Roses are perhaps my favorite flower!  There are so many varieties, some with glorious fragrances, others with prickly thorns that always seem to get me through my garden gloves.  Roses are quite versatile in the garden as they can be used in mixed borders, as a hedge, in a Rose only border as climbers or container plants and of course they make wonderful cut flowers.  Planting in groups of three or more makes a big impact if that is what you are after. What is your favorite way to use Roses?

My favorite roses are David Austin English Roses http://www.davidaustinroses.com but there are many other types of Roses.  Knock-Out Roses are very useful in the landscape as well.  Roses are very adaptable plants and look great in a mixed border which is my preference. They continue to flower when many other plants are finished blooming providing color right through the end of the growing season here in CT.

Over The Moon

One of my favorites is ‘Heritage’ which has a medium sized cup shaped bloom.  It is a soft, clear pink at its center and the the outer petals are almost white. Thankfully for me it has very few thorns and is a nicely shaped shrub.  The fragrance makes it one of my favorite for cut flower arrangements.

David Austin Heritage Rose

I have finally gotten ‘Munstead Wood’ and Old Rose Hybrid that I have coveted for years. It is a very deep velvety crimson. Hopefully this will take hold and become a lovely bushy shrub.  They supposedly have good disease resistance so that is always a plus when it comes to Roses. The new leaves are a lovely reddish bronze and it has a very strong Old Rose fragrance that is a little on the fruity side. I am very excited for this to really take off.

David Austin ‘Munstead Wood’

Another new Rose for me is ‘Princess Anne’.  This rose is a deep pink and blooms for a long period.  An added benefit for sure! The blooms are in large clusters and this Rose has a medium Tea Rose fragrance.  This too should become a lovely compact, bushy, upright shrub.

David Austin ‘Princess Anne’

I couldn’t talk about Roses without showing you one of my all time stars – ‘Winchester Cathedral’.  I have a few of these and have moved them with me from property to property since I can’t bear to leave them behind.  This is an Old Rose Hybrid with a lovely fragrance of honey and almond and is a pure white Rose with just a touch of pink at the center. There are masses of flowers on this shrub and it blooms at different intervals during the season. It would be a superb selection for anywhere in your garden whether in mixed borders, hedges or flower beds. I can’t get enough of this Rose!

David Austin ‘Winchester Cathedral’

David Austin ‘Winchester Cathedral’

Another of my favorites is David Austin ‘Graham Thomas’ but it did not bloom this past year as I have transplanted it now so many times.  This year I hope to see that lovely pure yellow bloom once more. This is one of the best known of the English Roses and is usually very vigorous and fragrant.

David Austin Graham Thomas

There are other varieties of Roses as I mentioned earlier, Climbing Roses, Knock-Out Roses, Shrub Roses.  Here are some more photos to entice you into planting at least one rose bush this year whatever type suits your fancy!

Pink Knock Out Roses

Noble Anthony Rose

Villa Cimbrone, Ravello, IT Rose

More from the home of Linda Allard. Sorry I don’t know the varieties.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

William Shakespeare