After such a wet May it's encouraging that June is forecast to bring better weather. Let's hope the Met Office has it right and we can look forward to an excellent display of roses.

If they are to thrive, roses need much care to minimise the impact of disease. They need regular pruning, and, in most cases, they have thorns to catch the unwary.  Despite this, there can be no denying the special place that the rose still has in the affection of gardeners both here and around the world.

Perhaps it's to do with the beauty and, in most cases, the fragrance of the blooms, or perhaps it’s their history given that roses were probably first planted by the Chinese or the Sumerians around 5000 years ago.

I have enjoyed reading about and growing roses for many years. There is certainly much to learn given the many different species and hybrids of roses and the numbers of each.

Whilst floribundas and hybrid teas continue to be popular it is the English Roses hybridised by David Austin that have, in recent years, become the most successful roses in the UK. They have a number of advantages - the most important of which is a long flowering period and disease resistance. The fact that the majority have the quartered style of old rose blooms combined with strong fragrance justifies their popularity. We grow several in our garden.

For me, however, it is older roses that have stood the test of time and come with some history which are most appealing. I’ve summarised below a number of roses that we grow or have grown and which I particularly like.

I hope you found this brief summary of roses I enjoy useful. It has certainly made me focus on the coming summer in the garden. Let’s hope the rose display will be as good as I imagined whilst writing it!