Les Roses a Brel — Music at Brel

I love roses - there’s something truly special about the enormous contrast between their solid and prickly stem structure and their delicate beautiful flowers. I have masses of books on roses amassed over the years and still now continue to spend lots of time poring through catalogues from David Austin, Peter Beales and a much more recent recommendation nursery R V Roger in Yorkshire - whose quality is first class and prices excellent. I’ve always had roses in the garden.

When it comes to actually choosing and buying however I tend to be cautious because you need patience to find the right spot and get the plant established. Here at Brel where the climate is hot and dry it’s crucial. We now have lots of roses on the property - mostly climbers as we have so many walls and banks but I am hoping to establish more shrub roses in the beds as there are now more hardy long flowering varieties which can manage in the heat - and some recent recommendations for suppliers need to be investigated for next year.

I’ve always loved pink roses best although the SW French climate favours drama so I have learnt to love reds and oranges as well. One of my favourite pink climbers is the very pale New Dawn. We have at least three of them and the biggest and best grows over the archway to the pool. It is really spectacular.

Another pink favourite is the shrub rose Bonica. I brought two plants to France that I grew in pots in Surrey and put them in the ground. One has grown wonderfully while the other has rested quietly in her sister’s shade. This year in particular there has been a super show of blooms.

Two of the first roses I bought were Pierre de Ronsard - a vigorous climber with pink flowers which you see a lot in our part of France and climbing Iceberg - not a particular favourite but recommended to me for our chalky soil. Iceberg is planted against the hill - in a place where chunks of chalk often slide down in a storm. But it keeps on flowering and I love it now for its sheer doggedness.

Ghislaine de Feligonde Is a good climber - an old fashioned rose which flowers mainly once but with careful pruning will come back a second time. The apricot colour of the small flowers fades so fast to cream but it looks lovely when flowering is at its peak.

Other all time favourites are Albertine - which smells so heavenly even if it doesn’t last very long- and Alberic Barbier. My mother had a wonderful garden wall of Alberic Barbier with its cream flowers and very dark glossy leaves - it survived everything. I bought one which had two wonderful years and then keeled over. What did I do? I will try again because it’s such a great rose but I need to find somewhere a little more sheltered.

Two other favourites which have grown and survived well are Golden Showers - which seems to go on and on and the even more splendid Golden Wings - which has finally grown to a good size on the side of the concert barn. I love it.

When we moved to London, I asked the garden designer to include some climbing roses - and naturally imagined he might discuss what colours I wanted. But no. I found myself with three Italian red roses. I was cross at the time but this rose is so robust and long flowering that I have forgiven it.

I can’t find a note of its name but it starts scarlet and fades to pink. It is extremely easy to take cuttings from so while I have them in London, I now have at least three at Brel.

First rose of the season is our yellow Banksia. Wonderful arching branches of tiny flowers which mark spring’s arrival. I took some cuttings and now also have a white banksia arching over a bank near the pool. More cuttings are ready to find homes. In fact I counted my cuttings the other day and have 16 which I will plant out in the autumn - all are climbers mostly from plants in the garden but some from other people’s gardens too.

Frances E Lester outside the concert barn

We have several multi-flowered white climbers including Kiftsgate which has grown up into the woods, and Rambling Rector which is happy in a huge pot. Frances E Lester is against the concert barn. All lovely roses — simple, multi headed white small roses - alas one flowering only. In the grass garden we have a bank of rosa spinosissima - only flowering once, but wonderful hips in the autumn.

And I nearly forgot the hedge of Rosa Robin Hood around the potager - one wonderful early season flowering - but then it goes on and on. What a great recommendation that was from the Dutch couple that used to run the nursery at Prayssac.

I have to include my weird rose - Lancashire and yorkshire all on one plant!

A new rose last year from R V Roger called Country Music.

I look forward to more purchases over the winter and have been particularly inspired by the wonderful red and white shrub roses in the Touffailles garden of friends Viviane and Martin, which look quite spectacular in the French sunshine. I think shopping for roses could beat shopping for shoes….. Vivent les roses!