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For pots
Sir David Beckham is a gorgeous new English shrub rose from David Austin, which launched at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The bowl-shaped white flowers are flushed yellow and pink and smell of banana, musk, and cloves. Compact and producing a continuum of flower sprays on red stems, it is perfect for pots.
Height: 1.2 metres
For heart-stopping red
The huge blood-crimson blooms of Altissimo make it one of the most striking short climbing roses. Attracting bees and hoverflies from June to November, the single flat flowers glow red in the sun and sometimes reach 12 centimetres wide. Grow it up an arch or – because it looks so good against green – send it over a large shrub.
Height: 3.5 metres
Fragrant Rosa ‘Desdemona’.
Eva Nemeth
For maximum pollen
On still, sunny days, the small ivory blooms of the many-flowered rose (Rosa multiflora) roar with bees and exude a fruity scent. Being a species rose, it suits the modern naturalistic garden; it’s useful, being tolerant of poor soil and shade, and versatile, since it’s a rambler that can moonlight as a shrub. Red hips follow the summer bloom.
Height: 4 metres
For a north wall
One of the most beautiful of the old climbing roses, ‘Mermaid’ produces a succession of single primrose-yellow blooms, up to 12-centimetres wide. Healthy, but not 100% hardy, it performs best in milder regions and – if shielded from winds – will even thrive on a north or east-facing wall. Slow to establish, but worth the wait.
Height: 7 metres
For borders
Striped roses tend to induce a Marmite response. For those of us that love them, the best for bees is The King’s Rose. Introduced by David Austin in 2025, this fabulous English shrub rose has open flowers with pink and white petals that are reminiscent of raspberry ripple ice cream, and it looks good with perennials, such as nepeta.
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