Roses

Rose of the Year 2010. Large clusters of buttery yellow flowers repeating well, with the unusual scent of myrrh. Long lasting flowers for cutting and also suitable for growing in a pot.

American Pillar has been extremely popular ever since it was introduced.  It never fails to flower exuberantly, though rather late in the season, after most roses have already given off their best.  It roots quickly from cuttings, is easy to grow and is the hardiest of Dr Walter Van Fleet's 'dooryard' roses. The flowers are a cheerful crimson, with a glowing white centre and a large clump of bright golden stamens.  They are paler in hot weather and bright sunlight, so this is a rose that looks better in cool conditions but nonetheless grows and flowers spectacularly in widely different climates-from very hot to very cold.  The flowers come in large clusters and are followed by a handsome crop of scarlet hips in autumn.  The plant grows very vigorously, building up lots of slender branches with a fair covering of large prickles.  The British rosarian T C Mansell wrote in 1946 that "it can provide as impenetrable a thicket as ever Christian had to surmount" referring to the trials facing Christian in John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress).  The handsome leaves turn slightly purple in late autumn and last a long time, usually until after the birds have taken the hips.

Bonica 82 is one of the most successful and widely planted of all modern roses.  It owes its popularity partly to its remarkable vigour and floriferousness, and partly to its suitablility for so many purposes.  It is equally useful and easy to grow as a shrub rose, ground-cover rose, landscaping plant, and container rose.  The flowers are bright, pale pink, opening from rich, pink buds and fading eventually to white in hot climates.  They have ruffled petals and a lightly cupped shape.  The flowers usually come in clusters of 5-15.  Although their stalks are short, they are useful, long-lasting roses to cut for the house.  Bonica 82 has a very long and spectacular main flowering.  Thereafter, it continues to produce a few flowers until late autumn.  They are followed by bright red hips that usually persist until the following spring.  The plant makes a thick, rounded bush, capable of reaching 1.5m, but is best pruned back to about half its size every other year or so.  Its leaves are handsome, dark and glossy and contribute much to its overall beauty.  Blackspot can afflict it later in the year, but seems not to affect the plant's growth, flowering or vigour.

This is the most widely grown of the hubrid musks.  The flowers are variable in their colour: apricot-yellow, soft orange, honey and above all a rich buff.  Its colour is deeper in shade or in cooler weather (especially in autumn), and tends to fade to cream in hot, sunny weather.  The flowers are fully double and held in loose clusters that cut well; they also tend to be larger in autumn.  The plant has a lax habit of growth, and is often trained up as a climber in hot areas.  In cool climates, it eventually turns into a broad shrub with long, arching, flexible stems.

Slightly larger flowers than the bush form, this is a wonderful plant with bright scarlet flowers. A great improvement on the shrub form that whilst it is not as continuous in its flowering as the shrub, the initial burst is spectacular and once established, the plant is seldom without flowers.

An iconic rose which was David Austin's first ever hybrid. Round, globular flowers with incurved petals that never really open out owing to their sheer density. They are a pale clear pink with a darker pink inside and carry a strong myrrh-like fragrance. Can be grown as a shrub rose or as a climber.

A vigorous semi-evergreen shrub with relatively thronless stems and glossy dark green leaves producing clusters of scented creamy white, sometime blush-pink flowers in summer. All the roses we sell are field-grown and lifted when conditions are at their optimum to ensure strong, quality plants and are potted-up as soon as they are received into the nursery. This ensures that the roots do not dry out and gives the plant the best start. Therefore, do not be surprised if the soil falls away from the root when planting, particularly during the winter and early spring months. We use a high quality commercial compost mix when potting our roses and recommend you incorporate this into the planting hole when planting out in the garden.

Rose of the Year 1986. The flowers of this rose are beautiful and dainty-pale pink with a hint of salmon on the upper side of the petals and paler towards the centre. The flowers start as elegant little buds, opening out very quickly and nearly flat. It has neat and very small, mid-green, semi-glossy leaves and a bushy habit of growth. An excellent plant for containers and the front of the border. All the roses we sell are field-grown and lifted when conditions are at their optimum to ensure strong, quality plants and are potted-up as soon as they are received into the nursery. This ensures that the roots do not dry out and gives the plant the best start. Therefore, do not be surprised if the soil falls away from the root when planting, particularly during the winter and early spring months. We use a high quality commercial compost mix when potting our roses and recommend you incorporate this into the planting hole when planting out in the garden.

A good rose that is extremely popular. The flowers are a good rich yellow with darker, almost golden backs to the petals. They are shapely and full of petals and borne in well-spaced clusters. All the roses we sell are field-grown and lifted when conditions are at their optimum to ensure strong, quality plants and are potted-up as soon as they are received into the nursery. This ensures that the roots do not dry out and gives the plant the best start. Therefore, do not be surprised if the soil falls away from the root when planting, particularly during the winter and early spring months. We use a high quality commercial compost mix when potting our roses and recommend you incorporate this into the planting hole when planting out in the garden.

A rose that sells on its colour.  The name says it all really. The flowers are orange-brown sometimes with white streaks, turning browner as they age but the plant is eye catching throughout and has a delightful, delicately sweet fragrance.

An abundance of neatly formed golden yellow flowers with good scent. Repeats well.

A pale pink shrub rose with the appearance of a spreading floribunda. The flowers are rose pink at first with slightly darker reverses, fading to the palest creamy pink, and borne in great profusion in clusters of 5-11.

One of the world's most popular roses with pale pink flowers in cool climates and white in hot. The plant is tall, vigorous, upright in habit and very healthy.

Sweetly scented cream flowers edged cherry red held single or in small clusters. All the roses we sell are field-grown and lifted when conditions are at their optimum to ensure strong, quality plants and are potted-up as soon as they are received into the nursery. This ensures that the roots do not dry out and gives the plant the best start. Therefore, do not be surprised if the soil falls away from the root when planting, particularly during the winter and early spring months. We use a high quality commercial compost mix when potting our roses and recommend you incorporate this into the planting hole when planting out in the garden.

Impressive clusters of mauve to purple blended flowers with a pleasant, mild scent. A reliable repeat flowering rambler.

A seedling of New Dawn with clusters of double, bright red flowers set against dark green foliage.

Rose of the Year 1987. A well-formed variety with good scent and rich, velvety-red flowers throughout summer.

Vibrant pink flowers with golden centres. A strong-grower with stiff, upright habit and healthy foliage.

Clusters of elegant, lilac-pink flowers with an unusual anise scent continuously throughout the season.

Beautiful sugar pink, fully-double, scented flowers in abundance throughout the summer on strong plants with healthy, leathery, dark green foliage.

The best known and most widely grown of all the purple-flowered climbers. The flowers are reddish purple at first turning a dark blue-violet before fading to lilac grey. The flowers also tend to stay on the plant for a long time so the effect of all the different hues occurs together. Most of the flowers also have broad white streaks in them running right from the centre to the tips of the petals.

A low-growing, spreading rose with dark green leabes, producing masses of slightly fragrant, single to semi-double, buttery yellow flowers in summer and autumn.

A sport of officinalis probably from Norwich, which appeared in the mid-16th century. It has white stripes irregularly splashed across the petals. A popular variety and very widely grown. Occasionally a few flowers or the odd branch may revert back to the original officinalis. These are best removed to prevent the entire plant from reverting.

A small, suckering shrub with prickly stems and fern-like leaves producing creamy-white single flowers in early summer followed by black hips in autumn.