With so many old roses to choose from, it's unlikely to have only one overall favourite. So here's a few of my all-time favourites, for now at least ... 1) Buff Beauty; I fell in love with this rose when I first found her at a rose nursery run by specialist rose growers, Roy and Heather Rumsey in Dural NSW, Australia. When I first visited their nursery over 30 years ago, I had no idea that they were Australia's rose royalty. Heather and Roy were instrumental in re-introducing some of the...

We're in mid January, the midst of Summer in Australia, where the heat is intense with 43 degrees Celsius and climbing here in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. We grow tough, resilient roses that love the heat, like the old heirloom Tea roses (not to be confused with Hybrid Teas), China roses, and some of the Noisettes. Tea rose, Comtesse de la Barthe, often known as Countess Bertha in Australia, thrives in warm climates. You won't read much about the heirloom Tea and China...

I've been growing old, Heritage and Heirloom roses for a number of years now, and in the early stages I was a little daunted by the...