The Advantage of Good Training

Not unexpectedly, most of our spring flowering shrubs and trees were about 3 weeks late flowering. The wisteria was no exception, and to my annoyance I found the first open flower on the evening of the 23rd after the last of our visitors left.
Despite a few hot days, it is still in flower.

Wisteria sinensis 'Alba'

This is just a sideline, not at all what I was going to write about. While many plants were late, the roses seem to have caught up and flower at the expected time. The rose I was going to write about is climbing up a post supporting the pergola over the kitchen door. I planted it 2 and a half years ago as a small bare root plant. It's rambler, so quite fast growing, and I trained it carefully around the post despite the temptation to let it grow up and cover the pergola. This year my patience was rewarded; It is covered in flower from the ground to the top of the post.

Rosa 'Malvern Hills'