An ode to our ENGLISH ROSE

Create a beautiful remembrance garden for someone you love

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It was no secret Her Majesty adored beautiful blooms, which often adorned her brightly coloured boater hats, and a wander through Buckingham Palace Garden. Plant a tribute to the Queen this spring with some flowering beauties of your own.

SHOWPIECE ROSES

This exciting series of highly fragrant roses has been developed over 20 years by the same rose specialists who bred the best-selling “Flower Carpet” range.

Showpiece roses have equally good disease tolerance and easy-care characteristics, but are also highly fragrant and free flowering. They’re a compact 0.8m-1m tall and are grown on their own roots, not grafted, so there are no problems with suckering rootstocks taking over. Cut offspent blooms to keep them producing sprays of flowers continually from late spring. In late winter, just prune them back all over to one-third of their size.

CAT THYME (TEUCRIUM MARUM)

This very tough, heat-loving and drought-tolerant plant from the Mediterranean is not really a thyme, but a species of germander. It gives a similar effect to lavender with its dense, twiggy, grey foliage, and grows to about 30cm high and wide. In summer, it’s covered with masses of magenta flowers on short spikes that attract bees.

The silvery leaves are pungent, releasing a musty scent when brushed or bruised. Although it’s not related to catnip, it can produce similar intoxicating effects for cats.

Cat thyme needs a hot, sunny spot and very freely draining soil, but is otherwise low-maintenance with few wants except a light trim after flowering.