If you've ever admired a rose garden and thought, "I'd love to grow roses, but they seem too difficult," you're not alone. For years, roses have had a reputation for being fussy, but modern varieties have made them easier than ever to grow.
Whether you have a large garden or just a sunny patio, roses reward you with months of colour, beautiful fragrance, and blooms that bring joy every single day.
Why Roses Are Worth Growing
Roses are much more than beautiful flowers. They become part of your garden's story.
They bloom for months rather than just a few weeks, attract bees and pollinators, fill the air with wonderful fragrance, and provide endless inspiration for photography, painting, journaling, and flower arranging.
Many roses also produce colourful rose hips in autumn, giving your garden interest long after the flowers have faded.
Most importantly, roses have a timeless quality. They have been loved for centuries by gardeners, artists, and botanical illustrators such as Pierre-Joseph Redouté, whose exquisite paintings continue to inspire flower lovers around the world.
Five Wonderful Roses for Beginners
1. Roald Dahl Rose
One of our favourites, the Roald Dahl rose produces soft peachy-pink blooms packed with petals and a gentle fruity fragrance. It's repeat-flowering, healthy, and forgiving, making it perfect for new gardeners.
Why beginners love it:
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Flowers all summer
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Strong disease resistance
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Beautiful scent
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Easy to care for
2. Olivia Rose Austin
This David Austin favourite is covered with elegant soft pink blooms throughout the season.
Its excellent health and continuous flowering make it one of the easiest English roses to grow.
Why beginners love it:
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Repeat flowering
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Excellent disease resistance
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Beautiful classic rose shape
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Wonderful fragrance
3. Desdemona
Creamy white flowers with a hint of blush give Desdemona an elegant appearance. It flowers generously and stays compact enough for smaller gardens.
Perfect for:
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Cottage gardens
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Containers
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Mixed borders
4. Bonica
If you want a rose that almost looks after itself, Bonica is hard to beat.
Clusters of cheerful pink flowers appear throughout summer, and the plant is famous for its reliability.
Why beginners love it:
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Extremely hardy
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Very low maintenance
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Long flowering season
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Great for wildlife
5. The Fairy
Small but incredibly generous, The Fairy produces hundreds of tiny pink flowers from summer well into autumn.
It's one of the easiest roses available.
Perfect for:
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Small gardens
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Borders
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Pots
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Ground cover
Simple Tips for Success
Growing roses doesn't have to be complicated.
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Plant them somewhere with at least six hours of sunshine each day.
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Water deeply rather than little and often.
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Feed them in spring and again after the first flush of flowers.
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Remove faded blooms to encourage more flowers.
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Give them space for good airflow to help keep leaves healthy.
These few simple steps will reward you with months of spectacular blooms.
More Than Just Flowers
At Libby & Alice, roses inspire almost everything we create.
From botanical illustrations and scrapbook pages to handmade stationery and our Monthly Mail Club, roses remind us to slow down, notice beauty, and enjoy life's quieter moments.
Perhaps that's why they've remained one of the world's favourite flowers for hundreds of years.
Whether you're planting your very first rose or adding another to a much-loved garden, you're creating something that will bloom not only in your garden but in your memories too.
Here's to beautiful gardens, muddy hands, and roses that make you smile every morning. 🌹
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