Graham Thomas

Another David Austin Rose, the Graham Thomas is a lovely addition to every garden. It provides a beautiful touch of soft, lemon yellow, to a mixed border. The roses are medium in size and come in clusters of 3 - 5 heads. Its scent is lovely and fresh. It isn't a strong scent but a subtle one. My daughter loves to pick these roses and put them in her hair and mine. It has a lovely foliage but it needs a lot of support as the stems are not particularly strong.

The Graham Thomas won an award for the Nations Favourite Rose. Although this rose is lovely I wouldn't personally rank it as my favourite, more like 8th from the top. All gardens look lovely with a glimpse of yellow peeping through a packed border and this rose certainly ticks that box. They look great cut but they do not come on singular stems so if you want to take a cutting you have to take the whole spray. Its not a particularly fast grower and they are predicted to grow 4ft x 4ft. It can also be grown as a short climber.

I have had this rose for three years now and I have not had a single problem with disease. There have been no yellow leaves or blackspot and the foliage has always been healthy. It repeats well and the roses do not seem to be susceptible to water damage. I would not be without this rose in my garden and I would definitely buy this for a friend.

I currently have it planted behind my cluster of Generous Gardeners' and Friends Forevers' which are in the front border of my back garden. I can sit here writing this and see this lovely rose peeking through. The Graham Thomas can be bought from David Austin for £14.50 for a bare root. It can also be bought from garden centres or online.

REVIEW:

Visual Impact - 5

Scent - 3

Growth Rate - 3

Stem Strength - 2

Durability (in poor weather) - 5

Resistance to Disease - 5

SUMMARY:

This lovely rose adds a wonderful touch of colour to a border. My only problem with it is that is it rather slow growing and that its stems are not particularly strong. Staking this rose is essential otherwise it just flops around. I think this rose is my daughters favourite as its the one she always cups, sniffs and removes. Despite the weaknesses mentioned I would recommend you buy this rose. It is very hardy, disease resistant, it has a wonderful scent and visually its colour is wonderful and can only be described as a touch of sunlight in a border.

Iceberg

I bought this rose because my father has a fantastic one growing in his garden and

every time I popped round the thing was still covered in an abundance of flowers and it looked amazing. This is a very popular rose and I can understand why. The roses come in clusters between 5 and 10 heads so the effect can look very much like a bridal bouquet.

They are a brilliant white which looks amazing in the sunshine, they have an excellent amount of foliage and they are pretty reliable. Unfortunately, since 2012 has produced weather that would even shock Noah things have not worked out too well for my own batch. I planted five Icebergs in between my Gertrude Jekyll's back in march this year. The border is filled with bright pinks and purples so I wanted to inject some white into the mix. They were doing really well at first, loads of heads and an abundance of leaves. Since then though the rain has caused all of them to be infected with mildew (see first picture or this one).

because of this I have had to do some serious spraying and trimming. Its such a shame as it could have had a massive impact on my border. I will keep treating it and hope that next year I get a bit more lucky and a bit less rain.

This floribunda rose is medium in eventual height as it grows to about 80cm x 70cm. The roses is produces are on the smaller side in comparison to the others I grow in my garden and the scent is light and fresh. If it wasn't for the trouble I have had this year I would regard this rose as a good one for the newest of gardeners to start with. It likes a well drained sunny spot and it requires very little attention in general. This rose can also be bought as a short climber.

You can purchase this rose from most garden centres and online sites such as www.crocus.com
It will cost between £8 - £15.

REVIEW

Visual Impact - 4

Scent - 2

Growth Rate - 3

Stem Strength - 4

Durability (in poor weather) - 3

Resistance to Disease - 3

SUMMARY

Overall I would definitely recommend this rose. It is very pretty and delicate looking. Despite the mildew this rose has stood up really well to the rain that we have had this year. None of the actual flowers were damaged by water so in that they are quite hardy. The Iceberg has a fantastic amount of foliage and it makes a great addition to any border. It is easy to look after, plant and prune. Although it doesn't make the impact a Braithewaite makes, it is great to add a touch of white to the border.

L. D. Braithwaite

Another David Austin rose which is absolutely fantastic! Wonderfully this rose is named after David Austin's Father-In-Law. Visually this is my favourite in my garden. It certainly gets its fair amounts of comments. I bought three more of these last November as bare roots and they have had the most amazing first crop of roses already. This rose has the most amazing colour. The buds are extremely dark and quite large and that clearly indicates how the final size of the rose will be huge. The blooms are bigger than my hand span and the petals settle into layers which look like sections of a big fat red pavlova.

I always catch my 2 year old daughter cupping these roses and giving them a big sniff. They look amazing when cut. One of the problems though is that they basically have no smell. They look like they would pack a punch in relation to smell because of their size but in fact they have no scent at all. Which seems rather misplaced.

The Braithwaite has a minimal amount of foliage so its best placed in a mixed bored as featured in my first image. In which I have mixed with white Campanula and Catmint. I find this provides a fantastic contrast against its blood red colour. It grows to about 3.5ft x 3ft but the growth rate is slow. Its bloom rate is reliable and you are assured a fantastic second crop in September albeit slightly less grand in size.

The Braithwaite is pretty resilient. I naughtily moved mine, due to inexperience on my part, and all the leaves fell off and it looked very sad for quite a while. Then it perked up and it has produced yet another fantastic crop of roses.

I provide this rose a sprinkle of slow release feed twice a year and thats enough. I have seven Braithwaites in my garden and none of them have needed a single support. They are strong stemmed, hardy and reliable. Occasionally I have had to deal with curled leaves but other than that they have required very little effort on my part. In regards to growth its spread is about 3.5ft x 3ft so it is fairly compact in comparison with others.

REVIEW:

Visual Impact - 5

Scent - 0

Growth Rate - 3

Stem Strength - 5

Durability (in poor weather) - 5

Resistance to Disease - 4

SUMMARY:

If you are a beginner to roses or the most seasoned of gardeners I would recommend this rose. Its impact is incredible and with so little effort it is so rewarding. I love taking cuttings of this rose to friends and family and they are always received well. They are a little more architectural in shape than the more blousy of old English roses but their stature is nothing less than regal and a beauty to behold. David Austin really hit the nail on the head with this rose. If you want to have a rose garden then start by buying a Braithwaite. As with all roses buy in odd numbers and surround with contrasting colours for an ultimate impact.

Lady Emma Hamilton

I took this photo yesterday so you can clearly see exactly how stunning these roses can be. Named after Horation Nelson's lover these roses are very romantic in their shape and colour. They are a lovely soft apricot in colour which lightens towards the centre and they make an unusaul impact on a boarder.

Whilst in its bud form it is encased in orange petals which are flecked with red. What is unsual is that the leaves on the shrub have a definite purplish tinge to them. With the orange colour of the roses this makes a fantastic contrast.

I have mine placed under a Buddleja and inbetween some Shirley Temple peonys. They are very much an old fashioned rose in nature. They have a soft melon like scent which is very pleasent but subtle. It is a fruity scent which reminds me of melon and lemons.

The bush itself has a fantastic growth of foliage. Much more so than the Gertrude Jekyll. It provides a great bush for the board as it provides substance even when it is not in flower.

I like this rose because of the colour its successful roses produce. They are different and very eye catching but it does not come without some significant faults.

The bush is fairly flimsy and I have had to use multiple canes to support its shape. This is problably due to its stems not being extremly strong in comparison to others. Now onto the two big faults that I have found with this rose. Not all of the roses produced will look like the pictures above. Many will look like those in the image below:

This is what half of the roses on the same bush look like. They are still attractive but very different from the perfect examples that can be produced. They also do not stand up to rain very well. It tends to stain the petals which is a shame as, when a good one is produced, it ruins the overall effect. Despite this the disease resistance of this rose is fantastic. I have had many admiring comments about them and I consider them a wonderful addition to my garden that I would not be without.

REVIEW:

Visual Impact - 5

Scent - 3

Growth Rate - 3

Stem Strength - 2

Durability (in poor weather) - 2

Resistance to Disease - 5

SUMMARY:
Again this rose is easily bought online from David Austin's website or from other garden centres at a price of approximately £15. It will grow to a spread of about  4ft x 3ft. It has a fantastic level of disease resistance and lots of foilage. The roses themselves are fantastic if they 'work out'. They are not very weather proof but overall they look fantastic against a purple backdrop of a plant such as Catmint.

Gertrude Jekyll

The Gertrude Jekyll is easily my favourite of all my roses. The shade of this David Austin rose is a mid-pink which deepens towards the centre. Although it looks delicate it definitely is not. Its very hardy and can stand up to all weather, even the most aggressive of batterings from the wind and rain as we've had the past few weeks.

The rose buds seem tiny in comparison to the size of what bursts out of them. They open very neatly and begin by looking like a Hybrid Tea. They they unfold into what can only be described as a rosette in nature. They are huge heads which can be cupped in the hand and smelt. The scent they produce is exquisite. It really packs a punch with notes of melon and honey.

They make the most amazing display in a vase but to be honest I can't bare to cut them as they just look so grand as they are. They can be grown as a bush or as a short climber. I have mine growing as a bush and they are expected to reach a height of 4ft 5 by 3ft 5 inches. They have a decent foliage but it is not a bountiful as other varieties that I have grown. Some times the bush can look a little sparse so mixing the roses with other plant varieties would help to bolster the greenery.

Now for the review. I have added an extra catagory, Resistance to Disease, since my initial blog as I think thats rather important. Especially if you are looking for something low maintenance.

REVIEW:

Visual Impact - 5

Scent - 5

Growth Rate - 4

Stem Strength - 3

Durability (in poor weather) - 5

 Resistance to Disease - 3

This rose is easily bought online or in garden centres and it is produced by David Austin who has his own website. The rose should cost between £12 - £15 for a bare root rose and £18 - £24 for a potted rose. in regards to maintenance the Gertrude Jekyll is easy. I give them a springle of slow release granula feed three times a year, November, March (pruning time) and after the first flush of flowers (late July early September). I personally use Top Rose feed.

The Gertrude Jekyll can get a few yellow leaves and can be prown to black spot so I make sure that I spray them every other month. A good spray to use is Rose Clear which gets rid of not only black spot but also green fly, rust and mildew. I have also found that my Gertrude Jekylls can get quite a few yellow leaves. I just pick these off and put them in the bin as leaving them will cause it too spred.

SUMMARY:

Overall I would definitely recommend the Gertrude Jekyll for those who are new to gardening and those who are masters of the art. This was the first rose I bought and all of them are still standing and looking better each year. Its not hard to maintain, it just needs the occassional tlc. Growing them in groups of odd numbers produces the most fantastic of displays and I love having my living room window open in the summer with its incredible scent wafting through the window. I grow mine with Lavender Hidcote and Foxgloves Excelsior Mixed Colour.

My Garden

When I bought my house there were no boarders so before I could decide what roses I wanted I have I would have to get digging! Armed with a spade, a fork and a pair of gardening gloves I manically set to work. I should have used a hose to plan out where I was going to dig but as I didn't have one I decided to wing-it. This meant that my boarders ended up a lot larger than I intended but hey-ho.

I went for an S shape garden as I wanted to be able to see a variety of different displays from my kitchen window. I soon discovered that I have an Alkaline based soil after a few chunks of chalk were unearthed so that was something of a help in relation to choosing my future plants.

Once the boarders were dug I sat down with some graph paper to figure out what colours I wanted to have in which display. I didn't know the names of any flowers so that's why I began with colour. I then went out and bought several books and began to read.

I invested in a book called Roses: 200 Roses for Every Place in the Garden by Patrick O'Neill. This is a fantastic book as O'Neill gives a really gives excellent reviews and the photographs used are fantastic. I recommend this to anyone who wants to create their own rose garden.

Now that I have done that brief introduction in to the beginnings of the garden I can start loading, discussing and hopefully hearing from you in regards to various roses.

The Awakening

I have become a little bit obsessed with photographing the roses in my garden. Due to this i have decided to start a Blog in order to catalogue my images, share them with others along with my experience in becoming a first time gardener. I would love to hear from you and see your images of your favourite roses. Especially if they are from your own garden. I am always on the lookout for more roses to invest in.

Firstly, I'll introduce myself. I began gardening at the end of 2009 when my husband and I bought our very first house. I have all these wonderful ideas about having a cottage style garden and when faced with a wild, abandoned cottage garden the bubble quickly burst and it dawned on me that I would have to cast aside the daydream and get digging. I have loved every minute of it. There have been moments of stupidity, blood, sweat and tears. Despite this there have been moments of such pride that my obsession with roses was born.

The aim of this blog is to run through the roses I have. Their characteristics, the negative sides of them and also the positive. I will rate them out of 5 in the following categories:

• Visual Impact
• Scent
• Growth Rate
• Stem Strength
• Durability (in poor weather)

I will also add in plants that grow nicely alongside my roses in order to maximise their visual impact.