Despite its AGM I found this lacked the supposed strong vigour and strong fragrance. It was removed swiftly.

I took it out because the flowers were too big for its stems and drooped. No drooping is allowed in this garden! It just wasn't special enough to justify its place in a small space, despite its fragrance.

This is a great rose. It is a repeater, is fabulously scented, is upright and looks very glamorous and can be a climber. When I bought it I didn't realise it could be a climber (ie very tall) and it became too tall for the front of my bed where I had planted it. I moved it to the fence in 2012 (at the wrong time) so I hoped it would forgive me. It had been a very strong rose so I hoped so. The flowers don't hold their initial shape for long but they 'blow' in a delightful way and, because it is floriferous and repeats so well, it doesn't matter that they don't last very long.

In 2013 it has been a bit spindly (the move I guess) but is flowering and I hope it will take better next year to its new position.

This is a fabulous rose. It is one of the first to flower, is very highly scented, repeats and looks like a hybrid tea.

I have planted this up the West side of the Loire arch to mingle with the pink of R. Super Fairy and R. The Generous Gardener when it gets to the top. I bought it from Seales Roses at The Malvern Spring Fair last year (2012) and was slightly suckered by the name. Apparently it is a fast grower and very disease resistant (although it has already shown leaf diseases). It has white centres and is supposed to flower for a long season. In 2012 it was fine but new. In 2013 it is showing showing strong growth and lots of flower clusters so I am hopeful.

I have moved things around on the North side of the Red bed this year. Certain plants eg Rosa Esterland and Aquilgia Tequila Sunrise were too tall near the path. I was looking for a shorter, bright red rose. This may or may not be it. It is slightly fragrant, has pretty small leaves but we'll have to wait and see.

The rose on the left is Gislaine. This is the match to Phyllis Bide going up the other side of the gated arch. She flowers profusely and is a very pretty light peachy/orange colour in lovely clusters but she flowers for for less long and is slightly lighter in colour. If I had to chose between them I'd choose Phyllis Bide.

She took three years to really get going but is worth it. Lovely, very scented blooms that last quite well and survive the rain. She's tall and arching which is fine because she is up the South side of the swing seat but shaded by the cherry tree and silver birch during the summer. I'm now twining new stems to make her flower lower down as well.

Fabulous and floriferous, she has bloomed over the gated arch ever since she was planted. She repeats and often has flowers through the winter too. She is teamed with R. Ghislaine de Feligonde (because they didn't have two when I bought the first). I was told they would be very similar, and they are, but somehow GdeF is less satisfying than PB.

This photo is pretty old. It is now about 2m high and arching over the pond, very gracefully. One grows this rose for its fabulous, small, glaucus (grey/blue/green) coloured leaves, very pretty single pink flowers with yellow stamens (which last only a month at best) and then its great red hips which last all late Summer into Autumn..

It's very thorny so put it somewhere you won't have to be a lot. When it was smaller I had trouble with it when I cleaned the pond pump. Now it is taller I don't have the same issue so I am not planning to prune it much! In fact it has never been pruned, just the dead wood cut out.

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