ROSES FOR THE BEGINNER

by Janet Newton - Hon Secretary

To the uninitiated a rose is probably just a rose. To those of us in the know it is far more complicated than that. This web site is designed not only to give help and information to our members but to help our web visitors too and encourage them to try growing roses. Roses have had a bad press over the past few years as being difficult to grow due to all manor of pests and diseases which can attack them, a factor which I am sure has put many people off growing more than a couple of bushes in their back garden. Many new roses are disease resistant and we would encourage the newcomer to start with these.

What to buy

Large Flowered Roses (Hybrid Tea) can be bought in Bush, Half Standard or Full Standard form. This can be any variety which is suitable for growing in rose beds. The bloom can form singly or in small groups and will be a double well shaped flower with more than 20 petals.

Good varieties to buy, Red :- Alexander, Ernest H. Morse, Rose Gaujard. Yellow:- Elina, Dutch Gold, Freedom. Peach:- Just Joey, Pink:- Blessings, Silver Jubilee, Congratulations.

Cluster Flowered Roses (Floribunda) can be bought in Dwarf Bush, Bush, Shrub Type, Half Standard or Full Standard form. There will be large clusters of flowers on each stem which will open out at the same time. The blooms can be double, although these will not be of the quality of a Hybrid Tea, or semi double with 8 to 20 petals, or single flowered with fewer than 8 petals.

Good varieties to buy, Red:- Fred Loads, Trumpeter. Yellow:- Princess Alice, Toprose, Allgold. Pink:- Sexy Rexy, Hannah Gordon, Queen Elizabeth. White, Iceberg. Cream, Sally Holmes.

Miniature Roses and Dwarf Cluster Flowered (Patio Rose) These can be bought in Bush form and can be grown in rose beds or can live quite happily in pots on the patio but must not be allowed to dry out in warm weather. Some varieties can also be trained to grow as small standards. Stems can have Hybrid Tea type blooms or cluster flowers.

Good varieties to buy, Red:- Drummer Boy, Sheri Anne, Red Ace. Peach:- Sweet Dream. Yellow:- Rise 'n' Shine, Golden Trust. Pink:- Little Bo-Peep, Ballerina.

Ramblers. Summer flowering Ramblers flower for only 4 weeks. They have long pliable stems with clusters of small flowers. The perpetual flowering Rambler is a more recent group which has larger blooms and will flower through to the autumn.

Good varieties to buy, White:- Rambling Rector, Pink:- Pauls Himalayan Musk. These two are rampant growers , up to 30 feet, they will hide unsightly buildings and grow high up into trees, New Dawn, ideal for north facing walls, flowers mid summer to autumn, Red:- Crimson Shower, a strong grower flowering in mid summer to autumn, can suffer from mildew. Pink:- Dorothy Perkins, suitable for Pergola's or arches where there is good air circulation as it can suffer from mildew. Can be grown as a weeping standard. Flowers mid summer. Blush Rambler.

Climbers. These roses can have H T or Floribunda type blooms. They will grow to between 6 and 10 feet tall and mostly flower throughout the summer.

Good varieties to buy, White:- Bobby James, vigorous but flowers only once in early summer. Kiftsgate, vigorous, flowers in mid summer. Pink:-  Pink Perpetue, Zephirine Drouhin, this rose is thorn less. Salmon Pink:- Compassion, repeats all summer and autumn, good perfume. Red:- Sympathie, American Pillar, Dublin Bay.

Ground Cover. These bushes grow to about 2 feet in height but from 3 to 5 feet wide.

The County type are a good buy:- White:- Kent, Pale Pink:- Northamptonshire, Pink:- Surrey, Deep Pink:- Hertfordshire, Wiltshire. Red:- Berkshire, Chilterns.

Old Garden Roses and Wild Roses (Specie Roses). Species roses are varieties of the original or wild rose and use the Latin name Rosa. Specie roses have been grow for thousands of years. Rosa Gallica was cultivated by the Ancient Greeks and was taken by the house of Lancaster as its emblem. Rosa Alba, cultivated by the Romans was adopted by the house of York. You are probably familiar with David Austin Roses which are modern forms of the Species rose.

A favourite variety to buy is Rosa Mundi and although it tends to suffer from mildew it is worth growing for its beautiful pink and white striped blooms.