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Viburnums are related to the honeysuckles, so it should come as no surprise that many of them have fragrant flowers. But that’s not all they have in their favour. No, this genus includes plants for all seasons and all reasons; foliage, flower, autumn colour, scent, groundcover, shrub or small tree, evergreen or deciduous, it’s all there among the 120-odd species and the many hybrids and cultivars. Indeed, they’re so variable that it would be quite possible to have an interesting garden of viburnums alone.

Although viburnums can be found over much of the temperate northern hemisphere and even South America, most of the common plants in our gardens, with the exceptions of the Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) and the Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus), occur naturally in temperate Asia or are derived from the species of that area.

About the only drawback with viburnums is that because they are so adaptable and easy to grow, they seem to have suffered from the ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ syndrome that sees common plants, however attractive and useful, relegated to the lower divisions of the garden league in favour of something more ‘exciting’. Well, don’t fall into that trap

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Very soon stocks of new season’s roses will be arriving in the garden centres, if they’re not already there. Indeed, to be sure of getting the most sought after varieties it may have been necessary to put an order in some time ago. However, in their rush for the new, those who are slaves to fashion often overlook gems, leaving some of the best tried and true plants for those prepared to simply wait and see what is available.

Gallica roses are a case in point. While the popularity of Old Roses waxes and wanes as each new generation discovers them and then seeks something new, the best of them carry on regardless.

Rosa gallica, also known as the French Rose or Provins Rose, is a species that grows wild from southern and central Europe to the Caucasus. Because it readily produces sports, has a tendency towards double flowers, and may have hybridised naturally with other species, it is likely that the earliest European garden roses were forms of Rosa gallica.

The earliest recognisable Gallica still grown is ‘Officinalis’, the Apothecary’s Rose. It is a deep pink semi-double thought to have been introduced into France from the Middle East by returning 13th century crusaders. It has even been suggested that ‘Officinalis’ was the first cultivated rose, though that is impossible to prove. A similar rose was used medicinally and in perfume manufacture in Charlemagne’s time, but it can’t be traced back beyond around 1200 with any certainty. Nevertheless, ‘Officinalis’ can be seen in many medieval manuscripts, paintings, and stained glass windows, and while deep pink rather than red, it earned fame in the War of the Roses as the Red Rose of Lancaster. (The White Rose of York was Rosa