After a couple of icy cold hours this morning on the allotment, what better way to keep warm this afternoon than sitting on the sofa and choosing roses for the new cottage garden bed.
There are so many suppliers it’s is difficult to chose who to order from as you trawl through catalogues and websites, including the well known and trusted rose growers David Austin Roses and Peter Beales Roses. I eventually decided to go to the David Austin website and then started the daunting job of choosing what to buy. There are so many stunning roses, not only color and fragrance but type – floribundas, shrub, old roses, hybrid tea, climbing and rambling roses
Out of 100’s of roses to chose from I selected just three. Why only 3? My criteria was:
- Size I am limited for space so I looked for small to medium size roses. Climbers and large shrub roses are out of the question.
- Fragrance I believe that roses should smell wonderful, a medium to strong fragrance is important.
- Name Roses usually have special meanings to us and my selection was based on ‘memories’.
My final choice:
Champagne Moment is an apricot floribunda measuring 4ft x 2.5ft. I chose it in memory of my dad, who died in August. He was a lover of the good life and always had champagne on offer.
L’Aimant is a coral-pink floribunda measuring 3ft x 2.5ft. This was my first perfume, bought for me by my paternal grandma. It will be interesting if it’s fragrance is anything close to the perfume.
A Whiter Shade of Pale is a blush-pink hybrid tea rose measuring 3ft x 3ft. When I was a teenager, my Mum’s favorite tune was Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale . I will think of her and have that tune in my head every time I’m at the allotment. Well perhaps not every time, nobody wants an ear worm!
Bare rooted
I have ordered bare rooted roses, which I can plant now and they will have time to get used to their new home and have a head start for the summer. I am aware that I can’t plant them when the ground is frozen, and will keep a close eye on the weather.
What criteria would you use for choosing roses, what are your favorite and why?
