Plants of the Month: June

Roses

It’s rose season! June is a great time to plant a new rose and get your established roses in shape. With a little care, they’ll flower right through to the colder nights of autumn and will bloom reliably year after year.

The rose is our plant of the month, so choose your favourites from the wide range at Garsons. Most roses like several hours of sunshine a day, although some prefer a partially sunny position. Check the care instructions for your rose of choice to help find the right spot in the garden.

You might like a climbing or rambling rose to grow up a sunny wall, fence or pergola. Rambling roses tend to put on an impressive show of flowers in June and July, while climbing roses often have repeat flowers from June to late autumn, with fewer but bigger blooms. For a compact, low maintenance option, miniature or patio roses need little or no pruning. They look good in a container or at the front of your garden borders.

For new and established roses, add a mulch layer, such as chipped bark, around the base of the plant. This will improve the soil as it breaks down and helps keep soil moist in the summer. Apply a liquid rose feed around the base of established roses. Lack of nutrients will show with discoloured leaves and poor blooms. Another liquid feed in July will promote and prolong flowering. Just follow the instructions for the type of feed you have chosen.

Deadhead your roses through the flowering season to keep them blooming. For best results, simply snap off the dead head without removing any leaves. In the autumn, prune your rose by reducing the shrub size by around a third and it will come back to life again next year. No need to prune patio roses; just snip off any dead branches.

There are so many different rose varieties and bloom colours to choose from, some with the added benefit of fragranced flowers.
With 20% off for Garsons cardholders in June, roses are even better value.