Six of the best ... roses

Iam not sure if it is that we have been in lockdown for the past seven weeks and are suddenly allowed to go out in our cars for trips around the countryside, but I have noticed that the roses are putting on a wonderful display this year. Roses have long been the favourite in the English garden and apart from pruning each year they are probably one of the easiest flowers to grow.

Now that garden centres are open again, it is a good time to have a wander around the rose section to see them in full bloom. You can buy them at this time of year in pots, or alternatively wait until the autumn and send off to a specialist rose grower for what are called bare root plants. Whatever way you decide to purchase them, there are now many varieties to choose from and here are my six favourites.

Number 6. Rambling Rector. This is probably the best of the rambling roses, it produces heads of semi double creamy white flowers which have a musky clove scent and later in the year it produces masses of small red hips. If you have an old fruit tree in your garden Rambling Rector is the ideal rose to grow up it. I planted one up against my old plum tree on the allotment a couple of years ago, and it has just started to flower. Hopefully, in another three or four years it will spread through the tree and give me a splash of colour right through the summer.

Number 5 New Dawn. A lovely soft pink climbing rose. I remember planting it up the front of an old cottage in Wisborough

Green and after a couple of years it covered the whole wall. With a white background New Dawn makes the most wonderful show and in fact was voted the best rose in the world at the 11th world rose convention in 1997.

Number 4. The Generous Gardener. An English climbing rose bred by David Austin. The flowers are almost water-lily like of a pale pink, with the most fragrant smell. I planted one at the end of my garden shed a couple of years ago and it ha just started to flower. When I go to the allotment first thing in the morning to do the watering, it fills the air with its wonderful scent.

Number 3. Bonica. A lovely shrub rose. I once created a circular bed of these roses and under planted it with cat mint. It looked magnificent and in the autumn it produces an abundance of red hips.

Number 2. Port Sunlight. An English shrub rose which has rosette flowers of a rich apricot paling towards the edges. This makes a lovely addition to a summer bouquet mixed with alchemilla mollis and gypsophila.

Number 1. Gertrude Jekyll. My favourite rose of all time. Named after the famous garden designer. I have moved house many times over the years and one of my first jobs is planting a couple of Gertrude Jekyll. I suppose she has become an old friend. This week’s picture shows her in my garden this week, she never fails to disappoint with her rosette shaped bright pink flowers and old fashioned rose scent.

Good Luck.