Rose Cottage Garden Collection

Where to Plant
Choose a sunny position where your roses will receive at least half a day of sunshine. Plant in fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, avoiding ground that becomes waterlogged. A position where you can enjoy the flowers and fragrance up close is ideal.

Planting Your Bare-Root Roses
Plant while the roses are dormant, avoiding periods when the ground is frozen or waterlogged. Unpack your roses promptly and soak the roots in a bucket of water before planting. Dig a generous hole wide enough for the roots to spread naturally without bending or crowding them.

Spread the roots out in the planting hole, backfill with soil and gently firm around the plant before watering thoroughly. Keep newly planted roses well watered while they establish.

Growing in Containers
These shrub roses can also be grown in large patio containers. Choose a substantial pot with good drainage and use a good-quality soil-based compost. Container-grown roses need more regular watering and feeding than roses growing in the ground.

Watering & Feeding
Water regularly during the first growing season and don't allow newly planted or container-grown roses to dry out. Feed with a suitable rose fertiliser in spring and again during summer to support healthy growth and repeat flowering.

Top Tip:
Plant your roses where you'll really appreciate their fragrance – beside a path, near a seating area or close to the patio rather than tucked away at the back of the garden.

Cottage Garden Borders
These roses are ideal for creating that relaxed, flower-filled cottage garden look. Plant them together for a colourful group or spread them through a border to repeat their red, pink and yellow flowers around the garden.

Mixed Borders
Growing to around 1m, the roses work particularly well through the middle of a border, bringing structure as well as plenty of summer colour.

Patio Containers
You don't need a large border to enjoy them. Grow the roses individually in generous containers to bring colourful, fragrant flowers onto a sunny patio or terrace.

For Cutting
The large, fully double flowers are lovely for cutting, so plant somewhere accessible if you'd like to regularly pick a few stems to enjoy indoors.

Top Tip:
You don't have to plant all three together. Repeat the colours at different points through a border to help draw the planting together.

Deadheading
Remove faded flowers regularly through the flowering season. Deadheading keeps the plants looking tidy and encourages further flushes of flowers.

Pruning
Prune in late winter or early spring as the plants begin to come back into active growth. Remove dead, damaged, diseased or crossing stems first, then shorten healthy growth to maintain a balanced, bushy shape.

Feeding
Apply a suitable rose fertiliser in spring as new growth begins. A second feed during summer will help support further flowering.

Mulching
Apply a generous layer of well-rotted organic matter around the base in spring to help retain moisture and improve the soil. Leave a small gap immediately around the stems.

Top Tip:
Regular deadheading is well worth the few minutes it takes. Removing spent blooms encourages repeat-flowering roses to concentrate their energy on producing the next flush.

Lavender
Lavender is a natural partner for cottage garden roses, bringing scented purple-blue flowers and contrasting silvery foliage around the front of the planting.

Hardy Geraniums
Plant hardy geraniums around the base of your roses to soften the edges of the border and provide a lower layer of flowers beneath the rose bushes.

Salvias
The upright flower spikes of salvias contrast beautifully with the rounded, fully double rose blooms and help carry colour through a summer border.

Delphiniums
Tall delphinium spires behind the roses add height and give the planting that unmistakable traditional cottage garden feel.

Top Tip:
Blue and purple flowers work particularly well with this collection, providing a simple backdrop that lets the red, pink and yellow roses stand out.

Bare-Root Roses
Your roses are supplied bare root while dormant, without pots or compost around their roots. They may arrive looking like little more than woody stems and roots, with little or no foliage. This is completely normal.

On Arrival
Unpack your roses promptly and don't allow the roots to dry out. Soak the roots before planting and aim to get them into the ground as soon as conditions allow. If you can't plant immediately, keep them somewhere cool and sheltered with the roots protected from drying out.

After Planting
Bare-root roses need time to establish their root systems before putting on substantial top growth. Once temperatures rise, you'll begin to see fresh shoots and leaves developing.

What to Expect as They Grow
These shrub roses develop into rounded, bushy plants approximately 100cm tall and wide once mature. They'll become fuller and produce more flowering stems as they establish over the following seasons.