Love like a rose

WHEN it comes to discussing roses I don’t believe in saving the best til last, I go straight to the David Austin Roses.

Many people will be aware of the term David Austin Roses without really knowing what it means. Well, David Austin is a nurseryman in the UK with a passion for collecting and breeding roses. He introduced his first rose, Rosa ‘Constance Spry’ in 1961 and since establishing David Austin Roses in 1969 he has gone on to develop hundreds of new varieties with his son working alongside him for the last 15 years.

But what is a David Austin Rose, what makes it special? Quite simply, these roses combine the form and fragrance of old-fashioned English roses with the repeat flowering and disease resistance of modern roses. But that sentence doesn’t say enough. It doesn’t describe to you the magnificent heady aroma that will literally stop you in your tracks when you pause to get a nose full. Neither does it describe to you the fantastic rich colours, some of which are hard to even name, nor the masses of petals that go into making up each perfectly formed flower. No, a David Austin Rose has to be seen, touched, smelled and just admired to be appreciated. If you have never grown roses before, and are maybe scared because of the bad press that they have received in terms of being high maintenance, then let me urge you, no, let me insist that you invest this year in one of these beauties. Grow it in a pot or in one of your garden beds, feed it, water it, talk to it if you wish, but then just sit back and enjoy it. And enjoy it you will, these plants are just breathtaking — and a must for every self-respecting garden. I defy anyone to walk past one of these beauties without pausing, admiring and sticking your nose into one of the many blooms.

Any David Austin Rose is worth growing, but let me talk about a few:

* ‘Constance Spry’ the first of his introductions, is still widely available today. Whilst it is not repeat flowering, it flowers early in the summer, it is still worth growing as it develops into a large plant up to 2m in height and about the same in width and produces masses of pale rose pink flowers.

* ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, the quintessential English rose in scent and appearance. Regularly topping lists of Favourite Rose, she has beautiful deep pink flowers and will grow to about 1.5m with a similar spread.

* Sharing the same name as my beautiful goddaughter, ‘Grace’ is a stunning variety with flowers in one of those hard to describe colours. Pale apricot/orange is my best stab at it. Strongly scented, she will stay smaller than many of the other varieties, growing to about 1.2m.

* You can’t discuss rose varieties without referring to a red rose. ‘William Shakespeare 2000’ is another one that will remain relatively low between 1-1.2m. Exquisite deep blood red flowers becoming more purple as the flower ages are produced freely throughout summer and autumn. Strongly scented and with good disease resistance, look no further for a classic red.

Once you have discovered these beauties it can be difficult to remind yourself about all the other roses that are out there. They are broken down into many sections and subsections:

Hybrid Tea: A hybrid Tea Rose will grow to 100–200 cm high with a spread of about 100 cm. Each flower is produced individually at the end of each stem as opposed to in clusters. Many are scented and they come in every colour and flower all summer long.

Floribundas: Similar to the Hybrid Tea except that these produce flowers in clusters at the end of each stem with each flower being smaller than the individual flowers of the Hybrid Tea.

Patio Roses: Small plants which only grow to about 40 cm in height, producing many clusters of flowers all summer long.

Standard Roses: Any rose can be grown as a standard giving the effect of a clear stem to about 1.5m with the growth on top of the stem. Standards are a great way to create a bit of height in a bed.

Ground Cover Roses: Most will have a spread of about 1 square metre, not getting much higher than 40 cm. The flowers are normally quite small and simple. Many ground cover roses that are grown now are of the carpet rose type which have been bred for ease of growing and resistance to many of the pest and disease problems associated with roses.

Shrub: Shrub roses are harder to define, being made up largely of roses that don’t fall into any other group. They tend to be more vigorous and larger growing than the Hybrid Tea and Floribundas, growing up to 3 m in height. Good for hedgerows and poor soils.

Climbers: Climbing Roses will cover a good size area of wall or fence if given the support of a trellis or wire.

They like a south- or west-facing aspect and like all roses they need to be cut back before the end of February so that they will continue to flower all summer long.

Ramblers: Ramblers differ from Climbing Roses in that their stems aren’t as rigid or self-supporting.

Therefore, they are ideal plants to scramble up a tree or an old building. Ramblers produce masses of flowers on new stems that come from ground level each year. Their flowering period tends to be shorter than all the other groups, with all their flowers being produced during a 4-6 week period.