Visually Choosing Roses - It is a good idea to look at roses growing in other home gardens and talk to the owner, rose growers are usually happy to talk about their roses. Don't forget to write down the rose name, colour and fragrance if any, and what attracted you about it. Also visit Public Gardens, Rose shows and display gardens etc. Make a list of your choices and order for winter as bare-root plants or buy later in pots, this can be a little more expensive, but may be in flower for instant colour and possible fragrance. Remember to order roses as bare-root plants early to avoid disappointment.

"Old Fashioned" or "Heritage Roses" covers a very diverse range of roses, ranging from the wild or species roses, Shrub roses and the earliest of garden roses to the recent roses with the character of the "Old World". Fore-runners of our modern roses. Many recurrent flowering to some degree and having a wide variety of fragrances.

The following group all have the China rose influence and were also the fore-runners of many our modern roses. Most being fragrant

Chinas - Very free flowering, loose blooms, many are fragrant. Twiggy growth, fine leaves, usually of low habit..

Bourbons - Large blooms globular to flat, mostly tall almost climbing habit.

Portlands - Double blooms, very recurrent, on stocky plants.

Noisettes - Most have a climbing habit and therefore appear in the climbing section, being early recurrent flowering.

Hybrid Perpetuals - Large flat double blooms. Not a true perpetual. Often thornless, tall of upright growth.

Polyanthas - Most of the varieties are low-growing, very bushy and floriferous. The blooms are generally quite small, either single or double. These roses are excellent for mass bedding, but also recommended as cut flowers.

Tea roses - Buds are pointed, blooms are nodding with ruffled centres, tending to be larger and more double than Chinas. Flowering is perpetual, Twiggy bushes are large. Famous for their distinctive fragrance which is supposedly like fresh-picked tea.

Floribundas - The characteristics of the Floribunda are a strong, vigorous plant of short to medium height. The blooms are mostly in large or fairly large trusses and the individual flowers are flat or cup shaped, often double like the tea roses and of medium size. With a few exceptions they are scentless.

Grandiflora - The Grandiflora Roses are a cross between Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses. They have the Floribunda multi-heads with large Hybrid Tea-type blooms. Try them for special displays, they are certain to give gardeners pleasure and add much colour to the garden. They are strong, continuous blooming and produce clusters of Hybrid Tea type flowers on strong stems. The blooms last well in vase or garden.

Hybrid Teas - Developed in the middle of the 18th Century. Beautiful, elegant roses are large and double. Most have strong upright stems. Largely they are excellent as cut flowers. Flowering is generally very prolific for long periods from early spring to late autumn. In most gardens they are vigorous and hardy.

Old roses of European origin - considered to be the oldest roses cultivated in a garden, grown extensively until the early 1800's. Many grown for their exquisite fragrances and also used in perfumes and medicines.

Gallicas - The earliest cultivated group, many highly fragrant, usually flat doubles of rich colour ranging from pink through crimson to maroon and purple. Deep green attractive foliage on low, hardy, compact bushes form dense thickets of few thorns. Flowers from mid-spring, one flush only.

Albas - Another ancient group of exceptionally beautiful roses dating back to Roman times. All of pastel shades from pure white to clear pink. Blooms which appear in late spring can be of any type and are superbly fragrant. With lovely Grey-green foliage.

Damasks - A further group of very old roses. Richly scented damask blooms have been used for rose-water also fragrant essential oil from rose petals etc. Charming flowers are mainly pink tones, variable of type, mostly in spring. Medium height fairly open bushes.

Centifolias - (Literally "100 petals"). Known as the cabbage rose, of globular shape favoured by the old painters of note. Centifolias are very fragrant. Hardy tall open bushes tend to arch down under the weight of the blooms.

Mosses - Have a fascination through time, taking their name from the fragrant moss-like growth which appears on the buds and upper stems. Usually mutations from centifolias with similar growth. Mostly strongly fragrant, double flowers, mainly in spring.

Species and early shrubs - The species in particular make an ideal transition into the native gardens. Most are hardy, with good resistance to disease. Most of this group have one annual flowering in spring. Their charm is their simplicity. Mostly flowers are of single and five petal form. Many have superb autumn foliage and decorative hips. Very popular early shrub group. Originated this Century. In general the plants are informal of old fashioned form, can be used either as specimen plants, or in formal hedges, while smaller ones can be planted in beds. Some flower in spring, many are long flowering. Hardy and vigorous growth.

Climbing, Rambling and ground cover roses - Are wonderful for training on arches, pergolas, fences, sheds and tree stumps, around posts and pillars as wind screens or to block unsightly views. While some are suitable for ground covers or cascading over embankments and walls. Climbers are strong and vigorous but not large or spreading like ramblers.

Ramblers send up branches from their bases and can cover old sheds, fences and pergolas in a very short period. Some can easily grow in trees. Densely covered in leaves, many evergreen. When in full flower, ramblers give a spectacular display.

David Austin® (English) Roses - An English rose breeder has developed a series of new roses which have all the old world mystique and characteristics Most have a delightfully beautiful fragrance and subtle colours of a wide range and have the continuous flowering habit of the modern hybrid roses. Informal shrub habit with heights of one to over two metres.

Alister Clark roses - A noted Australian rose breeder who has developed many wonderful Australian roses. His goal was to produce an ever-blooming decorative garden rose. He produced many notable roses which are still much sought after to this day. Many of these old favourites are listed in this catalogue.

Miniature roses - May be less than 300mm and up to 400mm high. The leaves are small in groups of 3 or 5 and generally 19mm long and 13mm across or even less. The blooms single or in sprays range from 30mm to 60mm across. Of many different forms and colours, some are fragrant. Plant 400-600mm apart. Very winter hardy.

Weeping Standard Roses - These are spectacular for prominent positions in the garden, such as, in the lawn, among other roses for their height, near broad steps or sweet little miniatures in tubs for small areas. These wonderful specimens flower in the spring in massed cascading towers of blooms right down to the ground. Some repeat flower all the year. After the spring flush new canes are produced which hang down from the tall stems of either 1.5 or 1.8m or in the case of miniatures approximately 1.15m during the summer. These canes give the best flowers in the following spring. After flowering attention should be given to removing any dead wood or very twiggy growth or possibly trimming long canes touching the ground may be needed.