The Colourful, Fragrant Flower 'No Garden Is Complete Without', According To Alan Titchmarsh

From English country gardens to sleek contemporary designs to small urban plots, there is a garden style for every taste.

While different plants take centre stage in different spaces, there is one flower no garden is complete without, according to Alan Titchmarsh.

In his latest video on his YouTube channel, Gardening With Alan Titchmarsh, he shares his five essential jobs for May. Alongside tips on planting tomatoes, training climbers along fences and companion planting, he also explains how to grow roses in containers – the one flower every garden should have, he says.

“I think no garden is complete without a rose for colour, for fragrance and just for the sheer joy of watching them open,” Alan shares in the video.

roses in a garden

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It’s now too late for bare-root roses, which should go into the ground before spring arrives, but May is an ideal time to add container-grown varieties to beds and borders, or even to a large pot on a terrace or patio.

portlandrose sorte jacques cartier ullstein bild//Getty Images

Jacques Cartier is one of Alan Titchmarsh’s favourite rose varieties

Alan has previously expressed a particular fondness for the Jacques Cartier rose, an Old Portland variety he has praised for its reliable repeat flowering all throughout the year and ability to grow into a healthy and highly fragrant shrub.

Introducing roses now is a simple way to ensure sure your garden is filled with vibrant colour and heavenly scent in time for the warmer months, when balmy evenings are best spent outdoors.

“Summer’s well on the way now,” Alan adds. “And as well as remembering all these jobs, remember, too, to find a spot where you can sit down, have a cup of tea and particularly early in the evening, listen to the birds, enjoy the fruits of your labours and just think to yourself, ‘Aren’t I lucky to be a gardener?'”

Alan rose to horticultural fame as a presenter on Gardeners’ World in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before going on to host his own daytime programme, The Alan Titchmarsh Show. Since 1983, has also been a regular presence on the BBC’s coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the world’s most famous garden show.

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Wanda Sachs is the Multiplatform Writer for Country Living and House Beautiful, exploring the latest in gardening, wildlife and sustainable living alongside interiors and property. She is particularly interested in human-interest stories, the intersection of design and pop culture, and the evolving relationship between urban and rural life. Previously, she served as Associate Editor at The Berliner in Berlin, where she reported on culture and fashion. Wanda studied English and German at the Goethe University Frankfurt and Exeter University.