The best part of summer for me is the blooming of the big rambling roses. When we lived on acreage in the Fraser Valley, I had many of these lovely plants, but now on a Vancouver city lot I have room for just two.
Why these particular ones? Well, 'Ghislaine de Féligonde' has the distinction of being just about the only rambler that produces a second flush of bloom. It's not as spectacular as the first flush, but it does give something extra to look forward to later in the summer. Flowers start out as apricot buds, open in shades of buff-yellow and peach, then fade to cream. All colours are present over its bloom period.
If this rose has a drawback it has to be the fleeting scent, not really noticeable unless you put your face close against a flower.
'Lykkefund', on the other hand, has a perfume that drifts across the whole garden, especially in the evening.
Like most ramblers, produces all its flowers in one great cascade: the photo below shows only half of its full length along the fence.
It begins with peach-coloured buds, which open to loose-petalled white flowers.
What makes it rare among among ramblers is its lack of thorns, a really useful quality in a tight space like a city lot.
A view across the garden from the house shows 'Ghislaine de Féligonde' at the centre top with just one truss of 'Lykkefund' visible on the right behind the old pear tree.
Over to the left a trio of perennials are in bloom.
In the foreground is blue star (Amsonia hubrichtii) with pale blue flowers on willowy stems. At the back the haze of little white buttons belongs to Ranunculus aconitifolius 'Flore Pleno', which will bloom generously for at least two months. Although it's a buttercup relative it stays in a well-behaved, tidy clump.
Between them are the sturdy stems of Astrantia 'Roma'. Unlike many of its family, 'Roma' is sterile so it doesn't necessitate ongoing weeding out of its many children at other times of the year.
Elsewhere in the garden a Roscoea has slowly progressed from one flowering stem per summer to several.
I think it's Roscoea cautleyoides, although it looks paler than other images I've seen. Whatever it is, it lights up a shady spot under the pear tree with its curious blooms.
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