Flowers of romance
There are a couple of issues to be aware of when planting new roses. If you plant one where you’ve already had roses growing, you may find that the new plant won’t thrive and may even die.
This is due to rose replant disease, a strange quirk of this species.
Either plant them in a different area or if you have no other space, you can grow a covering of corn marigolds for a year or two. They seem to sterilise the soil of whatever residue the old roses leave and subsequently the new roses seem to grow better.
What’s the best place to plant? The Rose Valley in Bulgaria is probably the largest rose garden in the world – it’s filled with Rosa damascena which is harvested annually to produce rose oil for the perfume industry. It takes several thousand tonnes of rose petals to produce one kilo of this liquid gold and every May and June the valley is filled with the glorious scent of these shrubs in full blossom. The valley has rich but free draining alluvial soil and is sheltered from winds by the mountains.
High rainfall in May and
June contribute to near perfect conditions to produce a profusion of roses every year – and there are a number of rose festivals whereby tourists can visit and join in with the petal picking process.
So when choosing a spot for your rose, think lots of sunshine, good air flow, shelter and really good soil.
For excellent value shop now for bare-root roses which are available up until March. Container-grown roses are suitable for planting year-round though the choice tends to be a little narrower.
The range of roses is vast so when you’re visiting other gardens it’s a good idea to have a handy notebook to jot down your favourites.
Catalogues and websites are a font of information but they can’t tell you how a plant actually smells and it is the delicious perfume that really makes us fall head over heels in love with a rose.
A few of my favourites? ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ for its bright pink flowers and amazing scent; to grow through a tree, ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’ which is a vigorous climber with musky pink blush roses; and for something different, ‘Alchymist’ is a delightful climber with a delicious scent in yellow, apricot or a dash of pink.
It takes thousands of tonnes of petals to make a kilo of rose oil