Lavender Pinochio

We went to Ross Roses yesterday afternoon and got quite a shock to see the place so run down. It used to be an absolute jewel of a place with well kept rose beds all roses with easy to read tags and paths of well mowed grass.It looked deserted but on closer investigation to see if there was a notice on the door, we saw a man behind the counter.He was willing to identify the small roses and first thought it was Julia's rose. I knew it wasn't that one as we have one in the front garden. Brian mentioned that he thought it was a Pinochio but it had not matched the photo in the Rose book. The man realised then it was Lavender Pinochio and so it is. It is a lovely little rose of faded pink tones and I think it would go well with the Hot Chocolate rose which is a dark brownish red. We are planning a new rose garden now and it is fun thinking how we will achieve this.
Monday 12th November
Today we went to the new little restaurant just opened in an altered restored, little stone building up the road a bit from here.Beautifully done and a pleasant outlook.The food was good but not cheap and I do think for that price they could add a little potato and a few beans without charging extra.Food is not expensive to buy and even if the staff cost a lot to employ, surely a few vegies wouldn't break the bank? The coffee was excellent.

After going back to Willunga and picking up the mail, we decided to go onto Myponga to look at the roses there. I fell in love with Ian Thorpe, a wonderful deep red into brown and one of the employees showed us Fire and Ice which was also too stunning to pass up.So we bought them both and will have them in pots till next autumn when we plant them out.then Brian decided we needed more goldfish and as they were cheaper by the tens ( I only wanted two for a large outside bowl ) he got ten. So, we have done our bit to keep the economy going!!
The irises and roses are just stunning this season. The bowl on the right with the chook next to it is now full of water and the two little goldfish seem reasonably settled. Put in some slate pieces for them to shelter under. The rose above is actually a Tineke rose would you believe. It is a lovely shape and lasts extremely well when cut and brought inside. We saw a very lush burgundy Pierre de Rhonsart today as well. We have the pink one climbing up the honey suckle trellis.