One of my earliest gardening memories is helping my grandad to weed his rose beds. They contained nothing but roses, apart from a neat row of aubrieta lining the smartly clipped lawn, and keeping the bare soil between the bushes weed-free was of paramount importance. I was about five at the time, and the task felt like a monotonous chore, far removed from all that I love about gardening today.
My grandad was a gardener of his time and, despite nearly 40 years having passed, I love roses as much as he did – even if I grow them in a very different way. There’s no bare soil in my garden and my roses are combined with lots of other plants to create a more jumbled look. But in my front garden I grow them in a way I think my grandad would have liked – I’ve used just two white roses (Iceberg and Margaret Merril), underplanted with Geranium Rozanne and lady’s mantle. This simple four-plant scheme really works, and the roses are always a conversation starter for passers-by when I’m tending them.