about all for this week - it is going to be a very busy week for the members of the horticultural society - do not forget to read your schedules very well - this is the judge's bible and all that they have to go on. If it says three of something - that is what is require - neither 2 nor 4 will do. Good luck to you all - remember if it is not on the show table there is no show.

Hats, raingear, sunscreen age, bug repellent, hats and gloves –
Lovingly Beryl