Roses are out of fashion. They're diseased, they're boring, they're hard work and they don't smell anymore. Oh no, no. You're so wrong. Things have moved on since the sixties.
Buy yourself a rose bush. Not just any sort. Make sure it's an English Rose. Go to any good garden centre and ask to be shown the roses. There are many growers but I always grow roses from David Austin so these are the type I shall tell you about.
These roses are bred so that they not only look beautiful but flower almost repeatedly throughout the season. They all have the scent and the appearance of older roses. They all seem far more disease resistant than some of the older varieties.
I've grown roses sucessfully on very heavy clay soil although the soil in my present garden is a little better. You can get all the growing advice you need from the garden centre, or books (remember they're free from the library) oe even look it up on the internet. The information is out there.
And do we rember that we should always plant in autumn? Well maybe we should, but I don't. Get your rose in it's nice plastic pot. Choose it when you can see exactly what shape, colour and smell (Oh that smell!) you want. Rush it home and soak it in water. Plant it and start enjoying it. Remember this is just the beginning for your rose. Keep watering for the first summer and after that follow the advice in your book.
There's so much choice of colour. You can have peaches, creams, pinks, purples, reds, oranges, yellows and whites. My favourites are Cottage Rose, Abraham Derby, Eglantyne and Graham Thomas. I've only had one that doesn't flower as often as I'd like. This is called Benjamin Brittain but the colour of the flowers makes up for this. It's a lovely soft red but the centre appears to glow with a beautiful yellow/orange shade. I have underplanted it with a very dark blue lavender and it's a stunning combination.
Coming home on a stll sunny day is such a pleasure. You can smell my roses long before you get to my gate.
These are not like a quick-fix bedding plant. One of these roses will cost between £8 to £12 but it may well outlast you and even if you don't take care of it at all once it's established, it will just go on taking care of itself.
Tips for all you no chemical devotees follow.
Mulch in autumn. In spring rake it up again and burn it. Mulch with compost again. Plant a few cloves of garlic around the plant and give a feed and spray with liquid seaweed every month from spring to late summer. I'm not sure which of these is the effective bit but this even works on older varieties so I keep doing them all.
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just read again! god, yes!! i completely fogot about the healing properties of planting garlic near the shoots! thanks! will pick up a bulb in tesco tomorrow before the leaves fall off with black spot!! thanks again! :) x
fabfrog5 18.04.2006 18:34
cheers for your great advice! i bought peachy yellow david austin graham thomas types last summer - they were reduced as it was late september and they would soon die. i kept them in their pot and sucessfully planted them into clay soil just like you and they are climbing nicely! no flowers yet though! great tips there! :) x
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Oct 31st, 2005
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