A Bunch for the Weekend - # 55 - English Garden Rose - Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll'

This week on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' I'm featuring some fabulous David Austin English garden roses called - Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll.

This is a scented and stunningly beautiful rose - it is described as a large rosette-shaped flowers in a rich glowing pink colour. The most outstanding characteristic of this rose is its perfectly balanced Old Rose scent. 

It is a robust and free flowering rose named after the famous English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). 

You'll need:

- 6 large garden roses

- two little vases in a contrasting colour with a narrow neck - to hold the stems tight together. 

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- a pair of florists scissors

- a florist bucket filled with fresh water

Condition the flowers by removing any leaves that would end up below the water line in the vase. This is to reduce any growth of bacteria from deteriorating leaves. Also remove any broken or bruised leaves.

Cut the stems at an angle - this is to increase water absorption.  

Put in a clean container with fresh water and leave in a cool, dark place over night or at least for a few hours, to let the flowers absorb the maximum of water, before making the final arrangement.

You might have to re-cut the stems while making the final arrangement to suit the size of the vase or container and to get the right proportions.

It's always a great pleasure to be able to go out into your own garden and pick flowers. I don't have a lot of roses but Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' remains one of my favourites.

I have used two little vintage blue and white floral vases - short and squat with a small narrow neck. This rose has very short stems so you need something to hold the stems together - as the flowers are top heavy with such a large flower heads. 

Depending on the size of the flowers and the vases - put three or even five flowers in each vase. If the leaves are green and fresh looking it's nice to leave a few on to contrast with all the pink - but also to make it look like "just picked from the garden". 

I have also placed the two small vases on a little stool just to raise them up and make them look that bit extra special!

Enjoy your flower arranging!

Have a Great Floral Saturday and a Happy Weekend!

I will see you next week with more Do-It-Yourself flowers from 'Of Spring and Summer'.

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

[Styling and Photography © Ingrid Henningsson - Of Spring and Summer]

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