I was a young teenager when I planted my first rose. A hybrid tea variety called ‘Blue Moon’, I assumed its name was an accurate indicator of the colour of its flowers. But when the large, perfumed, pale lavender-mauve blooms unfurled the following year, they taught me a valuable lesson. There is, it turned out, no such thing as a blue rose, despite the efforts of countless plant breeders over many centuries to produce one. Instead, there are roses whose varietal names tantalisingly suggest them to be so, but whose flowers come in generally mawkish shades of purple. Even the modern variety known as ‘Applause’, genetically engineered to be capable of producing the blue plant pigment known as delphinidin and proudly announced as “the world’s first true blue rose”, is nothing of the sort, with flowers the colour of Swizzels Parma Violets.
The very next valuable lesson my teenage self learned about roses was that these shrubby, deciduous plants can be frustratingly challenging to grow well. Many (but not all) older varieties are vulnerable to common diseases such as blackspot, powdery mildew and rust that, without the regular use of sprays to suppress symptoms, diminish their ability to put on a good display. A surprising number of famous varieties can be such sickly martyrs that they’re just not worth the effort. The plants’ foliage can also be disfigured by rose sawfly, aphids and cutter bees, while in a cool wet summer, the flowers themselves can suffer from “balling”, where they fail to open. Some varieties also have a blooming period so brief – in some cases just a couple of weeks – that it can be hard to justify the growing space.
Many roses (but again not all) also need annual pruning to remove dead, damaged and diseased wood as well as deadheading to encourage a good display, a thorny, pernickety, painstaking process that in the case of climbing varieties requires a ladder and a steely confidence in one’s sense of balance. Added to this is most rose varieties’ need for regular mulching and feeding, a chore that can make all the difference between bonny good health and semi-invalid status. Laborious and time-consuming, it requires easy access to well-rotted manure and/or home-made garden compost as well as investment in a good-quality, slow-release, pelleted fertiliser.
All the above, you might think, provides a multitude of perfectly good reasons to give up growing them. But that would be to ignore the fact that this family of plants occupies a very special place in our hearts and minds that has absolutely nothing to do with reason. “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose,” wrote the American novelist and poet Gertrude Stein. But the truth is that this “queen of flowers” comes heavily laden with symbolism as a result of its many centuries of cultivation.
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In ancient Greece, for example, the rose represented Eros, the god of love. By the time of the Roman era, a special festival known as Rosalio was dedicated to celebrating its beauty while roses also feature in the murals of Pompeii. By the Middle Ages the flower had come to represent purity and was strongly associated with the Virgin Mary. Just a few centuries later, roses feature in the still-life paintings of the Dutch Masters as a symbol of mortality and the fleeting nature of life.
Roses, depending sometimes on the colour, can also symbolise secrecy (hence the expression “sub rosa”), wisdom, rebirth, fertility, innocence, charity, virtue, passion, status, wealth, devotion and beauty. No wonder so many of us are determined to grow them no matter what it takes.
After years of resenting their demanding ways, I’ve fallen in love with roses all over again. New favourites include the repeat-flowering rambler known as Rosa ‘Phyllis Bide’, with loose clusters of lightly scented apricot flowers that fade to pale cream. It is resilient, disease-resistant and well-behaved for a rambler, and I grow it against a tall sunny wall where it blooms on and off throughout summer into early autumn.
The shrub rose known as Rosa ‘Kew Gardens’, a compact, almost thornless variety with large clusters of apricot buds that open into golden-eyed, creamy-white, pollinator-friendly single flowers is another favourite. Reminiscent of the gorgeous Rosa ‘Sally Holmes’ but smaller, I grow it in a sunny border, along with Rosa ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, a new, vigorous, floriferous and impressively disease-resistant variety awarded ‘Rose of the Year’ in 2022. The latter’s large, long-lasting, lightly scented, peachy-pink double flowers have an endearingly old-fashioned charm, as do those of Rosa ‘Sweet Honey’, yet another deserving winner of Rose of the Year. Vigorous and disease-resistant, this floribunda-type rose’s large apricot flowers appear on and off throughout summer and are great for cutting.
Very late autumn to early spring is a great time to plant these ultra-hardy, long-lived, woody plants, so long as the ground isn’t frozen or badly waterlogged. Many varieties are available at this time of year as bare-root specimens, a great way to save on costs. Just bear in mind that roses are deep-rooted plants that require a large, deep, well-excavated planting hole, ideally in a sunny, sheltered spot, and a fertile, moist but free-draining soil enriched with plenty of well-rotted manure or home-made garden compost plus some slow-release organic pelleted fertiliser. Plant to a depth where the “bud union” (the slightly lumpy point in the stem where the graft was made) is at ground level (not below), carefully backfill, water generously, then finish off with an organic mulch, making sure that it doesn’t come into direct contact with the stem. A further top-dressing of fertiliser in spring is also important. And of course, regular and copious amounts of love and attention for the rest of your rose’s hopefully very long life. But I’m guessing you already know that.
This week in the garden
Carefully hoe and/or hand-weed around the base of recently planted trees and hedges and then spread an organic mulch to help suppress fresh weed growth, lock in nutrients and protect the roots against winter cold as well as the soil against winter leaching and erosion.
With damaging winter gales becoming an increasing risk at this time of year, check garden structures such as glasshouses, polytunnels, gazebos, pergolas, arbours and fences to ensure that they’re structurally sound, making a careful note of any repairs required. Doors, windows and vents of glasshouses and polytunnels should also always be kept securely closed when storms are forecast.
Dates for your diary
Wednesday, November 19th, 7.30pm: A video talk by the British plant hunter, explorer, gardener and author Tom Hart Dyke of Lullingstone Castle in Kent, on behalf of the RHSI. Free for RHSI members, guests €8. rhsi.ie
