The old rose, here when we moved in
One of the things I most look forward to in my garden is the roses. I love the climbers scrambling over the porch (not that roses would scramble, I need a much more elegant word!), watching the standard roses along the path come into bloom, and the promise of a late-afternoon potter to do a spot of dead-heading.
I have been collecting David Austin Roses for a number of years and they seem to get better every year. I am so mean, I buy them out of season and cross my fingers that I can look after them properly. As we rarely go away in the heat of the summer, I can make sure I water in any new plants regularly. I am not good at the art of pruning but seem to get away with cutting everything back quite hard in the autumn.
A cheerful bowl of roses for the house 
A favourite hybrid tea 
One of my David Austin bargains 
Standard roses along the front path 
The climber over the porch
I treated myself to three small standard roses for the front path to Pinks. In spite of blackspot and greenfly, they seem to keep going. Last year they were still flowering in later October!
There is a sweet little climbing rose that was here when we moved in over 20 years ago. It has survived both builders and carpenters, with and without scaffolding.
I planted the climber when we built the front porch during our first year here. We always get a wonderful show in June and then it refuses to offer again.
If you are in the mood for a bit of stitching on linen please try my chart of a tea rose which may be stitched on linen. I would use two strands of stranded cotton (floss) for the cross stitch and one only for the backstitch.
