STEP into the garden centres at the moment and you will be bowled over by the colour and scent from roses heavy in flower. Spring and autumn are the normal times of the year when you think of planting roses, but at this time of year, you can safely plant containerised roses.

The advantage of buying now is that you can see the colour of the flower and not rely on the picture label.

There are many types of roses to suit any situation in your borders or patio. The most common types are hybrid tea, floribunda, patio, bush, climber and rambling. However, there are many more such as hedging roses, old roses, moss, and English.

If you only have a small place in your garden for a rose, then a patio rose might just be the one for you, growing to around 60cm (2ft).

In early spring, prune out any dead, diseased and damaged wood. Then, prune lightly to shape, trying to keep a ‘cup shape’ to the plant. Hybrid tea and floribunda roses are pruned in a similar way but cut the current season’s growth down to the second or third outward facing bud.

The main difference in these two roses is that on the hybrid tea, the flower is much larger than the floribunda and less of them on one stem.

One of the most common floribunda roses is “Arthur Bell”. It is named after an old director of Kew Gardens, London, is a fabulous yellow rose and also grown as a climber. A good choice for groundcover planting would be the Flower Carpet rose, growing to 60cm (2ft) high and spread.

I first saw these used on roundabouts in New Zealand around 15 years ago. I have planted our new car park with a few different colours and they are just about to flower, so I am hoping for a good show.

Anyone who watches or attends the RHS shows around the country will know the name David Austin. He is world renowned for his breeding of roses, bringing the scent back into them and being disease resistant.

These old roses are easy to prune. Once they have flowered, cut them back by a third with your shears and any old wood in the middle of the plant. This will open it up to increase the air flow inside the bush and reduce the possibility of mildew.

Roses do have a reputation for attracting aphids and diseases, so it is important to spray them around once every two weeks or so with a dual purpose fungicide and insecticide such as Roseclear Ultra or Multirose.

If growing organically, use soap based insecticides and make sure your watering is constant and even (avoid wetting the foliage) to avoid blackspot and mildew.

When planting in the garden, make sure it is in a sunny position.

They grow well in our local area as they love heavy clay soils. Make sure it is well drained, though, as they don’t like too wet. If planting in a pot, use John Innes No 3 compost.