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Stourhead (Wiltshire, England)

Stourhead is one of the most famous gardens in England. This massive estate includes a Palladian house and park-like garden (2300 acres!) that surrounds a huge man-made lake. It is one picture-perfect view after another. The expression "a living work of art" certainly applies here. Now, to my embarrassment, I missed some of the main features, including the house! I don't know how it happened, as I had a nourishing English-style breakfast, I wasn't under the influence of anything, and I even had a map of the premises.  Looking at a map of the grounds of Stourhead now, I can see that the house is situated in an unusual location, removed from the main house and the visitor entrance.  It is past the Stable Yard, which wasn't that interesting and I had turned around and headed back to the entrance and our bus (I had already walked around the lake and gardens). I regret that I missed the house.  Henry Hoare II inherited Stourhead in 1717 when he was twenty. He built the...
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Rose Balling

'Double Delight' rose suffering from rose balling

 It is not a pretty sight and can be alarming to wake up one day and find your roses looking like this. However, it is not the end of the world (or in this case, your roses). 

 "Rose balling" is a disfiguring condition that is caused by cool, wet weather. Flower buds fail to open properly and turn dingy in appearance. This is caused by rain which saturates the bud and is followed by hot sun which dries and scorches the bloom. 

 There isn't a remedy for this with the exception of cutting off the offending eyesore. The future flowers should be fine (unless the exact conditions happen again). Placing roses in full sun locations helps (although my rose is in full sun) and good air circulation is also beneficial. 

 Hopefully, the next flush of blooms will look more like this -


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Lisa at GreenbowJune 6, 2019 at 3:11 AM

    Some of my white rose blooms have this. I wondered what was the problem. We have had so much rain lately. Now we are drying out. I hope not too much. That last rose photo is yummy.

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  2. chavlinessJune 6, 2019 at 8:32 AM

    The flower in the second picture is breathtaking!

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  3. GRACE PETERSONJune 7, 2019 at 10:27 PM

    This happens a lot in the fall. It's really disappointing. But nothing is perfect.

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