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Belief in the power of numbers goes back to ancient history and has bred a number of superstitions – just think of the number 13 and its association with bad luck. Surprisingly, there are some [...]

Attar, or ittar, is an essential oil derived from plant sources and perhaps the most famous is attar of roses, said to be an ingredient in 75% of all perfume products. Attar of roses has an [...]

Could gathering rose hips and making your own jelly come back into fashion? The fruit of the rose, the rose hip, has been used in cooking for many centuries. The hip is rich in vitamin C and [...]

The Gold Standard Rose award and common rose diseases The Gold Standard Rose trials were established in 2004 by professional rose breeders through its professional organisation, BARB (the British [...]

History of English gardens and gardening January is generally a quiet month for gardeners so it is a good time to sit back and relax, and perhaps contemplate any changes you might want to make [...]

More as promised on climbers and ramblers Training your roses is something that requires patience to get the best results. All varieties of climbers are suitable for training onto walls, fences [...]

Choosing climbers and ramblers More questions are asked about climbers than any other type of rose so this month and next we we’ll be looking at ramblers and climbers in more depth, starting this [...]

October is the time for preparation of beds October is a busy month in the garden for rose growers, although we don’t advise planting bare root roses until at least the latter part of the month. [...]

Fascinating facts about roses – Did you know? The world’s oldest rose is believed to be on the wall of the Cathedral of Hildesheim in Germany and its presence was documented in AD 815. When in [...]

Roses in literature Roses appear frequently in literature, particularly in poetry, often as a metaphor for something else. It is a popular symbol of love, beauty and virtue in poetry, literature, [...]

Roses and their names According to the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) naming a new rose can be a very expensive procedure and, if you are hoping to persuade a rose breeder to use a particular [...]

Do you have any favourite roses that bring back memories? Since we often give flowers to mark a special occasion it is not perhaps surprising that a particular flower brings back memories long [...]

Human beings are fickle and rose growers need to be clairvoyant! You wouldn’t expect there to be fashions in rose colours as there are in clothes, but there are, and that means that when we are [...]

It’s officially Spring, we’re back on Daylight Saving Time and we have the Easter Holidays this month. All of this gives us a bit more time to pay attention to the garden. By now, you should have [...]

Many people complain that they were misled when buying supposedly scented roses because they cannot smell any perfume. However, the first thing to remember is that the sense of smell varies [...]

As with most celebrations that have existed for centuries there are many versions of how they came into being, some derived from history and some from myth and legend. The first Valentine’s [...]