December is wonderfully late for a cheerful pink rose to bloom. I’m making a plan that includes many more roses in the garden next year

Four rose plants are coming with us to the new place. Each one has been with me for a good few years, and when they bloom it’s like an old friend returning. An old friend whose name I’ve forgotten. (Note to self – lesson learned – label things!)

Our new garden is a lot bigger than our current place, and so there is plenty more space to allocate to roses. I’ve read that roses can propagate from cuttings relatively easily, gardeningknowhow/roses-from-cuttings  and I want to give that a try.

There’s an amazing rose garden in the centre of Regents Park, which is well worth a visit for inspiration and relaxation. My favourite there is this wonderfully named variety, “Keep Smiling.” It  was still in bloom at the park last week, and I have just bought this rose as a bare root from http://www.grosvenorgardencentre.co.uk/. So with a bit of luck there’ll be a few of these in bloom in our garden next December. That’s a thought to keep me smiling.