The Main Rose Border.
Gallica roses are compact, prickly shrubs with dull green foliage and generally fragrant, single to double flowers in small clusters in mid-summer. R. gallica var. officinalis is an erect, bushy small shrub with dull green foliage and semi-double, light crimson flowers to 8cm in width. Moderately fragrant
Grow in fertile, moist but well-drained soil that does not dry out, in full sun or partial shade. Unlike modern bush roses, shrub roses generally flower on older wood and should be allowed to develop naturally, with a light but regular pruning, during late winter, and with a balance of older wood and young, vigorous growth. Maintain a balanced framework by reducing strong new growth in late winter by up to one-third. Prune back the previous season's growths by a third to a half of their length and shorten strong sideshoots to two or three buds To encourage new shoots lightly pruning mature plants each winter by cutting some of the older main stems back to the base. This encourages vigorous new shoots from the base that will flower the following summer. Regularly dead head and mulch after pruning.