Wealden Times | WT265 | June 2024 | Education Supplement inside

Garden
Roses
all the
Way
Jo Arnell turns her attention to the English
garden’s most beloved blooms
istockphoto.com/artant / Punnarong / Veleri / OGri / Gary Matuschka / Iva Vagnerova
Roses are the beauty queens of
the summer garden; delicate,
fragrant and romantic – and
despite stemming from another
continent, they seem a quintessentially
English plant. Prima donnas, however,
do have a bit of a reputation for being
tricky and needing lots of TL and
for years roses were grown on their
own, so that they could be sprayed
and primped and grow unimpeded
by rambunctious companions. This
style of rose garden – I’m thinking
island beds, scorched earth sparsely
planted with twiggy Hybrid Teas and
Floribundas, and all of them unscented
– nearly put me off roses for life.
Nowadays, thankfully, there are
disease resistant varieties around
and we have realised that roses
are actually vigorous and tough –
and most positively benefit from
a bit of companion planting.
A rose is a rose is a rose
All roses started as wild plants, mostly
in Asia, but they have been very widely
bred and there’s now a bewildering
number to choose from. The old roses –
Albas, Gallicas, Damasks and Bourbons
are at the root of most of our modern
roses. These are highly fragrant, usually
robust, but only flower once. The repeat
flowering Portland Rose was developed
in America and crossed with Bourbons
and others to make Hybrid Perpetuals
and then Hybrid Teas and Floribundas.
The Teas have impressive single blooms,
while Floribundas sport numerous
sprays of smaller flowers, both are
remontant (repeat flowering). Some of
these powerhouse roses, in the quest for
endless blooms, lost their old fashioned
blousy charm and fragrance along the
way. The New English roses (most bred
by David Austin) brought back some
of the qualities of the old roses, but
kept the vigour and repeat flowering.
Smaller roses have been bred for
niche environments – there are patio,
ground cover and miniature roses for
containers and the front of borders.
They have all the qualities of larger
varieties, but miniatures are compact
in growth habit, while ground cover
roses are low and spreading.
Standard roses are grafted onto a
root stock with a long sturdy stem
and can be used either as focal points
– at entrances and by front doors for
example, or within borders to bring
height and impact at eye level. They
do remind me a bit of the roses in
Alice in Wonderland (thankfully
they’re available in more colours than
red or white) and will need to be
supported and carefully pruned to
stop them becoming too top heavy.
Climbing roses are similar to shrub
varieties, but have longer, more pliable
stems. They differ from ramblers in
that they are pruned in spring, as they
flower on the current year’s growth,
and tend to be less vigorous. Ramblers
flower on the previous year’s growth
and usually only once. These have
a reputation for being enthusiastic
– romping up trees and smothering
outbuildings. Prune ramblers after
flowering in late summer, although you
can re-invigorate an overgrown one
by cutting out some of the old thick
stems right down at the base in spring.
Species roses are robust and although
they only flower once, often have other
attributes that make them desirable. Rosa
glauca has beautiful foliage, a graceful
habit and lovely hips, R. banksiae will
festoon an arch or pergola with tiny,
soft butter yellow blooms early in May,
long before any of the other varieties.
Whatever your situation, or colour
preference, you should be able to find
a rose to suit – there are even some
that will grow in shade, although
most do prefer a sunny site.
121
priceless-magazines.com