Mind the gap!

Val picks insect-friendly plants to fill a rose gap

- Val Bourne

GARDENING naturally is a balanced affair, because I want to grow some garden plants that are not very wildlife-friendly. My rose and peony borders contain lots of double-flowered roses and peonies, but these petal-packed flowers offer no pollen or nectar to pollinators because the nectaries and anthers have been replaced by petals. For this reason they cannot be pollinated, so the flowers last longer than easily accessible single-flowered plants. Plant breeders raise and select double flowers, because they go on for far longer.

My favourite fully double roses, all healthy, include Champagne Moment (‘Korvanaber’) and Sweet Honey (‘Kormecaso’). Both have been voted Rose of the Year, and both were raised in Germany by Kordes, so their appellation (the name in brackets) starts with ‘Kor’. They’re a champagne-white that blends with almost any other pastel colour and doesn’t look harsh in bright light.

As well as these, I’m growing You’re Beautiful (‘Fryracy’), another Rose of the Year. This was raised by Fryers Roses in Cheshire, and it has vividpink flowers with a warm cast. It can clash with other pinks, but the second flush is terrific. I also have two pink David Austin roses, Wildeve (‘Ausbonny’) and Olivia Rose Austin (‘Ausmixture’).