We're falling head over heels for reliable roses

Tons of blooms will be heading into the shops from overseas all ready for Valentine's Day, but growing your own will give your heart a lift, too

- DIARMUID GAVIN

"Gertrude Jekyll"

WITH Valentine's Day this weekend, supermarkets and florists will be selling huge quantities of flowers. Around 570 tons of roses are imported into the UK in February - most from Kenya and Colombia with the remaining 20% arriving directly from Holland.

With the rise in energy costs, the price of producing bouquet-perfect roses has spiked. They need to be grown in regulated conditions, requiring water, temperature control and chemicals, then flown across the world. This raises environmental concerns and is particularly frustrating as we can grow roses so well in these islands, just not in time for February 14.