BBC Gardeners' World

Gardeners' World Magazine is the authoritative voice in gardening, the clear market-leader since it launched in 1991. The award-winning editorial includes topical, practical advice in the readers' favourite 'what to do now' section, and regular contributions and features from the top names in BBC gardening. Packed with fresh ideas and clear advice - the innovative approach offers creative, practical and problem-solving solutions to all keen gardeners.

Welcome

In the garden • Roses are one of our most loved plants in the garden. Whether it’s a climber scrambling over a wall, or floribundas flowering throughout the borders, it’s easy to transform a garden with the right varieties. Find some inspiration in the following pages

Star performers • Discover the different types of roses that can transform your garden with their beautiful blooms and heady fragrances as we pick the best, including top roses for scent and cutting to bring indoors

Hybrid tea roses • Hybrid tea roses are bush roses that are popular for their large flowers. The blooms are usually produced on single stems, rather than in clusters, like floribundas, so they make excellent cut flowers. They are available in a good range of colours and tend to be short, upright plants. They are not as easy to combine in the border as other types of rose but are perfect for formal gardens and cut flower gardens. Many are scented, but some have no scent at all – these roses make up for it, though, with beautiful blooms.

FOCUS ON Scents

HOW TO Plant a potted rose

Floribunda roses • Floribundas are robust, disease-resistant roses, popular for their clusters of flowers that appear over a long season. Floribundas are produced by crossing hybrid tea roses and polyantha roses – they are usually smaller and bushier than hybrid tea roses, and more upright than polyanthas. These roses are not known for their scent but they make up for it in colour, with varieties that come in a kaleidoscope of shades.

Patio roses • When grown in pots, roses are great for bringing colour and scent right up to your door. Choose shorter-growing bush varieties, or ‘patio roses’. These are compact plants that flower continuously through summer. The flowers are borne in clusters, similar to floribunda roses. It’s best to grow patio roses in good-quality soil-based compost mixed with multi-purpose compost – keep them well watered and give a liquid feed once a week during the growing season.

FOCUS ON Flower shapes

HOW TO Plant bare-root roses

Old roses • Old roses are known for their scent and include groups such as albas, damasks, centifolias, gallicas and mosses, which were especially popular in the early 19th century until the fashion for hybrid teas took over. Most flower just once in early summer, but there are some repeatflowering varieties, such as the China roses that came over from China in the 18th century.

Modern shrub roses • Modern shrub roses come in a variety of colours with a good range of fragrances and they’re a great choice for a mixed border or a rose bed. The flower shapes vary from single to double. Some of the taller varieties can be trained as climbers. This a group known for being tough and often repeat-flowering throughout summer. They are also said to be easier to look after than hybrid teas and floribundas.

Species roses • Species roses are wild or native roses. They usually have single flowers, such as the dog rose, and can often be seen clambering through hedgerows in the countryside. But they also make excellent garden plants as they are very hardy, which makes them easy to look after. These roses are a good choice if you have problem planting areas such as poor soil. They can thrive in almost any position.

FOCUS ON Roses for cutting

Climbers & ramblers • Climbing and rambling...