BUSH ROSES
Bonica - 1982. Constantly producing clusters of soft pink, semi-double flowers, this vigorous ground cover rose looks and smells stunning tumbling down a bank, 3x6ft. C Tb F P G #
Blanc Double de Coubert -
Buff Beauty - 1939. A favourite of mine, always in flower, with large clusters of fragrant deep apricot flowers, fading to buff. The foliage is dark green flushed with red when young, 5x4ft.
R Tb Cg P H N #
Charles de Mills - 1830. A fine gallica rose with strong upright growth and flat, quartered flowers of rich crimson and purple with an equally rich perfume, 5x4ft. S P H
Compte de Chambord - 1860. Reliable and repeat flowering with the most wonderful full, cupped clear rose pink flowers, delightfully perfumed, 4x3ft. C Tb P H
Cornelia - 1925. This strong growing shrub rose has large clusters of semi-double coral pink flowers, which fade to apricot throughout the summer and into autumn. Strong perfume, 5x5ft. C Tb P H #
Dainty Bess - 1920ish Clusters of large single flowers in soft pink, the petals with ragged edges and golden brown stamens make a delightful combination, suitable for a more modern planting scheme or for a wildlife garden, 3x2ft. C Tb
Dusky Maiden - 1947. Fragrant single deep velvet red flowers in typical floribunda clusters with golden anthers. Very effective with dark leaved phormiums, grasses or purple fennel,
2x2ft. C Tb
Ellen Willmott - 1936. Another of those elegant single roses that look so good in simple modern schemes. Large pink and cream flowers with golden stamens, set off by purple tinged stems and foliage, 3x3ft. C Tb
Emperor du Maroc - 1858. The flowers look like pleated and gathered silk velvet in a particular and striking shade of crimson-mauve with purple. Very unusual, 4x3ft. R
Felicia - 1928. One of the best hybrid musks and a personal favourite. A vigorous bush with sprays of silvery pink flowers, deeper towards the centre, with a lovely perfume. Flowers all summer and into autumn. 4x4ft. C Tb H #
Ferdinand Pichard - 1921. One of the finest striped roses on a good bushy shrub. Gorgeous perfume redolent of raspberries from pink flowers striped with crimson. Reliably repeat flowers even on poorer soils. 5x4ft. R P H
Gertrude Jekyll -
Hansa - 1905. One of the best rugosas, with splendid large red-violet flowers, excellent scent and prominent hips but not growing as large as some, 4x3ft. R Tb P H
Honorine de Brabant - 18?? Tall enough to be used as a pillar rose, or in an obelisk, the strong leafy growth has few thorns, just lots of light pink flowers splashed and streaked with purple with a rich sweet perfume. Repeats well into the autumn, 6x4ft. R Cg P #
Irene Watts - 1896. A delicate rose in all its parts; fairly dwarf with scented double pale pink flowers, typical of a china rose, so elegant! 2x2ft. C Tb
Jaques Cartier - 1868. A neat, strong twiggy bush, covered in flat, clear pink full flowers with a strong perfume. It grows in poorer soils and in my garden is in flower by mid May and finishes when hit by frosts - but I have picked a flower on Christmas Day! A personal favourite. 4x2ft. R Tb P H
Mme Isaac Pereire - 1881. Really huge, deeply scented purple-crimson flowers, on a big bush. Can be trained as a short climber. 6x4ft. R Cg #
Mrs Oakley Fisher - 1921. Another of these very elegant 1920s single roses but in a pleasing rich apricot/yellow colour which is never too bright or harsh. Good scent - try them with grasses, 3x3ft. C Tb
Mutabilis - very old - Very variable growth in that it can stay quite compact at 3x4ft or grow huge. Either way it is constantly in flower from summer to autumn and the single flowers change colour, showing any combination of yellow, peach, pink and crimson on the bush at any time. Should be ghastly but instead is glorious!
Old Blush China [ chinensis] - pre 1789. One of the oldest roses known in cultivation, the flowers are dainty, informal, pink and can continue until Christmas in a mild year, 6x4ft. C P N #
Perle d’Or - 1883. Like perfect miniature tea roses, the rich apricot buds open to pale cream flowers on this dainty bush, delicate perfume, 3x3ft. C
Prosperity - 1919. Another hybrid musk with trusses of very double creamy white, highly fragrant flowers all season, 5x4ft.
C P H #
Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux - A very old moss rose, the furry buds open to very double white fowers, highly scented and repeating well, 4x3ft. R P H
Reine des Violette - 1860. One of the first old roses I ever bought - the scent drew me across the nursery like a child in the Bisto advert! Once at its side the beautifully formed deep violet flowers compelled me to take it home to my garden where it gave many years of joy, 5x3ft. C Tb P H #
Rosa glauca - Before 1830. This rose is generally grown for its unique foliage - a mixture of plum, grey and copper - and the fine display of autumn hips. In one Hampshire garden I have seen it used in combination with Rosa moyesii, set against dark shrubs, on a slope; the two roses giving the sumptuous effect of blood red single flowers with purple lacy foliage; simple, very clever and stunning. S P H A F #
Rosa pimpinellifolia 'Double Tellow' -
Rosa pimpinellifolia ‘Stanwell Perpetual’ - Pretty lacy foliage and a robust, suckering habit make scotch burnet roses ideal for the wilder areas of the garden or hedges. This choice hybrid has larger more double flowers in white flushed pink, repeat flowering thoughout the season and much stronger scent, 5x5ft. C G Tb W P H #
Rose de Rescht - A very old rose with scented pompom flowers in a rich carmine pink deepening to purple. Combines very well with grey, glaucus or purple foliage, 3x2ft. R Tb P H
Sally Holmes - 1976. The single blooms of this floribunda-like shrub are pale pink, almost white and in large trusses throughout the season, 4x2ft. C P H
Scarlet Fire - 1952. Although only flowering once in mid-summer, the huge single scarlet flowers, with big bosses of gold stamens are stunning and are replaced by a good crop of large, urn-shaped hips for most of the winter, 10x6ft. S Cg W P F #
Souvenir de Dr. Jamain - 1865. Choose a more shaded position for this magnificent rose, to preserve the richness of the plum-red flowers, produced well into autumn. Sumptuous perfume, 6x4ft. R P N #
Variegata di Bologna - 1909. Grown as a climber for a north wall, or as a rose for the back of the border, the white flowers, splashed and streaked with crimson-purple, make a magnificent sight, rich perfume, 5-12x4ft. C P
Vicks Caprice - 1891. This is a shorter Honorine de Brabant with the same randomly striped flowers and virtually thornless stems. The flowers are a darker shade of lilac pink, but still fragrant and repeating well. 4x3ft R Tb P H
William Lobb - 1855. Another ‘back of the border’ rose with excellent rich moss rose fragrance and flowers of a most unusual dusky puple, fading to lilac-grey, 6x5ft. S P