CHARM FOR ALL SEASONS
Go for versatile roses that look pretty even when not in bloom
WHat a bumper year we’re having for roses. wherever i travel this summer, climbers, ramblers and bush varieties are smothered with flowers. and there’s more to come.
Visit britain’s finest rose-rich gardens and you’ll see what i mean. sissinghurst in Kent and Castle Howard in yorkshire have vast numbers of old and new types. at easton walled Gardens, near Grantham in lincolnshire, they mainly grow David austin roses.
these old-fashioned looking blooms enhance such a fine historic setting. but they have the robustness of modern breeding and stay pretty healthy, too.
it’s easy to see why roses are so popular. but they do have drawbacks — including pests and diseases. breeders have improved resistance, but you need to choose plants cautiously, even with modern types.
the other problem is more subjective. Popular roses — Floribundas and Hybrid teas, for example — are gorgeous in flower. but to me, they look gawky and unappealing from October to May.
luckily, some roses retain some of their charm off-season. a few even have secondary attributes such as showy fruits or attractive foliage. these are the ones to go for — roses with style and attitude. rOses planted together in beds are more disease-prone than if grown in isolation.
if there’s room, you could plant a free- standing shrub rose. Or, train a climbing variety onto an obelisk or arch.
On a smaller scale, patio roses such as pink Queen Mother or cheerful red Marlena could be grouped with potted lavenders, purple sage and perhaps their pots edged with trailing lobelia. roses prefer heavy-ish, silty loam. but they’ll cope with light soil if you build up organic matter. i scatter bonemeal round my roses once, in March.
Climbers and pillar roses need pruning each winter. and when training on single posts or obelisks it’s important to flex the stems. Do that by gently bending or winding the main stems round the support before tying them securely in place.
when curved, the stems produce more flowering shoots. as important as the roses are companion plants. On an old iron support, i grow buff beauty, a vigorous hybrid musk rose. Dark purple-red clematis royal Velours twines among the rose’s apricot blooms.
Pink climbers such as Compassion or aloha work well with soft blue clematis Perle d’azur. i’ve also grown salmon pink rambler albertine into an apple tree, along with honeysuckle.
Focal-point shrub roses don’t have to be trained or even pruned. strong varieties include peachy teasing Georgia, semidouble white Nevada and pink Marguerite Hilling. and if you surround each with a circle of lavender, your feature is done.
PLANT FOR IMPACT BONUS FEATURES
tHere are species roses with brilliant bonus features. the single red flowers of Rosa
moyesii, are followed by flaskshaped scarlet hips that persist all winter.
there’s even a rose with decorative thorns — Rosa
sericea Pteracantha. the tall, arching stems are armed with keel- shaped spines that glow when lit by a low winter sun.
but beware — this monster grows 2.5 m high with those thorns and takes no prisoners. One to view in a botanic garden, perhaps, from a safe distance.