Roses
Roses are quite rightly one of the most popular plants
for the yard.
They produce quantities of large beautiful, often wonderfully
scented flowers from mid spring onwards. Once established they are largely
trouble-free and can survive for years without too much attention - though
of course, the more you look after them the better they will be.
They can even survive quite long dry spells if they are
in heavy soil as they apply the "unfair competition" rule of survival by
having huge strong and deep root systems.
I love climbing roses as when you've placed the support
and trained them properly, they do their thing at around head-height so
you don't even need to bend over to appreciate them fully. Living in England
I do of course have a door entrance surrounded with a wonderfully scented
climbing rose on one side -
Zephirine Drouhin - and a Clematis on
the other - as I live in a small village too, I feel it's a sort of unwritten
law I have to adhere to. They're currently coming out in flower (late May)
and every visitor admires them and even more so when I ask them to get closer
to admire the scent.
The
Garden roses are largely
hybrids, plenty of repeat flowers all season long, but rather more prone
to disease and requiring more attention, they aren't really plant-and-forget,
but well worth it if you love roses. The
Shrub roses are
more self-sufficient and can be used successfully in mixed borders.
Roses are must-have plants as far as I'm concerned.
