Its madenss our roses blooming in January! and have we have a camelia in bud…..and spring bulbs are foward. No 2 days are the same at the moment,one day its like a spring day and next we are plunged back into winter….I'm confused no wonder the plants are! Oh well, will still prune back the roses in mid-spring as we normally do, the shrub roses that is, a climber we have, we prune in the Autumn after the flowers have faded.

Prune your shrub roses by about and quarter using a sharp pair of secateurs to make a sloping cut, just above a outward facing bud. Remove dead and dying branches first and thin out if overcrowded. There are many specialist rose grower sites online,  and one of my favourites is http://www.classicroses.co.uk/ who have superb varieties and have won many awards and have good advice page and a forum. 

In a creative moment this week I created this rose out of coffee filter papers…..not my idea i might add…looks very realistic! I know there is nothing like the real thing but it was fun to do! And when (normally this time of year) you have no roses in the garden, a few of these in a bouquet look lovely!