With Valentine’s Day fast approaching I thought I would have a look at some of the beautiful roses available. Roses come in a wide variety of colours, growing habits and sizes. Some like ‘Rose ‘Sweet Spot Calypso’ are great for growing in patio containers due to their low growth habit. This means you can have roses on a balcony, or even in a small garden, so no excuses for not being romantic.

Rose ‘Sweet Spot Calypso’

Climbing roses such as Rose ‘Climbing Masquerade’ are good at growing up trellises or walls and can therefore be trained to climb, making a beautiful archway down the garden where you can woo your suitors and impress them with your dreamy garden! These double blooms unfurl into a charming shade of yellow and then mature through tones of soft pink to a deep raspberry red colour. Other climbing roses are the beautiful, deep red Rose ‘Pauls Scarlet’ and Rose ‘Golden Showers’ in a bright, bold yellow will also climb up walls and trellises and look great all summer long. If you don’t have much space how about something smaller?

Mascarade

Minature Rose Standards are one of our easiest roses to grow, they are more reliable and floriferous than traditional roses and they too look great in containers on the patio.  They can also be included in your borders, with tones of red, yellow, white and pink these lovelies will be great for picking and giving to your beau when they come over for tea. If a miniature rose is not for you then how about the Rose ‘Giant Collection’? These extra special hybrid tea roses come in a host of colours, with Rose ‘Naomi’ being perfect for Valentine’s Day with its gorgeous shade of red in the traditional Valentines Day colour.

If red is your thing but you don’t want a giant rose then the eye-catching Rose ‘Red Fairy’ (Polyantha) may be for you.  This beautiful hardy shrub is perfect cut flower material and flowers right through summer, it has a neat, compact habit and makes a lovely patio shrub.

Rose ‘Red Fairy’

Rose ‘For Your Eyes Only’ a Floribunda rose is an early flowering plant that continues right through until autumn. It was the Rose of the Year 2015 and is set to change the face of modern roses with its unique open flowers and central blotching. This compact rose has a short height and is best suited to ground cover or containers, so bunches of roses can be cut and added to a bouquet made at home.

All the roses in Thompson & Morgan’s selection have wonderful colours but the New Rose ‘Hot Chocolate’ is something different. With rusty orange blooms that open out to rich smoky browns, this scented rose has a rich and fruity perfume that will charm any would be suitor, and as an extra bonus it is disease resistant too. This repeat flowering rose continues through summer and into early autumn, making it a long lasting addition to your borders.

Rose Hot Chocolate

These are just a few of the huge range of roses available, and although they may take a while to establish they will always be worth it, just like your love who deserves nothing but the best our roses flourish well with the addition of our Incredibloom.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all…

To find out how to grow roses all year round, including type specific planting and pruning advice, check out our rose hub page.

Wendie Alexander

I have worked for Thompson & Morgan for nearly four years. In that time I have learnt lots about gardening, but consider myself very much a novice. I have started growing veg on a colleague’s allotment and also growing windowsill seeds such as Salad Leaves and Rocket. I love gaining more knowledge about horticulture and am lucky enough to work here.