Hedgehog tip

Here's a random little tip for the winter months:! Hedgehogs are a welcome addition to any garden. They eat slugs, bugs and grubs. Hedgehogs need a helping hand in winter months. Traditionally they have been fed bread and milk, but they are lactose intolerant so this is not a good mix. They far prefer a plate of scrambled egg (without milk)! Try this at your own risk!! ;o)

Romantic Roses

Rosa Lovely Lady

My favourite flower, and indeed plant for the garden, is the Rose. No garden is complete without the roses’ fabulous blooms in summer. Not only does it give shape, form and colour, but also provides wonderful perfumes and conjures up the image of romance. I’m sure that most ladies all over the world have at some time received a bunch of roses that has brought a large delighted smile to their faces. In days gone by, even when I was young, it was very common to see a garden with at least one rose bed. Indeed my father started breeding roses from the early age of 13 and has built his success on growing roses for those rose beds. He is still growing roses to this day. These days fashions have changed and many gardens only house a standard rose, a climber or rambler for a pergola, or a rose whose name is for the remembrance of a special occasion or in memory of a loved one. Indeed customers tend to buy individual roses as presents. The most popular seem to be in celebration of weddings, birthdays and anniversaries such as Golden Wedding, Ruby Wedding, Silver Anniversary, Happy Birthday, Congratulations and many more. Roses for wedding presents are gaining in popularity too, named varieties such as the rambling Wedding Day which can grow up to 7 metres, the Bride, Special occasion, Honeymoon and many more.

The Royal National Rose Society whose patron was the Queen Mother was founded in 1876 (there is a rose named after the Queen Mother) but roses have been on the go much longer than that. Fossilized leaves have been found which suggest that roses were in existence some four million years ago, preceeding Man’s esistence. Roses from Asia spread into Europe over the centuries, but it was the Chinese that introduced roses from the 1790’s. These roses were the stock that made way for the many new colours and repeat flowering varieties, roses that we are used to seeing today. There are 6 countries that share the Rose as their national flower; England, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Iran, Luxembourg and Slovakia which just goes to show how well respected the flower is.

Today’s roses have generally been classified into eight categories, Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, Shrub, Miniature / Patio, Old English, Climbing, Rambling, and Carpet/Ground Cover, each having own their own unique qualities. There are colours, shapes sizes, heights, and perfumes to suit everyone. Roses are fairly easy to look after, most varieties need to be pruned once and fed twice a year. Once the growing season has started one can spray to prevent any problems, then dead-head when the flowers are done and that’s pretty much it, easy peasie! So if you don’t have a rose in your garden, I suggest that you do try one, even in a pot on the patio for starters, you’ll not be disappointed.

written by Emma Horsfields from Horsfields Nursery, Pot House Hamlet
horsfields@pothousehamlet.co.uk