Hi, newbie here, I'm doing my mums garden for her, she was some plants but have no idea what to get.

She wants some roses that are pink or red, have big flowers, nice strong smell, easy to keep & are fairly resistant.

Also after a bush/hedge, that is slow growing but grows to about 8ft.

Got about £100 to spend for everything including some cheap flowers from the garden center to add a bit of colour.

Thanks for any help in advance.

"PUSB1987" wrote ...


Hi, newbie here, I'm doing my mums garden for her, she was some plants
but have no idea what to get.

She wants some roses that are pink or red, have big flowers, nice strong
smell, easy to keep & are fairly resistant.

Also after a bush/hedge, that is slow growing but grows to about 8ft.

Got about £100 to spend for everything including some cheap flowers from
the garden center to add a bit of colour.

Thanks for any help in advance.


Personally I like the David Austin "old English" type roses, something like
"Gertrude Jekyll" would fit the bill with big dark pink flowers with a good
perfume.
http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/advanced.asp
but his roses are expensive.
You don't say where you are in the UK but I have dealt with the Wych Cross
Garden Centre which always has the most enormous selection of roses (1400
varieties!) and the staff are extremely helpful too and they have a decent
Tea Room/Loos.
http://www.wychcross.co.uk/
A bush or hedge that grows to about 8ft tall, a surprising number of plants
will grow to 8ft tall but some may take decades, do you want it to screen
something, to look good all year, to have flowers.......need more detail.
Cheap flowers from a GC? Try looking for a local plant nursery, ask some
local allotment holders if they know one, and you will usually find much
better plants for a lot less money and someone who knows what they are doing
and who usually enjoys their work.


--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

PUSB1987 wrote:
She wants some roses that are pink or red, have big flowers, nice strong
smell, easy to keep & are fairly resistant.

How many roses does she have space for? You can pay anything from 99p
in a 'cheap' shop (bargain shops, poundland or Wilkinsons) up to 15-20
quid in a nursery or garden centre for the specific one you want. IMHO
I would just pop out to whatever is cheapest near you and have a browse,
making sure to read the label.

Also after a bush/hedge, that is slow growing but grows to about 8ft.

Others will be able to help you better here, I'm no good with hedges.

Got about ?100 to spend for everything including some cheap flowers from
the garden center to add a bit of colour.

Are you after annuals to dot about and then redo next year, or something
to last? Probably a bit late for lilies and dahlia to go in, I guess.
Your mum might appreciate some aqualiga (columbine) plants, or throw some
seeds in next year - they seem quite hard to kill off (so make sure she
likes them first!) and they'll come back with little assistance year
after year.
I've just spotted i have some wallflowers that I left in, in lovely pale
pink and yellow, they're very pretty, but they've gone a bit straggley.
Hanging baskets with petunias and fucshias are my favourites.

Thank you for that great link, I think the 'Queen Anne' & 'Gertrude Jekyll' would both be perfect.

I live in Coventry (West Midlands), The bush will be used to screen of the garage, she would like something that she only has to cut once or twice a year at most, not really to bothered by having something that flowers, but if there's something that is colourful with big flowers then that would be fine.

I'll have a look at a plant nursery, I think there's one near my mums.

There is about a 15 foot area that is ready just for roses. so probably 4 or 5 rose bushes dependent on size?

On the cheap flower front, I was looking for a mix of longer lasting ones and annuals, something that stays in bloom for a longer time and is easy to maintain would be great.

PUSB1987 wrote in
:


Hi, newbie here, I'm doing my mums garden for her, she was some plants
but have no idea what to get.

She wants some roses that are pink or red, have big flowers, nice strong
smell, easy to keep & are fairly resistant.

Also after a bush/hedge, that is slow growing but grows to about 8ft.

Got about £100 to spend for everything including some cheap flowers from
the garden center to add a bit of colour.

Thanks for any help in advance.





You should get to know how to access newsgroups first. Your post is through
gardenbanter. Some of us do not like the way gardenbanter operates.

Anyway, I don't grow many flowers/shrubs, but I do know that all plants
like to be in nice, fertile soil. The first thing is to make sure of this
IMO, by digging in manure or compost.

There are bargains to be had at Poundstretchers, Wilco, etc for roses, £2
per plant.
Your mum might like to grow some fruit bushes. Raspberry or gooseberry,
even blackcurrant.

I don't know how large her garden is, but my advice is to plant a whole bed
up this year, maybe 2 beds with £100 budget.

Any other money can be used to buy anual flower plugs.

Learn how to take cuttings also. Saves ££££'s.

Hope this helps you and best wishes
Baz

Hardy geraniums (which don't look anything like the pelargoniums which are also known as geraniums) start flowering now and have a good long season. G endressii is particularly good in this respect. Attractive lobed leaves and masses of shiny pink flowers.

Earlier in the year (so think now for next year) wallflowers are easy from seed, and are fragrant. Although they're usually grown as annuals, they will often keep going from year to year if you chop them back a bit to stop them being too straggly.

Potentilla is another thing that flowers for ages. Typically a small shrub with yellow flowers.

For late summer, calendula (pot marigold) with daisy-like flowers in shades of cream, brown, orange, yellow is another easy from seed. Crocosmia - tall spikes of small lily-like flowers in yellow through to red is easy but can be too much of a good thing. Nasturtiums can crawl over other plants and are good for poor soil - they'll keep flowering until killed by frost.

Little update, got the soil turned over, had a look around the pound shops in town, no roses but was quite surprised with how much gardening stuff they all had, only found 1 plant that I think would be suitable called Red hot poker, It looks lovely on the package so I got 8 bulbs for £2.

Had a look in a nursery and got some petunia's. Brought 20 for £5. They did recommend me a bush as well but I've completely forgotten what it was.

Garden center was alright, Didn't buy anything from there, and wasn't even that impressed with it really.

Going to get some hanging baskets done and then buy the roses and get everything put in on Friday or Saturday.

PUSB1987 wrote:
Little update, got the soil turned over, had a look around the pound
shops in town, no roses but was quite surprised with how much gardening
stuff they all had, only found 1 plant that I think would be suitable
called Red hot poker, It looks lovely on the package so I got 8 bulbs
for ?2.

Heh, we keep digging it out of the allotment. Could have sent you some. :-)
It seems to be easy maintenance!

Had a look in a nursery and got some petunia's. Brought 20 for ?5. They
did recommend me a bush as well but I've completely forgotten what it
was.

Lavender is easy enough, and is good for bees.

Garden center was alright, Didn't buy anything from there, and wasn't
even that impressed with it really.

Nurseries are generally better than garden centres, IME.

Going to get some hanging baskets done and then buy the roses and get
everything put in on Friday or Saturday.

Should be a busy time for the whole country to do the gardening, I think!
(We have 200 sweetcorn baby plants to get out)