Most people would rarely associate the rose with winter. Instead, the image of a rose in full bloom usually brings to mind walks through scented summer gardens. Seasoned gardeners, however, may think differently.

The upcoming month is the perfect time for gardeners to plant roses, which are currently being sold as bare-root specimens rather than as potted plants. Purchasing your roses bare-root is much more economical than buying containerised roses during the growing season. This is simply because less labour is involved in their production, which is passed on to you the consumer as saved expense.

With bare-root plant stock often costing about half that of the potted stock, it is much easier on your pocket, especially if you intend to create one of those large traditional rose beds that you so often see in the grounds of stately homes. The real affordability of these roses may unfortunately or fortunately cause you to buy many more specimens than you originally intended. Don't worry; you will have no problem getting them home though, as you will be happy to discover that you can easily fit upwards of fifty bare-root roses in a car boot. I'd like to see you do that with the potted version.

Another added advantage of planting bare root roses is that they tend to adapt better to their new surrounding soil, water and weather conditions than a similar potted rose. Bare-root roses nevertheless happen to have one small disadvantage of not being in bloom when you buy them.

Because of this, you must be guided by picture labels, garden centre staff and personal faith that a rose will eventually display its purported bloom colour. Thankfully, due to diligent nursery staff, colour mix-ups are rare.

So, take a visit to your local garden centre and ask to see their selection of bare-root roses. Carefully select your roses, ensuring their roots haven't dried out and that the canes are dark green and fresh looking.

When you get your plants home, don heavy gloves to protect your hands from thorns and examine their roots for any cracks or breaks. Tidying up these roots may be required, which involves cleanly cutting with a secateurs just beyond the damage to healthy tissue. Any broken rose stems or canes should also be cleanly trimmed back to an outward facing bud.

Now, as their name suggests, these roses have bare roots with little if any soil attached. Because of this it is important to introduce the plants to moist soil as quickly as possible after purchasing them. If planting is delayed for a few days, you can keep the roots moist by temporarily planting them into a mound of topsoil or damp bark mulch, a stopgap process known as heeling in.

Remember to keep them well watered until you get around to planting them proper.

Next week I will deal with positioning and planting your bare-root roses. Until then, happy gardening and remember that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.

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