Susan writes
It's a good year for clematis. It's a bad year for roses. Anyone
agree/disagree?

Well my climbing roses are just coming into bloom with masses of
flowerheads - Dublin bay (deep red) looks really good alongside the last
of the ceanothus (pale blue) and another dark pink one is alongside the
kolkwitzia (pale pink).

And my clematis which failed early on last year are also with plenty of
flowers atm.

I notice my laurels are growing like wildfire now.

Maybe I'm just lucky with my microclimate. I know its been very dry and
much colder this year, and I've probably lost a couple of new alder
trees I planted last year.
--
David