Roses at Rockingham Castle
September 25, 2009
We’re just back from a visit the thousand-year-old Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire. Perched high above the landscape for the best view of attacking armies over the many centuries when defending the fortress was crucial, it’s now a unique private home which is also open to visitors.
This being a more or less horticultural blog it’s a feature of the garden, recently re-designed by Chelsea Gold Medal winner Robert Myers with planting by local designer Tim Rassell, which I want to tell you about: a collection of David Austin’s wonderful English Roses – grown as standards.
I’ve rarely seen them grown in this way and here there were thirty seven standards on either side of a gravel path. Many looked superb, a few were less impressive but, in general, it’s very successful for growing them as standards has one great advantage.
As was clear from the appreciation of the bus load of seniors on a day out, the lovely cupped or quartered shapes of the flowers as well as the heady fragrance of many varieties, could be appreciated without having to bend down – for all the flowers are carried at around head height. All of us, not just those less inclined to stoop to sniff, can appreciate the colour, form and fragrance so much more easily.
The pick of the varieties for growing in this way seemed to be ‘Sophy’s Rose’ (left), with light red rosette flowers and a tea fragrance, the strongly scented golden ‘Graham Thomas’ and ‘Winchester Cathedral’, a white version of the superb ‘Mary Rose’.
On the other hand ‘Golden Celebration’ was too floppy to be a success as a standard, ‘Heritage’, sometimes also grown as a climbing rose, was too open in habit while ‘Brother Cadfael’ produced too many long shoots.
But the over all it’s a great idea. And while at Rockingham Castle they had them along both sides of a gravel path, they could just as easily be grown in a mixed border or even in a large tub.
This being a more or less horticultural blog it’s a feature of the garden, recently re-designed by Chelsea Gold Medal winner Robert Myers with planting by local designer Tim Rassell, which I want to tell you about: a collection of David Austin’s wonderful English Roses – grown as standards.
I’ve rarely seen them grown in this way and here there were thirty seven standards on either side of a gravel path. Many looked superb, a few were less impressive but, in general, it’s very successful for growing them as standards has one great advantage.
As was clear from the appreciation of the bus load of seniors on a day out, the lovely cupped or quartered shapes of the flowers as well as the heady fragrance of many varieties, could be appreciated without having to bend down – for all the flowers are carried at around head height. All of us, not just those less inclined to stoop to sniff, can appreciate the colour, form and fragrance so much more easily.
The pick of the varieties for growing in this way seemed to be ‘Sophy’s Rose’ (left), with light red rosette flowers and a tea fragrance, the strongly scented golden ‘Graham Thomas’ and ‘Winchester Cathedral’, a white version of the superb ‘Mary Rose’.
On the other hand ‘Golden Celebration’ was too floppy to be a success as a standard, ‘Heritage’, sometimes also grown as a climbing rose, was too open in habit while ‘Brother Cadfael’ produced too many long shoots.
But the over all it’s a great idea. And while at Rockingham Castle they had them along both sides of a gravel path, they could just as easily be grown in a mixed border or even in a large tub.