What's on the Potting Bench? No. 4

When I finally sold my last garden (and the house), I took cuttings of some special roses, without a lot of luck. One was General Gallieni, given to me as a cutting by a venerable gardener. So, when my cutting failed, I went back to see her - 94 years old and still gardening. And she had also lost hers.

On Friday I went to Kurinda Rose Nursery near Warragul (sorry, no website), and they had it. So I have two, one for me, and one for Flo.

The General is an 1899 tea rose, said to be the first named after a man. Before that, the practice was, if you wished to curry favour, you named a rose after a man's wife - Madame Alfred Carriere is another favourite, but I haven't found a space yet for it here.

Anyway, apparently the General was a single man, so the rose was named for him. And a stunning rose it is - to see them in a vase is one of the most beautiful sights there is.

So - planting today: Six capsicum seedlings in three colours (from BAAG), carrot (Chantenay Red-Cored) and Parsnip (Hollow Crown) seeds. Was about to do more, when the rain was back. Both of those seeds are the varieties my father grew, so that makes a choice easier. They have been around for a while, and if they were reliable for him, they should work for me.

There's a bit of a break in the rain - I have a punnet of four different basils to go out in the citrus barrels.