English rose
The stream that borders my garden comes down from the hills and pays me a courtesy call on its way to the sea.
Well, it’s courteous through spring under its blanket of watercress, and in summer when mother ducks bring out their babies from hidden nests along its banks and grandchildren sit on the bridge watching for eels.
But winter storms bring out the worst of its manners and this year the force of the water pulled up a tree planted too close to its banks somewhere in the hills and carried it along until it slammed into my bridge and stayed. There it sits, leafy branches, huge trunk, roots and all, and some heavy machinery will be needed to move it.
On the other side of the stream, 40 Chardonnay grapevines – planted about 20 years ago – thrive well above the flood mark and the new owner of the land is happy to keep them.
They hark back to the time when we had a group of Back Yard Operators growing grapes in Akaroa. Some grew a paddock full, others grew them in their backyard. I think 20 vines was the minimum for entry.
At harvest time, we took our grapes to a vineyard to be weighed before they were processed so everyone would have their fair share of wine.
Artist Nancy Tichborne, of calendar fame, created our impressive label ‘Te Kereru’, with a painting of an elegant but slightly bemused pigeon clutching a bunch of grapes.
It was fun but it was also hard work, as anyone who has ever tried to net grapevines successfully will tell you. Eventually, one by one, the smaller vineyards gave up.
Traditionally, a row of grapevines should have a rose at the head and by planting my grapes in rows of 10, I could have four bushes of ‘The Herbalist‘.
I chose this early David Austin rose simply because the name seemed appropriate and I’m so glad I did. Flowers are large and pink, and the petals are deepest carmine shot silk, curled and layered in semi-double form, opening flat to show golden stamens and give the rose that luminous effect that David Austin does so well. Habit of growth is twiggy and my roses grew to not much more than a metre and although they had very little care, they flowered from spring into winter.
I've lost count of the number of roses from David Austin’s English nursery.
His very first rose, the magnificent ‘Constance Spry‘, was introduced in 1960. Hundreds of new roses have appeared since then. Some of the early ones have been discontinued in England but they
might still be available from New Zealand nurseries. It’s nice to take stock of the older David Austin roses in our gardens.
‘Chianti’ was introduced in 1965.
Unlike most of the Austins, it only flowers once but is still a favourite because of its big crimson purple cupped rosettes, and its fragrance in spring and summer.
Then 20 years later, we couldn’t resist ‘Abraham Darby’.
That large and lovely fruit salad of a rose has petals of creamy pink, apricot and lemon. It can grow to a shrubby 3m or become – given support – a moderate climber.
‘Jacquenetta’ was introduced in 1983.
It is an elegant semi-single with palest apricot and pink wavy petals. David Austin has ceased to class it as an English rose because he considers it to be too much of a Floribunda, but the rose has grace and charm, and is more popular than some of its many-petalled companions.
The most popular yellow climber was ‘Graham Thomas’.
It is named after the English rosarian and author. Sunshine yellow blooms are full-petalled and loosely cupped – and there are a lot of them. Treated kindly, that is, fed well, it will bloom from spring to winter, and in warm areas, all through a mild winter. Big flowers are borne on long stems, excellent for picking, and they last well in the bud.
The list could go on and on. Most of us who love roses have at least one David Austin rose in our gardens.