The lovely "Dog Rose" is native to Europe, North West Africa and western Asia. It makes a perfect addition to a wild garden and is often used for hedging. The gorgeous flowers can vary from deep pink to almost white, maturing into attractive, oval 1.5–2 cm red-orange fruit, or hip or hep! The flesh of the fruit is noted for its high vitamin C level, and is used to make syrup, tea and marmalade, and indeed it has been grown or encouraged in the wild for the production of vitamin C from its fruit (often as rose-hip syrup), especially during conditions of scarcity or during wartime. ... Learn More

These incredible, compact, disease-resistant plants will flower surprisingly quickly from seed, even in four months! We did not believe it until we trialled them! Yes, all this from seed! Sweetly-scented blooms, in a range of shades through pink to white, appear on this beautiful miniature rose, which is perfect for growing in pots, although if grown in the ground it will become a low growing, hardy perennial shrub. The rarely-seen and unique Fairy Rose is a Polyantha, with many clusters of blooms, and they are valued for their profuse clumps of ever-blooming double and single flowers, which a ... Learn More

Native to Europe and southwest Asia, this lovely rose bears fragrant, paler-centred pink flowers throughout spring and early summer. A vigorous plant, it is ideal in the wild garden or covering an unsightly wall! ... Learn More

A healthy, tough and extremely vigorous rose with spreading growth, bearing masses of pure white flowers, with a strong sweet fragrance, which are held in beautiful, flat-topped, cascading clusters. These can sometimes be made up of hundreds of individual flowers each facing outwards, exposing a cluster of pretty yellow stamens. The heavy masses of perfumed flowers are most attractive to bees, making it a good choice for a wildlife garden, and also for growing through large trees, or to cover large unsightly buildings or walls. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its prestigious Aw ... Learn More

Rosa gallica, commonly known as the Gallica Rose, is a historical and well-recognized species within the rose family, Rosaceae. Known for its significance in horticulture and cultural history, this species has a straightforward yet enduring presence. The Gallica Rose is characterized by its deciduous shrub habit, typically reaching a height of 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters). The stems are armed with thorns, and the pinnate leaves consist of several small leaflets. The flowers of Rosa gallica are notable for their simple, five-petaled structure and appear in a range of colors, including shades ... Learn More

This rose is one of the only species worth growing from seed, all aspects being desirable. Thornless, purple-red stems of unusually-attractive ruby-grey leaves, and pale-centred, cerise pink flowers, age to bunches of dark red hips, which persist after the leaves have fallen in the autumn making a dazzling display. Superb as a bush, but magnificent as a standard if you have patience to train one. ... Learn More

For several weeks in summer, this lovely, vigorous rambling rose produces dense, arching branches bearing large clusters of single white flowers with a rich fruity fragrance, which slowly fade to red producing an attractive bi-colour effect. These are later followed by lush red hips in autumn, and are much loved by birds which feed on these fruits and disperse its seeds widely. It is absolutely ideal for covering a wall or shed, especially north-facing walls as it is more tolerant of shade than other roses. ... Learn More

This rare and beautiful rose comes from the Central Iberian/sub-Mediterranean areas, where it makes dense deciduous thickets smothered in fragrant pale pink flowers. Its preferred habitat is deep, moist soils, especially in the supra-Mediterranean zone of the Meseta, the Ebro basin, the Cordillera Central, the Southern Iberian Range, the Montes de Toledo, and the Sierra Morena mountains, where it grows in association with Berberis hispanica and Prunus spinosa ("Sloe") ... Learn More

Large shocking pink single rose flowers, with petals like tissue paper, stand out like beacons against the deeply-veined, large bright green leaves ultimately giving way to fat, glossy orange hips that are just as attractive as the flowers. This is a fast-growing rose with a dense and bushy habit that makes it a good choice for a summer-flowering hedge with autumn interest. The extremely thorny stems make it a good deterrent barrier too. ... Learn More

Very similar to ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’, these flowers are truly fully double and bright silky magenta in colour, and have a deep and lovely "Old Rose" fragrance. It produces intermittent flowers throughout the summer and autumn, extending the season of colour in the garden. It was originally selected by Schaum Van Tol in1865. Very few fertile seeds collected. Seedlings may vary but all should be very lovely. ... Learn More

This delicate, small suckering shrub boasts pretty, single, creamy-white flowers, up to 2 in. across (5 cm), in late spring to early summer. Sweetly scented, these are borne in profusion on prickly stems bearing handsome, fern-like foliage of bright green leaves that are composed of rounded, delicate leaflets. As an extra bonus, the blossoms are followed by sizeable, spherical, purplish-black fruits. Disease, salt and drought tolerant, this beautiful species rose is perfect as a groundcover or as a low hedge. A hardy, tough and reliable plant, it is extremely suitable for use on poor soil and ... Learn More

This is the rare, double-flowered form of this attractive garden-worthy shrub, with perennial, not biennial woody stems (unlike many other rubus forms.) It is grown not only for its attractive many-petalled, dazzling-red flowers, but for the juicy fruits which mature in late summer to early autumn resembling large orange to orange-red raspberries 1.5–2 cm long, which are used to make jams and pies in their North American home. These fruits are also called Russian Raspberries or Salmon Berries. Traditionally, the berries were eaten mixed with salmon roe, hence their name, but we do not recom ... Learn More

This mysterious, and very rarely-seen plant makes attractive compact bushes of rigid, branched stems bearing evergreen spiny leaves, and bears greenish flowers followed by sizeable gorgeous red berries throughout the winter and following spring! Quite incredibly, it is a member of the lily family! For hundreds of years herbalists have used butcher's broom in the treatment of various ailments. And presumably butchers-of-old used branches to clean their work tops with the sharp foliage? For the chemists amongst you, Butcher's Broom contains 0.8-1.5% quinolizidine alkaloids, principally spartein ... Learn More

This shrub or small tree can be found growing wild just about everywhere in Britain, the fragrant, flat topped, cream flower heads appear in May and June followed by the purple-black berries in September. The flowers are used to make the delicately-perfumed elder flower champagne, whilst the berries are used for wine. It used to be said that if you had an elder tree in the garden you had a medicine chest, or even a larder! The pith of the stems is easily pushed out and whistles were made from the hollow stems, the belief being that the sweetest sounding ones were made from trees that grew aw ... Learn More

Seeds collected from the very best cultivars of the dark, narrow leaved forms of the fragrant-flowered elder such as 'Black Lace'. Seedlings will vary, with less than half having dark or very dark foliage, and pink or dark pink flowers. It is very important indeed to remember that many green seedlings will turn darker as the plants mature through the summer in their first year, so do not discard all green-leaved seedlings. ... Learn More