Last week I showed you my first red, red rose and now I can unveil the second rose to flower in my Lewes, UK garden and, yes, folks, it’s white.

The red rose is the solitary bloom at one side of the garden, the white on the other. You’d think they were enemies.

The white one is the David Austin rose, Iceberg and it will soon, I hope, cover one of my fences with many of its crisp white flowers.

The red one, as reported last week, is another David Austin rose, Danse de feu. 

I’m reminded of that scene in Shakespeare where the medieval English Yorkist and Lancastrian nobles fall out over who should be the rightful King of England. They took opposite sides and chose their emblems,  one side a white rose, the other a red one. Then they began to beat the hell out of each other, in 1455,  in a civil war known at The War of The Roses.

The Wars of the Roses may look pretty in these pictures – especially below,  in the nearly contemporary image of the ferociously fought Battle of Barnet, I remember thinking the knights looked like jelly babies, but the war was a bloody affair ending the Plantagenet dynasty with the death of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and putting the first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII,  on the English throne,

Tudor Rose

I’m hoping my roses will live together much more peacefully but their rivalry will end soon with all my other roses come out between them. Then there will be a whole range of different colours when the many buds out there open into bloom.

The post The War of the Roses breaks out in my Lewes garden again. appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

Here is the first rose to flower in my Lewes garden this year caught in the early morning sun. There is something special about this moment and every year I celebrate it with a slight leap in my heart-rate.

This David Austin rose is Danse de Feu – it grows and thrives without fail on my shadowy and sun-starved North-facing flint wall where the flowers manage to shine out like rubies even on a dull day.

Today, with the sun shining on this new arrival, my single red rose has the promise of so much more to come. It is no coincidence that the first swallows started their pirouettes over my garden too this morning. Summer is well on its way – we just need the temperature to rise a bit more.

No wonder the Scots poet Robert Burns was inspired to his lyrical best by the sight of a red, red rose – “newly sprung in June” – well, mine has beaten Mr Burns’ rose by two weeks but the poem still deserves its turn in the sun.

Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns (1759 – 1796)

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

And fare thee weel awhile!

And I will come again, my luve,

Though it were ten thousand mile.

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After a week of rain and miserable low temperatures, I just love it when the sun comes out and never more when it knows to shine on my roses. The rose Danse de Feu knows how to find the spot lit too. A memorable moment in my Lewes garden.

STEPHEN DEARSLEY’S SUMMER OF LOVE BY COLIN BELL

My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published  on 31 October 2013. It is the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.

It is now available as a paperback or on Kindle (go to your region’s Amazon site for Kindle orders)

You can order the book from the publishers, Ward Wood Publishing:

http://wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-colin-bell-stephen-dearsleys-summer-of-love.htm 

…or from Book Depository:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Stephen-Dearsleys-Summer-Love-Colin-Bell/9781908742070

…or from Amazon:

The post The sun knows where to shine in my Lewes garden. appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

This is Danse de Feu (Fire Dance), one of my David Austen roses. It has burst into flame this week in its unlikely place at the darkest part of my small Lewes garden on the mostly shadowy North facing flint wall. It is well-named as it lights up this sun-starved corner with its lively bursts of fire.

 It puts me in the mood for a real fire dance – something that makes me think of countries with hot climates and a sense of extravagant fun. Already I’m hearing Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s most famous piece – the Ritual Fire Dance. As it’s a holiday weekend, what used to be the old Whitsun Holiday,  this weekend, we should all be in the mood for a dance and no one does joyful dancing better than the Spanish.

The Ritual Fire Dance  (Danza ritual del fuego)  is from Manuel de Falla’s ballet score for El amor brujo (Love the magician), written in 1915 and it’s danced as a seductive ghost exorcism by a village woman who dances until he’s consumed by the flames.

 Cirque du Soleil’s phenomenal fire dancer Paris-based Srikanta Barefoot has a way with fire too – You might burn more than your fingers if you try this at home so better just to watch Mr Barefoot from a safe distance.

STEPHEN DEARSLEY’S SUMMER OF LOVE BY COLIN BELL

My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published  on 31 October 2013. It is the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.

It is now available as a paperback or on Kindle (go to your region’s Amazon site for Kindle orders)

You can order the book from the publishers, Ward Wood Publishing:

http://wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-colin-bell-stephen-dearsleys-summer-of-love.htm 

…or from Book Depository:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Stephen-Dearsleys-Summer-Love-Colin-Bell/9781908742070

…or from Amazon:

The post Fire Dancing in my Lewes Garden. appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

Yesterday I wrote about my tulips reaching their season’s end so it’s only fair to announce the arrival of my roses – various varieties of old rose type climbers and all from David Austin. This one, Benjamin Britten, has a lovely hint of pink and orange when it’s new but then gets redder as it matures. This bloom, in its first flush, is just about perfect.

It tells me of the coming of summer so it seems like a good idea to play you a simple but truly effective piece by the great English composer Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976). Here is Cuckoo – this is just about perfect too:

STEPHEN DEARSLEY’S SUMMER OF LOVE BY COLIN BELL

My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published  on 31 October 2013. It is the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.

It is now available as a paperback or on Kindle (go to your region’s Amazon site for Kindle orders)

You can order the book from the publishers, Ward Wood Publishing:

http://wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-colin-bell-stephen-dearsleys-summer-of-love.htm 

…or from Book Depository:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Stephen-Dearsleys-Summer-Love-Colin-Bell/9781908742070

…or from Amazon:

The post Benjamin Britten rings in the Summer here in my Lewes garden. appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

There’s a welcome mood change in my Lewes, UK, garden when July turns into August. As this hot sunny weather continues, my roses have mostly gone for a little rest and their thrusting stems have been cut back in that most enjoyable pastime, summer pruning. Where there could be a sombre gap in the flowering, my old favourites the dahlias have marched in to liven things up a bit. Some gardeners are a bit snooty about dahlias thinking of them as rather vulgar and other gardeners obsess on them struggling with their rivals to produce the largest blooms. I’m a more laid back dahlia admirer enjoying them best when they join in with the rest of the garden in a gently unhurried, non-competitive kind of way while positively vibrating with new shades of colour just when my eyes have got jaded looking through rose coloured lenses.

Here’s another chance to watch my son Adam’s new band Octopuses’ video of their first single, Sarcastic.

You can download it from:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/sar… www.bigsaladrecords.com

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My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published  on 31 October 2013. It is the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.

The post My dahlias are understudies in my Lewes garden – now they’ve taken centre stage while the roses are having a rest. appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

I’ve been summer pruning my roses after  this year’s spectacular display in my little Lewes town garden. Sad though it is to see the roses go after their glorious first  flush, I’m an enthusiastic pruner who delights in retaining control over plants that insist on growing beyond the restraints I impose on them.

The rose bushes, all from David Austen Ltd,  form a hedge down one side of the garden and, if allowed, would soon turn into climbers with nowhere to go. It’s good to see them cut down to size again before the new cycle begins and the roses return in August. They haven’t all disappeared luckily because I’ve planted some less vigorous shrub roses out there too and some of them are still in their first flush.

This is Brother Cadfael one of my garden’s current stars with its beautifully solid flowers, radiantly pink colouring and deep old rose perfume.

Golden Celebration gets going later than the others too and it now in its full glory. This too has a seductive perfume, tangier but no less intoxicating than Brother Cadfael.

The climber that still hasn’t quite given up on its first flush is the vigorous and eye-catching white rose, Iceberg. Another week it it too will be pruned back ready to start all over again between August and the first frosts.

I took these photographs just as the heatwave in this part of England started to threaten a thunder storm. It rained but, so far, the thunder and lightning are still just an imminent threat. I’m pleased though that the pruning work was completed before the inevitable storm.

The post I’ve been summer pruning my roses here in lewes, UK, ready for the second flush of flowers. appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

I have been in Italy for two weeks and very good it was to be there. I’ll tell you about it later this week but, for now, just believe me that it is exceedingly pleasant to sit outside your own front door on a sunny (and hot) morning, under your own grape fine, with an excellent cup of espresso coffee. The only trouble was…

…unfortunately, when I returned last night, I saw that my garden had been having a wild old time while I was away. Time for some stern discipline, I think, with string and secateurs. I’ve already started on it and it feels good to be home.

The post What happens if you go off to Italy for two weeks… appeared first on Wolfie Wolfgang.

It’s an island of roses illuminated by the September sun against the dark green foliage of the Bronze Age mound at the bottom of my Lewes garden. I’m told we live on a ley line here in this quirky little town but it may be the collective memory of those Bronze Age folk or merely a trick of the light but looking out of my window at this yesterday, I felt strangely connected to this place. It’s probably just the roses frolicking in their last rush of colour on a cool sunny day but it could also be a sign of  the Autumn Equinox just a couple of days away now when ancient peoples, and why not us too, celebrate the equilibium with equal hours of darkness and light.  I hope those ghostly Bronze Agers up there on the mound are enjoying it as much as I am.

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It’s been a dreadful summer here in Lewes, UK but before I dispair at the weather forecast that predicts even more rain on its way, I’m going to enjoy a brief moment of summer pleasure out there in my garden. It rained yesterday, deluged in fact,  just after I took these photographs and the smell from the garden was almost sinfully exotic. The lilies and roses competed for dominance but they were joined by the newly flowering – and very late – heliotropes with their intoxicating vanilla perfume.  There are plenty more of these plants waiting to flower if the summer is kind to them. They should fill the garden with perfume long after the lilies have finished.

The roses are coming back in their second flush after being knocked around by all the rain in June and  July – the flowers, like this Benjamin Britten, look just as good as the first flush.

More perfume comes from the perennial sweet peas – so vigorous that I have to keep hacking them down…

…and then crowning all this perfume stuff,  the wonderfully rich fragrance of trachelospermum jasminoides or Star Jasmine a truly ever-green jasmine, or pseudo jasmine actually because it isn’t really a jasmine at all.  I hope one day it will cover one of my walls. It was everywhere I went on a recent holiday in Liguria, Italy but it is taking a little longer here to get as massive but all the summer rain has given it a growth spurt.

Time for a last look at those lilies, hope you can smell them from where you are. August can be very beautiful here in my little Lewes garden –  in spite of the rain.

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