July's Gardens in Full Bloom

Chester's summer weather continues to bring
pleasure to gardeners, golfers, and sailors alike.
In fact, the season appears to be advancing so
rapidly that some gardeners want to put the
brakes on, to ensure that their favourite flowers
will still be available when the Club holds its
annual Flower Show and Tea, scheduled
for July 29th. The schedule with details for
submitting arrangements and horticultural
specimens is posted in a link on the side-bar
of this blog.

Although some plants may be harder to come by in a couple of weeks, there are always some varieties of rose in bloom throughout the season. The climbers below are set off by a cloud of pinks that crowd around an old stone well in a Chester garden.

To help club members get their creative juices flowing, the next meeting - July 19th - will focus on the inside tips that experienced exhibitors use in creating their winning compositions and arrangements. The speaker will be Myra Knight, a member of both the Chester Garden Club and Basin Gardeners and a winner of many floral competitions over the years. It will be a "must" for most members of the club.

The rambling rose above is seen in close-up because a long shot of the entire plant, with its extensive rambling along a fence in the Chester area, would have to be taken from so far away that you wouldn't see the blossoms! And as a further nudge to your creative side, the photo below is a nod to the traditional English garden, a mix of spring bloomers including poppies, irises, lupin, goat's beard and, in the background, rosa rugosas.