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.

Attractive dark pink buds opening into delightful baby pink flowers produced wither singly or in small clusters. A good repeater throughout the season, this makes an excellent bridal flower as well as a good, sturdy, garden plant. 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.

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.

Stongly fragrant, fully double, yellow flowers from early summer into autumn. 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.

Mme Isaac Pereire represents all the strengths of late 19th century shrub roses. It is capable of producing some of the most opulent of flowers, with one of the best scents of all roses. The flowers are substantial and weighty. Can be susceptible to black spot, so good air circulation around the plant is essential and use of a black spot treatment such as Rose Clear would be beneficial.

A stunning rose with great disease-resistance producing vivid, cerise-pink flowers in summer.

An ever popular rose growing to 5m in height with plentiful white flowers opening a soft lilac-pink with a strong, musky fragrance. Flowers quite late in the season.

This variety is particularly tolerant of dry weather, and really looks its best in a hot summer. The flowers are a beautiful white colour with the faintest hint of lemon at the centre, opening from long, classically shaped buds. Usually borne singly, they occasionally come in small clusters.

Rose of the Year 2007. A delightful rose producing enormous trusses of flowers in a gorgeous and seductive shade of pink on an incredibly vigorous plant.

The flowers of 'Wedding Day' open from pale apricot buds and are creamy-yellow before fading to pure white, carried in an enormous profusion of clusters of 20-40, picking up crimson markings as they fade. The flowers are then succeeded by little scarlet hips. Strong, fruity fragrance. Height to 8m.

An invaluable garden rose particularly for its purple leaves and its abundant crop of hips. It is the perfect foil for other roses, shrubs and herbaceous plants because its colour combines well with anything. Small bright crimson or carmine flowers fading to mid-pink coming in clusters of 5-15.

This rose is grown primarily for its unusual and beautiful prickles which are large, flat and broad and a brilliant blood red in colour when young.  This variety is best planted where the early morning or late afternoon sun can shine through the prickles, illuminating them.  In cooler climates, this is oftenn the first of all roses to flower.