Roses are marvellously versatile, suiting almost every garden situation, and one of the most popular is within a mixed border. With their long flowering season, roses inject unrivalled grace and glamour, harmonising, and contrasting well, with other plants.

Roses are wonderful plants for growing in pots, urns and other containers. Roses in pots can be grown in even the smallest amount of outside space, such as on a city balcony or terrace or on a small garden patio. If you have a larger garden, we recommend placing pots in areas that you frequently walk past or sit near, such as next to the house, along a path or next to a bench or eating area.

Planting roses in shady positions is a great way of bringing colour and interest to forgotten areas of the garden. Although, in general, roses will not thrive in a position where there is too much shade, the varieties listed below will do surprisingly well with only four or five hours of good sun each day.

Hedges of David Austin’s English Roses are particularly valuable. Unlike most other hedges they will repeat flower prolifically, producing flushes of glorious, fragrant blooms throughout the summer until the first frosts.

Most gardens have at least one standard height (6ft/1.8m) fence or wall, which is often dull or simply ignored. Reinvigorate this space by clothing it in one of these beautiful, fragrant roses – turning it into one of the best assets in your garden. David Austin’s English Climbing Roses produce a generous number of stems from the base, creating ample coverage when fanned out

By training a fabulous, fragrant climbing rose up a wall or fence, you can convert a dull, even unsightly area into one of the most eye-catching features in your garden. Support the rose with a trellis or straining wires running horizontally at intervals of 12-18" (30-45cm). As the plant grows, encourage side shoots by fanning out the stems into the available space.

Brighten up the front of your house with a magnificent climbing rose. A climbing rose can transform any home with its colourful blooms. A climber grown on the wall of your house will often be the earliest garden rose to flower due to the additional warmth the wall provides. Another benefit of growing a rose on the wall of your house, or on a wall or fence near to your house, is that the beauty and fragrance of the rose’s blooms can be enjoyed at close quarters.