After having such a cold spring the roses here were very late getting going and flowering was delayed. However it has turned out to be a fabulous year for the roses, and many are still flowering.
Now is the time to be ordering or planting roses. You can still buy containerised plants in the garden centres and online, or can order bare rooted plants to be delivered in the dormant months from now until about March.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with roses. I really love their flowers and scent and uses in the kitchen, but don’t like their thorns, disease problems and erratic performance! I think that many people are like me and want long flowering, healthy (we don’t spray), and scented plants. We have quite a few roses planted in different parts of the garden, so I thought you may be interested in the varieties that do well here at Fieldcrest.
Roses which do well in the Yew Walk
We have four beds which are backed by a Yew hedge and with some tall conifers along the edges. This is a difficult area for roses as it is backed by Yew hedging and there are tall conifers at the end and middle. The Fairy, Bonica and Rose de Rescht (pictured) have all done well, but I have given up with quite a few others who don’t like the shade and having to compete with perennials. I was doing pretty well with the David Austin roses Darcey Bussell but sadly our builders have dug them up!
Roses which do well in the Cutting Garden and Main Borders
Especially good have been: Irish Mist, A Whiter Shade of Pale (pictured), Molineux (pictured), Charlotte, Tickled Pink, Hot Chocolate, Just Joey and the climbing New Dawn.
In the main borders Iceberg, the Generous Gardener and England’s Rose have all done well.
Many of these roses were very late into flower this year, but as a bonus are still flowering now.If anyone can recommend any good roses, why not let us know in the comments below.
Upcoming talk by Michael Marriott from David Austin Roses
We are looking forward to Michael Marriott from David Austin Roses coming here on the evening of November 4th. He will be giving a talk on ‘The Many Ways of Using Roses’, which will take place in our garden room so tickets are strictly limited. It should be a great evening and a rare opportunity to learn about roses from one of the country’s top experts. Tickets are £25 to include tea/cake.
Book tickets for Michael Marriott’s talk here.