Thorny devils: our blooming love affair with roses

Roses, if a recent survey by Bord Bia is to be believed, are the nation’s favourite garden flower. Certainly, all that’s required is a stroll down any suburban street (and a surreptitious peek over garden gates) to see that we grow these woody plants in generous abundance. But what’s also painfully evident is that we sometimes struggle to grow them well; so often, they look diseased, starved of nutrients, or inelegantly leggy as a result of inadequate light or infrequent pruning.

In fairness, not all of this is the gardener’s fault. Many (but not all) roses are demanding plants, requiring full sun, and a fertile, moist but well-drained soil that’s rich in organic matter. On thin, tired, often compacted town soils where nearby walls wick moisture from the ground and a ready supply of manure is not easily sourced, it can be a struggle to provide such growing conditions. On top of this, some kinds – and in particular those known as Hybrid Teas – are naturally graceless in habit and difficult to place convincingly in any planting scheme.

Prone to disease

To make matters worse, bewilderingly (and some would say, illogically), some of the most popular varieties are also the most prone to disease. For years, for example, I struggled to control black spot and powdery mildew on the “Albertine” rambler that I grew against a sunny wall, digging it out only after discovering that this much-lauded variety is known for its susceptibility to these two common rose diseases.

Their demanding cultural requirements aside, many other popular rose varieties simply don’t do enough to justify them being given space in an average-sized garden. They flower for too short a period, or have an ugly growth habit, or their blooms are virtually scentless or prone to “balling” in wet weather (a condition where the flowers don’t open). But still we continue to grow them, proving that our relationship with this shrubby genus is a complicated mixture of love and hate.

New generation

And yet it needn’t be. Modern breeding, you see, has resulted in a new generation of roses that are reasonably sized, reliably hardy, healthy and repeat-flowering, giving a deeply scented display of weather-resistant, beautiful blooms over many months. Perhaps best known amongst these are what’s known as the David Austin English roses. This range of British-bred, mainly shrub roses includes the excellent Rosa “Gertrude Jekyll” (also known as “Ausbord”), whose strongly fragrant, deep pink, ruffled blooms are produced from July to September. You can grow it as a free-standing shrub, or alternatively against a wall or pergola as a compact climber (180-240cm tall). While happiest in full sun, it will even tolerate light shade.

Another outstanding Austin-bred, repeat-flowering shrub rose is “Graham Thomas”, called after the famous plantsman of the same name, with glowing-yellow cupped blooms that are also highly fragrant. Just as for “Gertrude Jekyll”, it can be grown as a relatively compact, freestanding shrub (180cm tall) or as a climber (3.6m tall).

A more recent addition is Rosa “Olivia Rose Austin”. When a breeder names a new variety after a family member, you can be pretty sure that it’s an outstanding plant, and so it is with this one, which the family firm describes as “possibly the best rose that we have introduced to date”. Exceptionally disease-resistant, with large, strongly perfumed, shallowly cupped, shell-pink flowers, it forms a compact shrub ideally suited to being grown in a mixed border or as a scented hedge, although you’ll also get away with growing it in a large container where space is tight. As with all of these modern-bred Austin roses, the trick is to keep the plants well fed and regularly deadheaded.

Species roses

Modern roses aside, there’s also a great resurgence of interest in species roses. While very few of these are repeat-flowering (nor are their flowers typically deeply scented), they’ll tolerate less-than-perfect growing conditions. Many – for example Rosa moyesii, R. rugosa, R. chinensis, R. glauca and R. roxburghii – also have good disease resistance as well as pollinator-friendly single blooms and ornamental autumn hips that look right at home in informal, even “wild” gardens.

Well-known British garden designer Dan Pearson used some of these species roses – the winged thorn rose, Rosa pterocantha, and R. rubiginosa – as part of his "best in show" Chatsworth-inspired garden at last year's Chelsea Flower Show, where he artfully blended them amongst grasses, wildflowers and rocky outcrops in a way that felt refreshingly modern.

Older varieties

Finally, let’s not forget the fact that, the tricky primadonnas aside, there are still many older varieties that remain exceptionally garden-worthy.

An example is the repeat-flowering, scarlet-blossomed floribunda rose, Rosa "Mary Morse", which Dublin gardener Helen Dillon uses to wonderful effect in her mixed borders, bravely growing it cheek by jowl with deep-pink Lythrum and Cosmos.

Other all-time greats include “Buff Beauty” (a repeat-flowering shrub rose with fragrant, apricot yellow blooms); “Alberic Barbier” (shade-tolerant, disease-resistant, repeat-flowering rambler with white blossoms); Rosa “Mutabilis” (repeat-flowering shrubby China rose with copper-pink blooms); and “Comte de Chambord” (vigorous, repeat-flowering shrub rose with strongly scented, full, pink flowers,

Tempted? Then you’ll be delighted to know that February is an excellent time to plant roses, as long as the ground isn’t sodden or frozen.

This week in the garden

Plant roses

You can plant them either as bare-root or potted plants into a sunny, open spot with a moist but free-draining, fertile soil generously enriched with garden compost or well-rotted manure. Water well. Recommended online Irish suppliers include Mr Middleton (mrmiddleton.com) and Johnstown Garden Centre (johnstowngardencentre.ie).

To avoid the risk of rose sickness, try to avoid planting into ground where roses recently grew. If this isn’t possible, excavate the soil to a depth of 45cm and replace with fresh soil before planting.

Sow broad beans

In milder areas these can be direct-sown now, but I prefer to sow mine under cover for transplanting outdoors later in the spring as young plants.

Sow seed

Aubergines, tomatoes, peppers and chilli peppers can grow on under cover in a sunny porch, conservatory, glasshouse or polytunnel. All require good bottom heat for successful germination; for best results, use a heated propagator.

Here’s a guide to individual optimum temperatures for germination: aubergine (25-30 degrees), chilli peppers (25-30 degrees), tomatoes (20-25 degrees), peppers (26-29 degrees).

Dates for your diary

Thursday, February 18th, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin (8pm, Visitor Centre Auditorium). “Myths, Fantasy and Frilly Knickers”, a lecture on the fascinating history of snowdrop collections and their cultivation in Ireland with galanthophile Assumpta Broomfield on behalf of the Alpine Garden Society. alpinegardensociety.ie

Saturday 27th-Sunday 28th February, 11am-4pm . Hellebore Days at Mount Venus Nursery, Walled Garden, Mutton Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. mountvenusnursery.com