Precious Love Rose Bushes

Precious Love

Precious Love is an obvious choice for anyone looking for a classic, reliable red rose as a present. If Precious implies valuable then this rose is aptly named. If it implies scarcity then it is not because this little powerhouse of a rose produces many, many voluptuous, poppy red flowers from June to late September. Being a floribunda there are many flowers on each stem amplifying its ffect. And you cannot fail to love it: the proliferation of petals in each flower sometimes have an orangey tinge that gives it real pzazz and completely obscure the stamens within. To add to its credentials, it is lightly scented and has bold green healthy foliage. Although we think precious love is pretty perfect, anyone wanting a slightly bigger red rose should take a peek at One in a Million, another stunning red rose on a slightly larger scale.

Precious Love, a Rose to be proud of

Roses definitely do best without interruption from other types of plant, which is why they are grown in dedicated rose gardens so often. Precious Love is beautiful enough to be grown en masse on its own or towards the front of a herbaceous border but holds its ground if interspersed amongst some of its larger brethren like Oranges and Lemons for a full on colour blast or Champagne Moments for a more restrained look. There is no end to the variety of roses - just check out our website - you can experiment with, safe in the knowledge that given enough well rotted muck and a dose or two of Toprose in spring you will have a bouquet of roses all summer and an English scene to be proud of. All of that notwithstanding, Precious Love would be flattered by an underplanting of pinks or low growing geums, lavenders or catmints. And remember to split the stems if you decide to bring some inside to pop into a vase.

Features

• Size: 60-80 cm
• Colour: poppy red
• Shape: full double
• Scent: modest and sweet
• Flowering: continuous summer/autumn
• Group: Floribunda

Flower arranging tips

Sprays of Precious Love look wonderful in a vase but here are a few tips to make the Love Last Longer. Use a very clean vase (put them in the dishwasher after use) and cut the stem of the rose at 45 degrees (so it does not sit flat in the vase preventing it from taking up water) under the water so that no air bubble becomes trapped in the stem. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the water and a squeeze of lemon. Change the water daily. Voila - roses inside and out, all summer.

Give your rose an annual mulch of well rotted manure, and for the first few years water when dry. Prune in late winter to remove crossing, diseased or dead branches. Keep the centre open and take the strongest stems back to 30 cm above soil level retaining lots of buds, and leave the weaker stems a bit longer but take off at least 10 cm or so.