If room allows in your garden, planting a climbing rose is an option worth considering and a good choice is Rosa "Cecile Brunner".
A delightful and charming old rose that has a lovely old-rose scent and masses of exquisite miniature hybrid-tea-looking flowers, it has soft pink buds that gradually fade to white.
It has a long flowering season and is a very reliable rose, with attractive reddish new growth and fresh, dark-green leaves.
A vigorous and fast-growing climber, it is suitable to grow up trees and structures. It has moderate thorns and is relatively resistant to pests and diseases.
If room doesn't allow for a climber, a bush variety is available.
It grows to about 1m and is not overly vigorous as it tends to have a more spindly habit and lacks foliage.
Where to plant
Best grown in well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade.
At the Dunedin Botanic Garden, it is on the main walk of the rose garden.
Other uses
Very popular in small arrangements and posies.
It is also frequently used in buttonholes.
Pruning
Prune out old wood, diseased or dead canes.
Prune back main shoots to fit the growing area. Reduce side shoots to three or four buds.
Propagate
Take semi-ripe wood cuttings after flowering or hardwood cuttings when rose is dormant.
• Linda Hellyer is curator of the rose garden at the Dunedin Botanic Garden.
