Rose 'Quick Silver'

Marvellous mauve flowers with the classic rose perfume. The blooms have up to 50 petals, they open in clusters and last well. The mid green foliage is healthy and vigorous. Growing to around 250cm it is a good size.

Rose 'Quick Silver' has a moderate fragrance registering 3/5 on our perfume scale. It has excellent growth and strong disease resistance.

Climbing roses are an easy way to add flora height and charm to the garden. These romantic plants look divine tumbling over a fence, stately on an archway, glorious on a pergola and charismatic on a pillar or post. They act as fantastic screens for unsightly areas and can enhance any size of space.

You can train them onto anything that they can be tied to, for example pergolas, lattice, fencing wire or frames. They won't need pruning for the first few years (unless it is dead or unwanted growth), as they flower best on two year old canes. For best blooms on a flat surface the stems should be trained horizontally, or on uprights like an archway they should be spiralled.

The basics of rose care are simply ...

1. Keep the plants moist at all times, but never allow the roots to sit in water.

2. Feed generously, and frequently, two or three times over the flowering season.

3. Keep pests to a minimum (this is usually not a problem if you start with a strong variety, and keep it well watered and well fed).

4. On a wall or fence you will need to train climbing roses with loose twine. The main canes should go horizontally while still soft and pliable. The side shoots will flower strongly and can then be easily pruned as required. On an archway, or pergola, or pillars, plant one rose either side (ensuring the arbour is wide and tall enough to pass through) spiral the stems around the posts, prune as required, with the big prune after flowering. You can use weights tied, or pegged to stems to help train them.

5. Keep the area around the roots weed free, and ensure 4-6 hours of sun per day. Loamy soils are ideal, though Roses will grow in heavy top soils (if well drained) and sandy soils (if kept watered and fed more frequently). For Roses to thrive, good drainage is critical.