91Èȱ¬

A good cure for the winter blues is toÌýcast your mind forward to next summer, when your gardenÌýfillsÌýwith the heady scent of roses. Or at least, it will doÌýif you plant some: and now is a great time to order them bare-root -Ìýcheaper, quicker to establishÌýandÌýoffering you more choice. The choice is bewildering, though, so we asked leading rose breeder to name his top roses to plant this winter.

There are thousands of roses to choose from of all colours, heights, and types. People sometimes ask me to choose a rose for them, and when it's a lady I usually reply, “Would you allow me to choose you a dress?�

In other words I find it a daunting task, as the ones I select may well have to adorn her garden for 20 years or more.Ìý It's very much a matter of taste: once I know the colour the person wants and whether it should be short, medium or tall the choice becomes less onerous.

But how do I choose just a handful of roses from the many thousands of varieties available?Ìý Well: I've selected a couple of my favourite roses from each colour range, with plenty of different types to cover as broad a range as possible.

There are more pink roses than any other colour. I don't mind this because I'm very fond of them. In 1860 the lovely Portland damask rose ‘Comte de Chambord’ was introduced, and ever since then it has been doing sterling service in gardens all over the world. It blooms more or less continuously from June through to November, and it will never outgrow its welcome in any garden for its maximum height is no more than 3 feet. In addition to all this it has a superb fragrance: no garden should be without one.

Amongst the reds, I have become fond of a relatively modern hybrid tea, ‘Loving Memory’. This rose is of medium stature, shapely and very fragrant.

Orange roses are perhaps the most popular, yet they are not the easiest to grow. Two exceptions to that are the very reliable modern shrub ‘Gardeners Joy’ and the older floribunda ‘Norwich Castle’, both superb in a herbaceous border with, for example, lavender and rosemary.

‘Golden Wings’ is an aptly named single rose with delightful array of coppery stamens. Growing to about four feet, it blooms continuously all summer.

So far I have discussed only continuous-flowering roses, but there are some verygood old garden roses that flower only in summer. A favourite of mine is the classy ‘Mme Hardy’, a pure white damask: its fragrance is intoxicating.

In recent times a number of roses have been introduced in the blue shades. I can't honestly say I have fallen in love with them, but I feel at least one should be mentioned here. ‘Rhapsody In Blue’,Ìý the tall floribunda rose, comes into its own when mixed with white roses - in particular the oft grown and well loved white floribunda ‘Iceberg.’

Finally, I cannot resist mentioning Rosa glauca, a delightful species rose with glaucous purple foliage. Though its small pink flowers are not conspicuous, it makes up for this in autumn with its lovely dark red hips. They complement its plum coloured stems superbly, providing a much needed dash of colour in the garden.

Find out more about choosing bare-root roses for your garden in Gardeners' World on 12th November at 20:30 on 91Èȱ¬ TWO.