There is no rose without....

Well, without thorns, is the usual continuation of that saying in the title. But very few roses come with thorns like this! I have no idea why we never noticed Rosa Sericea variety pteracantha, before in Dawyck Botantical Gardens as we must have passed it many times before but today we realized just how ferocious the thorns on this particular rose are. There were no flowers (they are small and white as you can check out here), but  the thorns are mightily impressive and sharp!

They are also very red and seem to be threaded through the green of the rose's leaves. By this you will guess we spend the afternoon taking a walk in Dawyck. Yesterday wasn't a very good day for me, with the headache from hell. Since I stopped taking sugary snacks and take great care to keep my blood sugar on an even level,  my migraines are a lot better and somehow I had forgotten just how bad they can be. I hadn't eaten anything out of the ordinary so this one came out of the blue and left me rather shaken. It's a lot better today and fresh air tends to help a lot too, soo Dawyck is where we went to get it. It's been some time and all azaleas and rhododendrons have now finished their marvellous show but that doesn't mean there is a lack of colour in the garden.

 The astilbes were particularly lovely and came in many colour variations.

Here some of them combined with yellow ligularia.

 And some of the trees are very colourful too. This is a Betula alba-sinensis. Great texture too!

And here a Rodgersia pinnata, variety Hercules (I think!). We have this growing in our own garden but it's only a very young plant and so far hasn't flowered. But seeing the amazing sways of it in Dawyck fills me with hope for the future. And to be honest just seeing the fabulous leaves is a treat.

Aren't the flowers stunning?

Dianthus Pink Lady
The flowers are only about 1/2" across

And  finally this is a beautiful daylily, one of the first ones to flower but there are many delicious buds on view, promising riches to come. I haven't quite decided which of these lovelies will be blipped but if you want to know my final decision you can check it out here.