h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have been meaning to write for the last two days about what happened on Monday June 30th 2009

I opened my eyes at my usual time of 5 a.m. (I wake up far earlier!!) and looked out onto the lovely little balcony of mine where there is my quite splendiferous miniature garden.

I looked, looked again, and Hoorah!. the tall, large, beautifully pointed bud of Alec's Red was coloured. A beautiful red, As I cnnot get onto my balcony without a lot of problems,I had to wait for my carer to come and then to cut it.

I had to explain to her her how to cut it, and there was another bud at the back. Which she also cut. Then she brought them both in.

They were absolutely the most deliciously powerfully fragrant red roses ever. Nearly as good as Papa Meilland and Crimson glory.

They are still delciously fragrant except that they have opened and are quite magnificent with the number of petals there are. Nothing mean and stingy about Alec'x Red. Full blown they are practically as spectacular as they are in bud.

And another wonderful thing. There is not one green or black fly on the leaves. There is no blackspot or rust or any other nasty illness, The leaves are healthy, large and disease free.
Next year I shall enter Alec's red on the Individual rose category, and if it does not win a prize I shall be very surprised.


Solution to growing disease free roses. Grow them on the fourth floor. !!With the Artic wind blowing down the channel.

Lucky lucky K and I. !!

Thank you you are so kind and very thoughtful. !

Good luck with your plans about the art work.

I envy you the scent of the roses; there's nothing quite like it.

A few days ago I went to one of the flower markets here in BJ and - for less than the price of a bunch of supermarket flowers in the UK - bought myself a planter containing seven beautiful orchids. At the moment there are nineteen flowers, with about another ten still in bud.
They're beautiful - but completely lacking in scent of any kind.

Glad you're enjoying your own beautiful flowers

One of the reasons why I dread winter is the lack of flowers--not just the sight of them (which can be rectified by a visit to the flower shop), but more importantly the smell. Store-bought flowers have very little aroma!

Roses look wonderful. There are some blooming across the street from me, and I hope the bushes live long and prosper. It's very soothing and reassuring to see them there as I drive down the street and turn into my driveway. I don't smell roses all that often, but they are usually very nice to smell. Irises are my favorites, followed by carnations and narcissus. Petunias are nice, too. Even pumpkin blossoms! Snapdragons and ladyslippers! Lemon lilies. Delicate little violets. Lilies of the valley.

Blue chicory is great to look at early in the morning, but it doesn't have much of a smell. The same with geraniums, though you can get used to them, and they're a great comfort with their sturdy blossoms and leaves and stems.

The white popcornlike blossoms that you find on honey locust trees are the best thing about Spring, as they perfume the air for miles around. Apple blossoms are another treat, though the scent is more delicate, and doesn't carry as far....

Christiane they must be the most beautiful red roses that have ever been grown and to be totally disease free. I am sure that your roses will win first prize. My late father grew roses when we lived in London and in Essex but the ones in London always got greenfly.

Hi Teucher,

I do hope that your spouse has recovered. enjoy the orchids. They are disappointing because of their lack of fragrance, but on the other hand their markings are so equisite that they are very interesting for those.

You must bring home your orchid planter even if you are not allowed to bring in the orchids. You will find others and the planter will them something special and a wonderful memory of Beijing. !!

With affection

Christiane
AR80

Oh my dear Paul H.,

You also love gardens and flowers. Fantastique. !1

You know them well and you had mentioned your red roses before. But did I remember correctly when you told me they were near an oil tank. I was a bit uncertain about that. !1 Your description of all the other flowers was excellent

Blue chicory is indeed a very striking plant.
Dp you remember that song



I'm a lonely little petunia, in an onion patch
etc.
"And all I do is cry all day. !!

So many of our garden flowers are indigenous to South Africa. I long to write about them. Perhaps Willem will be able to do it if I do not get around to it.!!

Go into the florists all you want in winter and enjoy smelling the flowers. There are even some daffodils that are fragrant. and violets are out of this world. I love my sense of smell and al thrilled whe I find a fragrant flower.

I choose my strawberries by smelling them to see if they are ripe. !

Oh dear. Am I dotty?

Go well and talk again soon.

Christiane
AR80

Thanks for the compliments, Christiane.

The flowers that they have in flower shops usually don't smell as much as the ones that grow outside. At least they don't seem to, since the carnaitons that we get in May have a strong smell, and they all come from flower shops. It might be that the varieties of flowers that florists feature are the less odoriferous ones like gladiolus. Roses are both inside and outside this time of year, but their scent doesn't jump out at you. You have to get very close to them to smell them. Maybe that's it.

It's the locusts and honeysuckle and fruit tree blossoms that make their presence known across a wide area. The lilacs, too....

Hello Christiane and everybody! Christiane, I would love to see and smell those roses, they sound wonderful! A while ago you contacted me with the idea of writing about South African flowers in horticulture ... I responded, but you never said anything back! Here's the thread: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/plain/F63394?thread=6590328 The offer still stands! All the best, Willem

Ooh Paul H. !!

You reminded me of a whole lot of other fragrances.

Honeysuckle, Broom, Lilac and I seem to remember Wisteria as well.

The only fruit trees that I remember that are fragrant are the Citrus family. I remember with such nostalgia, our driving back to Harare (Salisbury) from a visit to friends in the country, and goirng through the Mazoe valley. There are a tremendous amount of citrus orchards there, and the heady, overpowering flowers of the orange blossom just hung on the air like a magic wand.

Thank you for reminding me of those wonderful years.

Go well,

Christiane
AlsoRan80.

Very dear thinker,

Thank you for your lovely message.

I am afraid that I have started forgetting to press the publish button after having edited my reply. this is what must have happened when i did not reply immediately.

they are still looking lovely, and they are still very fragrant. And they were grown in a tub on a fourth floor verandah overlooking the channel and receiving really blazing sun at this time of the year. !!

Heavens they are wonderful.

Much affection

Christiane
AR80

I would love to smell orange blossoms. The closest I can come is tasting orange blossom honey.

Thank you Christiane, I love red roses, to me they are best colour for this very delicate flower. With their silky soft red petals and beautiful fragrance is an added bonus. I have found that some roses may look beautiful but alas do not have any perfume at all.

I had rose book that even had rose recipes on making sugared rose petals and putting them in ice in a bowl as a decoration. But nothing is more beautiful to me than a rose left on the bush.

I rather like white roses that have a hint of pink in the inner petals. There are also the tea roses that smell like tea.

Very dear Thinker,

As today is Keith's birthday, we are sending you a bush covered in the most perfumed Crimson Glory s you can imagine. Red as well.

With much affection

Christiane and Keith.
AR81

Friday, 3rd July, 2009. 8.15 BST

Dear Paul,
When you wake up, beside your bed will be the most beautiful bush of white roses , with a pinkish tinge at the base. It is called Peace, and was hybridised by Meilland at the end of WW2. It has the most equisite perfume.

This is a combined present from Keith and I as it is his birthday. We have been having the most wonderful chat for the last three hours. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful son.
With much affection

Christiane and Keith.
AR81

Happy Birthday Keith <rose.

And for you Christiane