Plant of the Month: June

Roses

A rose bush in full bloom brings colour, beauty and charm to your garden. With a little care, roses can flower reliably from now until autumn. You can find a variety of rose to suit every sunny outdoor space, from the compact patio rose that can be grown in a pot, to a climbing type that will adorn a trellis or wall. Tea roses, shrub roses and old-fashioned scented roses all have their own special charms ranging from bold and vibrant to delicate and nostalgic.

Here are our top tips for blooming good roses:

• Choose a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Roses like several hours of sunshine a day.
• Dig a large planting hole and enrich it with organic matter such as compost or well-rotted manure. This improves drainage and provides nutrients.
• Give the plant a good soak before removing it from its pot and planting in the garden or a container. Remember to firm the soil in around it and water it in.
• Keep your new addition watered for the first season to help it become established. Water it deeply two or three times a week at the base rather than from overhead.
• Feed it with a rose fertiliser, following the instructions on the label.
• Deadheading the blooms will help them keep flowering until autumn.
• In the autumn, prune it by reducing in size by at least a third and it will come back to life again next year. Patio roses don’t need to be pruned; just snip off any dead branches.
• Why not add some bee-friendly cottage plants or flowering herbs around the base of your rose? It adds interest and enhances the effect.

Roses can give you stunning blooms year after year, making them fantastic value, especially as there’s 20% off the range this month for Garsons card holders.