You’ve decided to jazz up your garden with a few roses, so here are some suggestions…
Now is the time to see, select and wait.
Decide on a site, and the look you want to achieve. Be adventurous and use your imagination in your mix of colour, shape, perfume and beauty. Climbers can be trained along a fence. A standard rose looks great as a feature in a lawn. Plant several to screen a drive. Low-growing bush roses could line a path or the front footpath. Scented roses are great by an entrance or under a window. A pillar rose could be planted by a verandah post. Patio roses and ground covers grow well on a bank.
Visit a public rose garden in your area during the spring and summer. Even in small gardens you can see how well various roses grow in your area. Make a note of the size of the plant for that’s what you can expect. Visit a local rose show to find particular blooms.
Climbing roses are often used to climb over fences and walls, along wires, between posts, over arches, sheds, garages and trees. They make a huge floral statement if you have the room. Sam McGredy bred a series of climbers and besides Dublin Bay, Casino is the best modern yellow rose. Swan Lake is the best repeat flowering ivory-white climber. There are now some more compact climbing roses such as Patio Charm available for the smaller garden.
Floribunda roses were developed from hybrid tea roses and flower in extravagant clusters that make a spectacular picture, continuing to bloom for months on end throughout summer. They have a huge range of flower styles which may be single, double, rosette, very large, very small, waved, fluted, “hand painted’ or striped.
Standard roses and miniature standards are ideal for growing in pots and they flower for a long time. Great for a feature rose that can be shifted when not in flower. Ideal for Barbecue areas, patios, as a feature or by a pool. If you are looking at large flowering roses on a standard, be careful in your selection. Some such as Solitaire, Sheer Bliss, Aotearoa or Loving Memory grow naturally tall and vigorous. They can look ridiculously tall and you won’t see the blooms on a standard.
English or David Austin roses have an old fashioned look and are usually heavily scented. There are gorgeous ones like Sally Holmes or Mary Rose but they need plenty of space.
The patio rose is compact and usually free flowering with smaller blooms and can be placed in an open area close to the house or apartment balcony. They make excellent flower borders along the fence or path. If grown in a pot, it is necessary to see they are placed for six hours of sunlight a day. Patio Jewel, Patio Gem, Loving Touch are just a few.
Ground Cover roses are the most recent to make their impact. Their attraction is the minimal care they require, and as the name suggests cover areas with a constant mass of colour. The Flower Carpet series in cerise, white, lemon and peach is most popular for this task.
You see there are many roses for all different situations to create interest, colour and beauty in your garden.