PLANT FOCUS PLANT FOCUS Another reason to AY! love roses... TRY THIS TOD Creative While it’s encouraged to deadhead EmbEllISH CAKES AND your roses throughout the summer, TREATS WITH BEAUTIFUL AND container it’s a good idea to leave a few DELICIOUS CRYSTAllISED towards the end of summer to turn ROSE blOOMS – IT’S SO SImplE TO DO! RAmblING ROSE TEEPEE to seed. They’ll form attractive red Enjoy the wild looks of a rambling or orange berries called ‘hips’ which rose on your patio or even balcony! extend the season of interest right This container idea from Carolyn into winter. Dunster’s book Urban Flowers (Frances Lincoln, £20.00) combines a miniature rambling rose with cottage-garden pinks to create a beautiful, natural look. Make a simple teepee with three bamboo canes and position it over your rose, pushing the canes into the soil slightly. As the rose grows, tie stems to the teepee and trim off any excess. HOW TO grOW ROses Most roses will thrive in full sun or Some roses are supplied as bare partial shade. When choosing a rose, roots. These are cheaper than potted PRUning tip read the description to find its roses, but just as good. Bare-root roses ultimate height. Sizes vary from are perfect for planting in autumn, The right time to prune roses is in the below the knee, to above 15 metres winter or spring while the rose is Enjoy them indoors winter, but they often produce long stems YOU WIll NEED: tall, so it’s important to find one that’s dormant. It’s a good idea to soak the throughout summer that will need to be • Eggs right for the space you have. roots in a bucket of water for a few Make a mini indoor rose garden removed straight away. It’s well worth • Rose petals or small, Roses prefer ordinary garden soil hours before planting. From spring using two enamelware pots and getting a good pair of secateurs for all whole rose blooms to compost. If you’re growing a rose onwards, the stems will start to produce miniature or patio roses. Position the your garden pruning tasks, including • Caster sugar in a container, fill the spaces around vigorous new growth. smaller tub on a upturned plastic roses. These new Fiskars PowerGear X HOW TO DO IT: the rootball with soil from your flower To plant a bare-root or potted rose, flowerpot in the centre of the large pruners, £34.95 from Homebase, are tub to create a tiered effect. This a good all-rounder, with a unique 1 Separate the white from beds or a rose or shrub compost make a hole large enough to fit the the yolk of one egg. would make a fabulous table mechanism that makes (available from garden centres). roots, and so that the base of the stem is 2 Dip the petals or blooms pruning easy. level with the soil surface. centrepiece or a longer-lasting into the egg white and You can mix mulch with alternative to cut-flower bouquets. place on baking parchment. the soil before backfilling Find more ideas like this in Emma 3 Sprinkle with caster sugar the hole if you want to give Hardy’s Book, Teeny Tiny Gardening. so that it sticks to the wet your roses a head start in egg white and leave to dry the spring, but it’s not for a few hours. 4 Once fully dry, dip the essential. Make sure that Always water roses after planting as blooms into egg white the rose is positioned this will settle the roots and aid the ' again and add another layer straight, firm the soil down initial growth. If planting in very dry Florist s tip of caster sugar. and give it a good water. conditions, continue to water daily for Florist, Ingrid Carozzi, displays 5 Leave to dry fully before a few weeks. Once established they coral-coloured roses, pale pink sweet adding to cakes, chocolates require very little (if any) watering. peas and seasonal foliage in a rustic or desserts. Be sure to plant climbing roses next wooden box. The ‘Spring Find more Top tip to a wall or fence with a growing Box’ is ideal for use as a support such as trellis or wires. table centrepiece or on delicious recipes in If you like to cut flowers to Climbing roses can easily produce windowsills. Find more Carolyn use in homemade bouquets, two-metre long stems in their first great ideas in the book, Dunster’s book, choose repeat-flowering Handpicked: Simple, year and these will need to be tied in. Urban Flowers. varieties that will flower Between late autumn and spring is Sustainable, and continuously all the ideal time to prune any rose to Seasonal Flower Urban Flowers, £20, Jason Ingram, Paul Brissman, CICO Books Arrangements by Ingrid Frances Lincoln keep it the desired shape and size. summer long. Carozzi, £14.99, Abrams hotos P 24 Garden Style Garden Style 25.