Which roses are best for the cutting garden?

Ispahan (highly scented vibrant pink Damask), Paul's Himalayan Musk (small-flowered baby pink rambler), Just Joey (amber gold hybrid tea with light scent), and Compassion (repeat-flowering pink climber) are all excellent. Any rose you particularly love is worth cutting — these four are simply especially well-suited to vase life.

Is it worth growing roses specifically for cutting?

Yes. A single rose plant costs roughly the same as a bought bunch and will produce flowers from early June to late October, season after season. Setting aside a small sunny corner as a cutting area — prettified with lavender — gives both beauty and function, just as William Morris would have had it.

Roses for the Cutting Garden – Vase Life & Varieties

Q: What makes a good cutting rose?

The key criterion for cut roses is vase life — the flowers should remain intact rather than dropping petals. Prepare cut roses by stripping all foliage below the water line, splitting the stems, and changing the water every day. Scent and beautiful flower form are the other qualities to look for.

Contents

1 Why Grow Roses for Cutting?
2 What Makes a Good Cutting Rose?
3 Best Roses for the Cutting Garden
4 Planning a Cutting Area
5 Related Products

Why Grow Roses for Cutting?

Every garden should have a rose or two in one of its incarnations — and one of the most satisfying reasons to grow roses is as cut flowers. A bought bunch of roses is quite an investment, while for the same price you could buy one shrub or hybrid tea rose with the capacity to flower again and again from early June to the end of October.

We want to encourage you to think beyond the climber or rambler to disguise the oil tank or the bare wall, and even beyond patio roses for pots on the terrace, lovely and important as they are — but to focus on roses as cut flowers. It is really worth setting aside a sunny corner of your garden to act as a cutting flower area. Prettify it with lavender, and you will know that beauty and function are coexisting, just as William Morris would have it.

What Makes a Good Cutting Rose?

Taste in roses, as with everything, is entirely subjective, but for cut flowers there is one key performance indicator: vase life. Delightful as rose petals strewn down the table are, for preference they should remain on the flower to be a successful cutting rose.

Preparing the rose is important. Cut off any foliage so that none is immersed in the soaking water. Split the stems and aim to change the water every day. Although there is nothing to stop you deploying any of the roses in your garden for vase duty, the following varieties are all particularly valuable for their prowess in a vase and for their beautiful flowers and scent.

Best Roses for the Cutting Garden

Ispahan — a highly scented, vibrant pink Damask rose.
Paul’s Himalayan Musk — baby pink, small-flowered rambler.
Just Joey — an amber gold, lightly scented hybrid tea.
Compassion — a pink climber with a hybrid tea style of flower that repeats.

Ispahan

Planning a Cutting Area

The bareroot season from November gives you access to the widest choice of roses at the lowest prices. Dig in plenty of well-rotted manure when you plant, because roses are hungry feeders, and by the following summer you will never need to stop off in the garage for that slightly dodgy bunch of carnations ever again.