by James Alexander-Sinclair
Although the time for roses is long past they can be remarkably resilient. Here we are at the beginning of December and I have two flowering in my garden...
Although the time for roses is long past they can be remarkably resilient. Here we are at the beginning of December and I have two flowering in my garden at the moment - Rosa 'The Prince' and R. Moonlight. It is true that neither bloom is much to write home about but they get a gold star for effort. Much more exciting are the hips of R. laevigata 'Cooperi' that shine like enchanted kumquats through the gloom.
Still on the subject of roses, I have ordered assorted batches of bare-rooted roses for various clients. If you have not yet ordered then get your skates on as they are best bought at this time of year for winter planting. As were all plants until relatively recently - nurserymen dug up and split plants and then sent them out wrapped in paper. This all changed with the advent of the cheap plastic pot and the garden centre which meant that we could buy and plant all year round. Some wholesale nurseries still send out plants in the old fashioned way - I always enjoy getting a cardboard box of naked irises.
I digress; my favourite roses at the moment are the Hybrid Musk roses. They were mostly bred by the Rev. Joseph Pemberton in the early 20th Century and make great shrubs and small climbers. They are soft coloured, like cowrie pink 'Penelope', clean white 'Prosperity' and shimmery, pink 'Felicia'.
I am also ordering wine-coloured shrub 'Charles de Mills', luscious scarlet 'Scarlachglut' and the lemony buttoned climber R. banksiae 'Lutea'. One of the longest lasting roses is (the sadly scentless) R. bonica, which will almost certainly still be flowering at Christmas.
It is very important to be quick off the mark when bare rooted stock arrives. Don't let them dry out - I tend to put them in the water butt for a couple of hours as soon as they arrive. Prune back any damaged roots, dig a decent hole and add some good compost.
I will not be ordering either this (which I have christened Rosa 'Euggghh') or this (which I now call R. 'Letitia Dean on Strictly Come Dancing' - because it is too pink and flouncy for anything else).
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