Warm November

I had to pinch myself the other day.  It is November, isn't it?  The Banksiae lutea rose and Leycesteria formosa  in these pictures - both summer-bloomers - have just coming into flower. 

One of my favourite jobs in the garden is rose care.  I love the versatility and resilience of roses and their enthusiastic response to pruning:  a few snips with the secateurs influences their growth for months ahead.  The roses in thise pictured suffered with blackspot and rust in the first half of the season but, with a mid-season feed and regular dead-heading, they've rallied and are now - in November - still flowering and looking really healthy.