Roses & lavender - an old fashioned posy

Yesterday turned out to be a "garden day" as this is our only "July garden weekend" due to the planned holiday. The rose bushes needed moving and pruning (and just about everything else too!), something that can only be done in July. The rose bushes were being smothered by the periwinkle and needed a new sunny home where they could breath easy.

Our wonderful "Stochas" lavender had gone all woody and needed to be removed.

So this was an ideal arrangement: take out the lavender and replace with the rose bushes.

The job of transplanting roses however was not completed in one session as the rose garden has a tendency to distract one!

The team effort was therefore continued today but every time we looked for the King, he had vanished to the kitchen (gardening is not his favourite hobby or rather chore). We were however delighted to be presented with some oat crunchies at tea time (and a clean kitchen). Now what more can a girl ask for?!

I tried pruning the lavender (and planting cuttings) earlier in the season, hoping that new growth might be encouraged but it wasn't very successful. The lavender however understood that their time was drawing to an end and without my help resowed themselves in the cracks of the verandah pavement.

Prince 3 discoverd these little miracles a few weeks ago (the blessing of not having a regular gardener to weed). We were able to transplant 91 (that's right ninety one!) little lavenders to seedling trays! We have lost some, but definitely have more than the original nine bushes. Now isn't that "go forth and multiply"?!

We gathered what soft growth there was for essential oil before removing the bushes with a heavy heart. I love these old fashioned flowers (roses and lavender) and hope that one day whenever the young Princes catch a whiff of lavender they will be transported back home...