A great time to plant roses is November – March during the bare root season. During this time the choice is much wider and the cost better for you (transporting them is so much cheaper than supplying container grown ones). A cultivar I’m looking to include in a planting display is Rosa ‘Tuscany ‘Superb’.
R. ‘Tuscany Superb’ is a Gallica rose, is fragrant and grows about 1.6/1m (Height/Spread).
It is an old rose flowering once during the summer for about 3-4 weeks anytime from the end of June.
It gives a magnificent display and is full of character.It has deep purple flowers with many petals and contrasting stamens. It forms a sturdy shrub with vigorous, spreading growth and dark green foliage.
Gallica roses are the oldest of garden roses, the originals being grown by the Greeks and Romans. The flowers are often dark in colour and beautifully formed.
If thorns put you off looking after roses, an added bonus is they are relatively thornless.
Professional tips
Don’t be surprised if the leaves come out slower/later than other roses in Spring, David Austin Roses tell me this is typical for Gallica roses.
This group of roses are generally tougher than more modern cultivars so they are more likely to perform well.
Be careful when you prune your Gallica rose – the flowers are produced on previous year’s growth. Timing is important to avoid pruning out the potential flowering stems. The plants are unlikely to flower in their first season as this growth will produce the flowers for the following year.
Planting combinations
As an attractive grouping, I’m looking to combine Rosa ‘Tuscany Superb’ with Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’, Euphorbia wulfenii, and Lupinus as shown here. I love the way the hue of the rose works well with the Cotinus foliage.
So why are we thinking about roses in October and November?
Bare root’ means that the plants are lifted from the ground during the dormant season and they usually have a wider root growth than container grown ones supplied at other times of the year. Planting roses during Autumn, while the soil is still warm, encourages their roots to grow a little before winter sets in. This allows the roses to be better established ready for spring growth the following year.
Melissa Morton Garden Design
