Picture an old apple tree in early summer. High among its branches, far above where anyone thought to plant a thing, sprays of soft flowers tumble from the canopy and scent the air below. It looks as though it simply happened. In truth, it began with a single rambling rose planted at the foot of the tree a few winters before, given just enough guidance to find its way up.  

Opening the box on your first bare root rose is an exciting moment. Inside, you'll find a neat bundle of roots and sturdy stems, carefully packed and resting for winter. There are no leaves or flowers yet, and that is exactly as it should be. Everything your rose needs to grow, flourish and flower for years to come is already there, ready and waiting for spring. Getting to know each part of your rose, and what it does, makes planting simple and helps you give it the very best start.

Lady of Shalott is the kind of rose that draws you across the garden. It arrives as a tight, salmon-red bud, then slowly loosens into a chalice of apricot and gold, as if someone had lit a small lamp inside it. When the evening sun is low, it seems to glow from within, a sight that stays with you long after the light has gone.

Autumn brings a particular kind of morning. You pull on a favourite jumper, step outside and feel the cooler air on your face, and somehow the day feels a little clearer. Leaves gather beneath your feet, the soil smells rich and damp, and the low sun turns everything a soft shade of gold.

Standard roses possess an inherent charm that immediately refines any outdoor space. Often referred to as tree roses, these beautiful plants lift your favourite blooms off the ground, presenting them at eye level on clean, structural stems. While they are a staple of formal landscapes, their unique height makes them incredibly versatile for relaxed, modern, and informal spaces too.

Autumn brings a distinct richness that invites us to slow down and notice the changes. Leaves turn shades of amber and gold, while the lower, softer light catches the borders in the late afternoon. As cooler mornings bring heavy dew and that unmistakable, earthy scent of damp soil, the garden gradually settles down for the season.

By the end of September, the rose garden is changing. The exuberance of summer is giving way to a slower rhythm, and many English Roses are setting hips, their once-constant flowers replaced by clusters of glowing fruit. Yet the borders need not feel diminished. With the right companions, roses can be framed and supported so that the garden still sings with colour, texture and grace well into October and beyond.

A rose in full flower can transform a garden. Large, many-petalled blooms draw the eye through a border, bring colour to a quiet corner or create a beautiful focal point when grown in a pot.

The fragrance of a rose is never quite fixed. Temperature, humidity, time of day and even the stage of the flower can all influence how its scent is released and experienced. As the warmth of summer begins to soften into autumn, cooler mornings and greater moisture in the air create different conditions for fragrance, and a familiar rose can reveal itself in a rather different way.

A red rose has a wonderfully compelling presence in the garden. Amongst a sea of green, even a glimpse of crimson catches the eye, drawing you closer for another look. Red can sometimes have a reputation for being difficult to use, particularly alongside softer colours. Yet the palette is far more varied than we might first imagine. From clear crimson to deep, velvety tones, red roses can bring warmth, richness and depth to a garden without overwhelming it.

There are few evenings quite like the Last Night of the Proms. Familiar melodies fill the Royal Albert Hall, the audience joins in and music heard and loved for generations is given fresh life once more. This year’s programme got us thinking about the curious connections between music, stories and the names of some of our roses. From Elgar and the Malvern Hills to Britain’s long relationship with the sea, each offers a thread to follow from the concert hall into the garden.

There is always room for another rose. When borders are full, the answer is often simply to look upwards. Climbing roses can transform arches, obelisks and pillars into wonderfully abundant garden features, bringing flowers and fragrance to eye level and above. They can tumble over an entrance, rise from the middle of a border or soften a simple post with foliage and bloom. And, with the right rose and a little thoughtful training, they need surprisingly little ground space to make quite an impression.