It’s March already and spring has hopefully sprung! To keep in the anniversary mood, let’s look at plants that fit the bill as gifts for various celebrations. If you wish to find a plant for a particular name you can use the RHS plant finder (rhs.org.uk) – just enter a name and see what different plants there are for you to choose from.

Roses for wedding anniversaries

There are a range of plants for wedding anniversaries. Roses come with all sorts of names including ‘Golden Wedding’; an upright floribunda rose with double, slightly scented golden yellow flowers from July to September, and ‘Silver Anniversary’; a Hybrid tea rose of pure white which repeat flowers all summer.

There is a lovely Clematis ‘Wedding Day’ which has large white flowers and pink anthers; very free-flowering and will grow in most aspects. This would be a lovely present for the happy couple which would give years of pleasure. Keeping on the wedding theme, there is also a Clematis ‘The Bride’ which has white flowers and yellow anthers, and is suitable for a container, which could be useful if the newlyweds are in rented accommodation!

Rhododendron ‘Birthday Girl’ can be kept in a pot and flowers in May with clear pink flowers opening from deep pink buds. It needs an acid soil to plant in the garden, so a pot is probably your best bet.

A new addition to the family

A new addition to the family? There is a Narcissus ‘New Baby’ which is only 10cm high with a multiflowered head. If you were well organised and had a spring baby due in your family, you could plant a potful in the autumn ready for the happy event, which could then be planted in the garden after flowering.

The Hybrid tea rose ‘Loving Memory’ can also be grown in a pot and is repeat flowering with blooms which are crimson to scarlet and would be a lovely comforting gift for a grieving friend.

Time to prune

On the subject of roses, now is the time to prune your bush-roses (hybrid teas and floribundas) if you haven’t done so already. Cut off all the spindly twigs and anything dead, damaged or diseased. Cut to an outward facing bud, leaving about 2.5cm of last years’ growth on weaker stems and a bit more on stronger stems.

Shrub roses don’t need such drastic pruning, and with these if they are looking a bit congested, cut out about one third of the thickest, oldest branches at the base with a pruning saw, thus encouraging new shoots to emerge. Take about 10cm off the top of the remaining stems to finish, and feed with a handful of rose fertiliser.