Roses

Roses

Roses are our passion…but we do not enjoy the stiff, heavily sprayed supermarket roses. We love climbers - particularly the highly scented old roses and shrub roses that flower repeatedly and make excellent cut flowers. Although hybrid tea roses seem to have gone out of fashion since the peak of their popularity in the 1950s, we like them for their look when fully opened as well as for their longevity.

Continuous and Once-Flowering Roses

Many people seem to be very concerned about the flowering time of roses. There are two types of roses: continuous and once-flowering roses.

Continuous roses, to which hybrid roses belong, will be at their best in May/June. They will slow down in July, revive in late August, and may flower until November. You might even be able to pick some just before Christmas.

Old roses are the once-flowering roses. They come out at the end of May and flower through June, sometimes a little longer. They are beautiful and very highly scented, and manage well in poor soils and long grasses. We wish many more gardeners would include them in their planting schemes.

Climbers or Ramblers?

Most climbers belong to the continuous roses category, while ramblers are once-flowering. They are abundant and can reach up to 20m in height.

For this lesson we have chosen five useful ramblers:

• 'Wedding Day', 'Bobbie James' and 'Paul's Himalayan Musk' are particularly suitable for big walls, tree stumps or sheds that need covering
• For floral arrangements we highly recommend the late-flowering rambler 'Sander's White', as well as 'Albertine', which bears particularly attractive peachy-red buds

Our favourite climbers are:

• 'Madame Alfred Carrière' - an elegant, repeat-flowering, old white rose with apple-green leaves
• 'Wollerton Hall', 'Eden Rose' and 'Pierre de Ronsard' - smaller climbers which are excellent for picking and for growing over a door or gate
• 'New Dawn' - a 1930s' rose with large pink blooms and glossy foliage; it is one of our best climbers

Old Roses

These roses flower only once but have a wonderful character and we love working with them, especially with the following varieties:

• 'Alba Maxima' - the oldest of our roses with deliciously fragrant, almost white, double flowers. This rose often appears in old paintings
• 'China Blush' - another old white rose originating from Asia
• 'Dupontii' - our recent discovery; vigorous and low-maintenance. It is fragrant and looks like a dog rose (Rosa canina) but bears larger flowers
• Rosa rubiginosa, also known as sweet brier - a large, old climber with hot-pink, apple-scented flowers
• 'Ferdinand Pichard' - a lovely-looking, very old, stripy rose, but it doesn't last long and is not really ideal for picking
• 'Cupid' - a 1950s' rose that's one of our favourites. It is strong and excellent for flower arrangements
• 'Meg' - pink, late-flowering and very similar to the 'Mutabilis' variety that flowers up to Christmas. Both are repeat-flowering single roses

English Shrub Roses

David Austin, Peter Beales, Harkness and Trevor White are top English growers of shrub roses. We have chosen 11 of their best varieties, many of which have cabbage-like heads and are long-lasting and highly scented.

• 'Heritage' - classical looking, scented and excellent for cutting
• 'Royal Jubilee' - a long-flowering shrub, it bears large flower heads and grows well in long grass
• 'Queen of Sweden' - a delicate Nordic beauty
• 'Jude the Obscure' - we love its soft yellow colour; it looks good mixed with soft pinks
• 'Lichfield Angel' - boasts generous blooms and pale peachy-pink buds that open to form cream rosettes
• 'Gertrude Jekyll' - an early-flowering, bright-pink shrub
• 'Duchess of Cornwall' - our all-round favourite - a superb 'picker' with tight, frilly heads and a lovely colour
• 'Sally Holmes' - a big, vigorous, multi-flora shrub with peachy buds opening to white blooms
• 'Sheriff Esme' - one of our first shrubs; it has pink, peony-like flower heads with a strong rose scent
• 'Boscobel' - another excellent 'picker' with cabbage-type heads

Hybrid Tea Roses

These roses were very popular in the 1970s, usually planted by themselves and looking rather stiff in the borders. Although hybrid teas have since lost their popular appeal, we like growing them and use their blooms frequently in arrangements. Our favourite hybrid teas are:

• 'Aphrodite' - a lovely rose in fleshy tones
• 'Alexandra' - which has a strong orange colour and enhances pale-pink flowers in arrangements
• 'Blessing' - a very beautiful rose, with an amazing scent and colour and an exceptionally long flowering time

Our Advice:

• Deadhead and cut roses as often as possible in order to extend their flowering.
• Feed roses with compost teas and spray with liquid seaweed diluted in water.
• Include hybrid and old roses in your planting schemes.
• Rose hips add interest in the garden and in autumn arrangements; pay attention to them when choosing roses.
• Ramblers look beautiful in June and are perfect for hiding ugly things.
• Don't be too quick to discard fading rose blooms; they have a beauty of their own.
• You don't need a big garden to grow roses. They perform well in pots provided they are fed regularly and have sufficient space.
• If you have a wall, grow a climber.
• Don't be afraid of the old, once-flowering roses; they often hold the very essence of roses.

Rose Growers

David Austin Roses

Peter Beales Roses

Harkness Roses

Trevor White Roses

Glossary

Hybrid tea roses - the oldest class of modern garden roses, first developed in France in the 19th century by cross-breeding Hybrid Perpetuals with Tea Roses

Multi-flora rose - a large rambling rose producing arching stems

Rosa canina (common name: dog rose) - a vigorous pink rose growing in the wild, often found scrambling over hedges