On 25/11/17 02:32, brian mitchell wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote:

On 23/11/17 00:34, brian mitchell wrote:

Hi,

I wish to grow roses, as standards and one climber/rambler. My three
top priorities are scent, scent and scent. (I can't imagine why anyone
would think it worth their while to breed a scentless rose). After
that, colour and, in the case of the climber/rambler, vigour.

Being completely ignorant about rose culture and varieties, I'd much
appreciate suggestions, expressions of favourites, and general rose
wisdom.

Thanks,

Brian Mitchell

We were in the same situation as you a few years ago. We thought a visit
to Mottisfont would be helpful, but it wasn't. We saw a number of roses
we liked but many didn't seem to be available commercially.

So we went to a specialist rose nursery (Pocock's, next to the Sir
Harold Hillier Gardens near Romsey in Hampshire). That was the best
decision we ever made. We could see and smell all the roses they had. We
bought 6, and have been very pleased with them. I could list them, but
your preferences might be different, so you really must see and smell
them yourself. It would be best to do it fairly locally, but west Wales
isn't exactly known for rose suppliers! If you don't want to go too far,
there is a Wyevale at Carmarthen. They should have quite a few in flower
in June/July.

Thank you. This tells me that I've really left it too late if I want
to plant something next Spring. Carmarthen is eminently doable from
here so I'll check Wyevale out later on. I would like to make a start
though, partly out of a sense that I don't have all the time in the
world any more, so any lists of people's favourites, and why, would be
appreciated. I could at least look at pictures and start compiling a
list of possibilities of my own.

These are the 6 we bought from Pocock's:
Deep Secret - fabulous deep red colour, almost velvety petals with (most
unusually for a red rose) an amazingly strong and very attractive scent.
Margaret Merrill - a pure white rose with a strong scent.
Golden Wedding - a well-known fine yellow-coloured rose with a good scent.
Chris Beardshaw - pink rose with good scent.
Blue For You - violet colour with fairly good scent.
Bowled Over - good orange colour with a fair scent.

If I had to choose just one, it would be "Deep Secret". It has been
flowering for months, and is still in flower, although I reckon it's the
end as the frosts are hitting it.

Pococks have a very good website where you can go through the roses they
offer in various ways http://www.garden-roses.co.uk/Rose-Catalogue-S1.
NB they no longer list "Chris Beardshaw" and "Bowled Over".

--

Jeff