Grow roses for glamour and fragrance

Roses bring a touch of glamour to our gardens, as well as fragrance, and they make excellent cut flowers.

Climbing roses can be used to cover walls, climb up Pergolas, arches and fences. Miniature or patio roses are ideal for containers on the patio or in the front of a border.

There are ground cover roses called Flower Carpet which come in a variety of colours and can spread 1-2 metres across the ground and are almost 100 per cent weed-free. Other varieties are hybrid T and floribunda.

Roses start flowering mid-June and will continue flowering up to Christmas in mild and sheltered areas. In the garden centre we have a wide range of varieties of colour, height and fragrance just coming into flower now.

Roses can be planted at any time of the year, as they are grown in pots. When planting, dig a hole twice the size of the pot, break the bottom of the hole for drainage, then use a good planting compost, such as Westland Rose Tree & Shrub with a four-month feed. Once planted, water well and keep watered during the first season.

Roses are prone to disease such as blackspot, mildew and rust and on occasions greenfly. It is important to spray every two weeks, using a good fungicide such as Scotts Fungus Clear or RTU Westland Rose Rescue. Spraying should be done on a dry, calm and dull day.

Deadheading the roses is very important as it keeps the rose looking good and encourages new flowers. Cut the dead rose off just above a leaf joint. If there is a cluster of rose buds, carefully cut out the dead rose head, leaving the other buds to flower.

Roses should be fed three times a year, in March, May and July, to keep them healthy and strong, with such as Westland rose fertiliser enriched with dried horse manure.