In a quest to find scented garden roses for two lovely upcoming brides, it was a rose mini adventure yesterday… We skirted The Downs, drove up and down lanes, asked in the Surf Shop and eventually found the unmarked entrance of Birdham Roses near Chichester. They sell beautiful old varieties of roses bare root for planting in the autumn so the roses are a by-product. The owner Philippa took us to her rose field and was happy for me pick what I needed.
They are so fragile, so short lived, so annoying as cut flowers, but bloody hell it’s worth it for the scent and the delicate rippling shapes. There’s a jar on the table and it’s like a scented candle…. *sigh*
I will continue my search for a more reliable cut flower supplier and plant a few more rose bushes in the Byrd & Spry cutting garden – you buy a minimum of ten plants from Birdham Roses but I can live with the thought of ten Margaret Merril blooming away next summer.
And in the meantime you will find me somewhere in a field near Hampshire, the evening before a wedding, cutting and putting into iced water and driving home as happy as Larry to make some unbelievable prettiness.
Margaret Merril
Compassion
Ambrosia
