Roses are one of our favourite garden plants because of their exquisite blooms and often beautiful fragrance. The floribunda roses offer hundreds of small, colourful flowers over a long period in summer whereas the hybrid tea roses are noted for their perfectly formed blooms, fewer in number than the floribunda types but generally larger and longer lasting. Both types of rose are available as climbing roses
Generally climbing roses are less vigorous than rambling roses and can be pruned back to a framework of main stems each year, the framework being tied back to trellis or training wires. Rambling roses spread far and wide so they are great for training horizontally along a wall or fence where eventaully they can make a impenetable barrier to animals and intruders. Ramblers send out fast growing shoots from the base of the plant which need to be tied in to avoid them swaying around and becoming a nuisance, while the older, tangled branches are cut out, a few each year. Roses will grow in most fertile soils but unilke some garden plants they thrive even in heavy clay soils
