Up here in Aberdeen the first roses of the year (in my garden at least) has come out. It's on a small bush at the back of one of the half barrels. It's peachy (colourwise) and around the size of a small egg.
Last week at the botanical gardens in Dundee the roses were all out and many were starting to fade. Dundee is only 60 miles south of Aberdeen but it seems to be much warmer - more tropical - they had Yucca trees outside in flower!.They had Rosemary plants on North walls thriving! (More to come on that) It was almost like being back in Tenerife (well if I was totaslly drunk it might have been). In fact the weather yesterday was hot all day and I got sunburn for the first time in maybe 6 years - in Aberdeen! (Last time was Rome and that was seriously scorching)... where was I... weather - today was warm and overcast - perfect planting out weather so I spent the day doing the fuchsia cuttings in the morn in the greenhouse then the dusty millers, verbascums and gentians into the garden in the early afternoon... but more on that another time - roses - yeah - Dundee- afraid the picture was a little blurred so not up to usual standards. This was the nicest rose I saw in the botanical gardens. 
So how is our rose garden doing... um - out of 18 roses (for under £50 in total) only 1 has kicked the proverbial and become just an expensive twig. The others aren't really throiving yet but that is because it is their first year and it takes a year before shrubs bed in. All (except the one) are showing some signs of growth so we are still hopeful of a good (cheap) rose garden - though of course I never promised Jiurie a rose garden.
This is truely a rose garden not a scrappy patch of ground.
And now we are going to take the son't dog (Arthur - golden retriever) out for a walk so I can spy on the local gardens and see if anyone else has got any roses out. Watch this space
