Gardeners ditching red roses for herbs

FRAGRANT red roses and juicy apples freshly plucked from the tree were once essential to any dream garden. But not any more.

Instead, gardeners are going for vibrant orange, pink and yellow roses, while exotic herbs and medicinal plants are eclipsing traditional fruit trees.

And the rise in vegetarians and vegans is changing the way we garden, with sales of vegetable seeds soaring, according to a study.

Herb sales are also rocketing as growers buy them for curries or use traditional favourites such as mint for cocktails. Another trend is the rise in medicinal plants such as aloe vera.

The report, by Wyevale Garden Centres, used sales figures and a survey of 15,000 customers to come up with the latest trends.

On the red rose’s wilting prospects for 2018, the report said: ‘Demand for the romantic hue is waning as yellow, orange, pink and purple roses now fill Wyevale Garden Centres top ten spots for this year’s stock.’ The chain’s top three rose varieties last year were Gertrude Jekyl, which is peach; the yellow Arthur Bell, and For Your Eyes Only, an orange rose. The Poet’s Wife, the fourth top-selling rose, is a ‘purply pink’. Fruit trees are falling out of favour, with sales dropping by 22 per cent over the last five years. The report said ‘fruit plants and trees have been losing face to mounting sales of vegetable seeds and plants (up 30 per cent) and herbs (up 21 per cent)’. It said veganism has ‘spurred an increased demand for really fresh vegetables’. The report said 43 per cent of gardeners under 40 were growing their own veg, compared to 32 per cent of the over-60s.

Herb gardens were once the preserve of serious cooks but David Mitchell, Wyevale’s chief buyer, said younger gardeners were now using herbs too – in cocktails.

‘In the past, people might have grown mint for a sauce, now it’s going to make a mojito,’ he said. Exotic herbs such as lemongrass, useful for Thai curry, were also becoming popular.

Medicinal plants are on the rise, with the succulent plant aloe vera shooting up by 18 per cent in a year. It can be used to treat cuts, as well as in beauty treatments.