3 Large-Flowered Roses in 3 varieties

These roses come with bare roots. Place the shrubs in a bucket of lukewarm water overnight before planting. These large-flowered rose bushes grow best when planted in the garden. Prepare a wide hole for each shrub and loosen the soil with a fork. Improve poor soil with compost and fertiliser pellets. Spread out the roots of the large-flowered roses and place in the hole at the correct depth – the graft union (the thick part where the graft is joined with the rootstock) is prone to frost damage and should therefore be about 5 cm below ground level. Refill the hole with the improved soil, press down firmly with your heel and water the rose generously. Full sun or partial shade is necessary for an abundant flowering.

All three of these roses, Rosa ‘Giardina’, Rosa 'Aquarell' and Rosa ‘Candlelight’ have large double flowers that appear from June until the first frosts. Large-flowered roses are real eye-catchers in your garden. These rose bushes look wonderful in a bed bordered with a Box hedging. You can even plant lower growing plants around the base of the large-flowered roses. Plant a ground cover such as the spotted Dead Nettle (Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver'). Or, create a lavender border around a group of roses. In the autumn you can also plant some tulips between the bushes to give continuous interest through most of the year.

Rosa ‘Giardina’, Rosa 'Aquarell' and Rosa ‘Candlelight’ are so-called Tea hybrids with large, fragrant flowers. These bushes are very strong and healthy, with a bushy habit, producing a great amount of blooms. Tea hybrids also make great cut flowers!

You can encourage a second flowering by removing spent flowers back to the first five-leaflet leaf. Tea Rose hybrids need lots of feeding for abundant flowering, so fertilise your roses regularly. Fertiliser pellets should be placed around the base of your Tea roses in the winter and mixed organic compost mulch should be given in the early spring. Use a special rose fertiliser in July – follow the instructions on the packet for the correct dosage. To protect the vulnerable graft union point, we advice creating a mound of earth around the base of the bush before the start of winter. Spread this earth out again before pruning in the spring.

All three of these rose varieties, Rosa ‘Giardina’, Rosa 'Aquarell' and Rosa ‘Candlelight’, should be pruned every spring. Prune in March leaving only about five of the strongest branches. Prune all branches until there are 3-5 eyes left (these are dormant buds that are difficult to detect). Always cut at an angle so that rain water can drip off. Also remove any unwanted suckers from the roots and any growth that is either dead or diseased. The roses that you'll receive from us have already been pruned, so they only need to be pruned the following year.