February Plant of the month…..Rose

It’s February, so the shops are full of roses for Valentines day. Roses are also an important part of our local history, with the white rose being a symbol of Yorkshire and the red rose a symbol of Lancashire.

The earliest wild roses grew across the Americas, parts of Asia and Oceania and north west Africa. In the late 18th century, cultivated roses were introduced to Europe from China.

Roses come in various forms which can be grouped into 5 categories by the way that they grow, but they can all be pruned at this time of year.

Minature roses:

These are 6”-18” tall, flowering repeatedly for 2-3 weeks at a time from Spring through to Autumn. They come in a number of colours and do well in containers indoors or outdoors and are excellent border plants in the garden.

Pruning is usually limited to the shortening back of any weak growths, removal of dead or twiggy growth, and occasional pruning back of older growths to near soil level to encourage vigour from the base.

Ground-cover roses:

Also known as landscape roses, ground-cover roses are typically one to three feet tall and wide, and are excellent for mass planting. They are hardy, low-growing, fragrant roses with disease and pest resistance, repeat flowering, and little to no maintenance. These roses do well in the garden, window boxes, or hanging pots.

To keep these roses in shape, hard prune any wayward upright growths to within their allotted space. Reduce strong shoots by about one-third. Shorten side shoots back to two or three buds. If they become too large and congested they can be renovated by pruning to near ground level, 10cm (4in), from the base.

Shrub roses:

These can be almost any shape, with blooms either singly or in clusters. They are generally repeat bloomers, very hardy, and easy to grow.

The main requirement is to keep the plants free of dead, diseased and damaged wood, crossing or rubbing branches, or spindly growth.

Shrub roses generally flower on older wood and should be allowed to develop naturally, maintained by light but regular pruning and with a balance of older wood and young, vigorous growth. You can maintain a balanced framework by reducing strong new growth in late winter by around one-third, and shortening strong side shoots to two or three buds.

Avoid an excessive build-up of older, unproductive wood that is causing the centre to become crowded or the shrub to look leggy and bare at the base, by removing one or two older branches back to near ground level.

Climbing roses:

These can grow up to 15 feet tall on stiff canes. They are repeat bloomers with large flowers in clusters of five, and they bloom more profusely if allowed to grow horizontally. Climbing roses can be encouraged to grow upright against a wall or fence, or tethered around a pillar or trellis while the canes are young and flexible.

At this time of year, remove any dead, diseased or dying branches, then tie in any new shoots needed to fill the supports. Prune any flowered side shoots back by two thirds of their length. If the plant is heavily congested, cut out any really old branches from the base to promote new growth.

Rambling roses:

These have flexible canes and will grow over anything near them, such as a trellis, fence, or arch. They have clusters of seven medium-sized flowers and usually bloom once a season.

At this time of year, if their supports have been covered, thin and shorten excessive growth by removing one in three of the oldest stems entirely. If space is restricted, prune out all the stems that have flowered and tie new ones in to take their place. Finish by shortening side shoots by about two-thirds.

If your rambling rose is very overgrown, remove all the dead, diseased, dying and weak shoots. Cut some of the old woody branches to the ground, retaining a maximum of six young, vigorous stems that can be secured to supports. Saw away any dead stumps at the base of the plant, where rain can collect and encourage rot and shorten side shoots on the remaining branches. Prune back the tips by one third to one half, to encourage branching.

Here are 10 beautiful roses you may want to grow, as suggested by Gardener’s World:

• 'Absolutely Fabulous' - a compact floribunda rose with good disease resistance and a distinctive liquorice fragrance. It bears primrose-yellow flowers from summer until autumn.

• 'Beatrix Potter'- an upright, bushy, deciduous shrub rose with thorny stems and glossy, toothed, dark green foliage. From late-spring to autumn it bears beautiful double soft-pink flowers with lots of petals and a good perfume.

• 'Abbie’s Rose'- an upright but low-growing, bushy, floribunda shrub rose with thorny stems and ovate, glossy, dark green leaves. From late spring through to autumn it bears an abundance of lightly fragrant, double, cerise-pink flowers

• 'All My Loving' - a hybrid tea rose, bearing large, double and lightly scented flowers that are a bright cerise pink on strong stems. The plants are dense, bushy and resistant to diseases. It flowers early and keeps going until the first frosts.

• 'A Shropshire Lad' - a versatile rose which may be grown as a large shrub or as a short climbing rose if given support. It bears large rosettes of many-petalled flowers in soft, peach-pink which have a gentle, fruity fragrance.

• 'Constance Spry' - a vigorous shrub rose that bears fully double, rose-pink, myrrh-scented blooms. It has an arching habit, making it ideal for growing at the back of a border against a wall, and it can also be trained as a climber.

• 'Isn't She Lovely' - a hybrid tea rose with creamy gold buds opening to double creamy white flowers with gold and pink tones towards the centre, and a good fragrance. The blooms contrast perfectly with the glossy, dark-green foliage.

• 'Cariad' - a large shrub rose with grey-green foliage and excellent resistance to rose diseases. Semi-double, pink flowers are borne on thin stems. The flowers have a good fragrance - the classic tea rose scent initially, maturing to a spicy musk.

• 'Sir John Betjeman' - a repeat-flowering classic English shrub rose with a gentle arching habit. The small buds open to open, large double rosettes, which become a deeper pink as they mature.

• 'Diamond Days' - a wonderful hybrid tea rose, bearing yellow-white flowers with a strong citrus perfume. It's a good all-round rose for the herbaceous border