The garden of roses

A garden filled with roses is a labour of love at Robert Moore's home on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border, says Sue Bradley

- Sue Bradley

IT’S been said that ‘roses grow on you’, and this is certainly the case in the Cotswolds garden that Robert Moore shares with his wife Sheila.

From climbers scaling the walls of the house and ramblers clambering over the log store to shrub roses in the flower and central island beds, this is a garden that smells as good as it looks.

And it’s true to say that this colourful plot is not a five-minute wonder once the petals start to unfurl each year. Robert has carefully chosen a large number of repeat-flowering cultivars such as Gertrude Jekyll (‘Ausbord’), Eglantyne (‘Ausmak’), Dublin Bay (‘Macdub’) and the thornless ‘Zéphirine Drouhin’ to ensure a long season of interest.

“In the evening we get this wonderful fragrance from the roses,” says Robert. “Most bloom from late May and are still going in October and even November, so the garden isn’t boring to look at.”

Maintaining a rose garden requires a bit of effort, though, with careful attention to deadheading throughout the flowering season, and pruning.