Whenever I visit a nursery, I tend to go home with roses that I didn’t have the faintest intention of buying.  And it happens every time.

My problem has always been deciding which roses not to choose because I love them all.  Roses of every size, shape and colour.

Trying to select roses from a rose catalogue doesn’t help much either because all the pictures are so tempting.

So I find it helpful to draw up a list of qualities that I want from my new roses before I hit the rose nurseries.  But before doing this I run through a few questions like the following:

• Am I going to go for perfume this time?
• Do I want a particular colour?
• Do I need a new climber for the pergola?
• Do I want a few rambling roses for the bank?
• Do I want a rose for a container?
• Do I want a prolific and very free flowering low-growing floribunda?

Once I have decided what I need a particular rose for, I have a much clearer idea of what to buy.

For example if I want a bi-coloured rose with perfume I would choose Double Delight.

If I wanted a tall growing red rose to disguise a wall I would choose a row of Mr Lincoln.

I discovered my magnificent Kordes Brilliant climber by combining one or two requirements in this way. I have never seen a brilliant scarlet like this in any rose. I chose it both for its vibrant colour, its health and its ability to climb and cover an archway.

If you combine one or two requirements such as colour and purpose beforehand, it helps you to narrow down the choice.  And that is a great help when choosing new roses.

For tons of info about your roses check out:

How to Plant and Care for your Rose Garden

A Rose from my Garden

I tend to go home with roses that I didn’t have the faintest intention of buying.  And it happens every time. So to be more practical, I try to adopt a system that almost – I repeat almost – ensures that I will go home with the best roses for my garden.

I draw up a list of all the qualities that I want from my new roses.  Am I going to go for perfume this time or do I want a particular colour?  Do I need a new climber for the pergola or do I want a few rambling roses for the bank?

In actual fact, it isn’t as easy as it sounds because in my enthusiasm I tend to want absolutely everything I see when there is such a huge variety to choose from. Rose catalogues are no help at all because everything looks so tempting.  So I have to remind myself to be disciplined.  I will only go for colour this time.

Do you think it works? Not at all.  I come home with a mixed variety of “temptations” every time.

Oh well, at least it adds interest to my garden. You never know how the new roses will turn out – and I suppose that element of anticipation and surprise is what makes gardening with roses so much fun.