France in Focus

I want to buy some roses for my son to plant, as a birthday gift. Back in the UK I always bought mine bare rooted, delivered & planted in October/November & found it a really successful way to grow roses. ( I LOVE roses). I used Pococks (Hampshire) & Cants (Essex) & was never disappointed.

Does anyone know of a good supplier in France?

As you so rightly say, buying bare root is an Oct/Nov activity, I would recommend trying to source them from as close to you as possible - preferably so you can buy them onsite. Pépinières rather than Jardiland/GammVerts are more likely to sell stuff bare root. What are your nearest big towns/areas?

Nearest big town (city) is Nantes.

I was wondering if there were any dedicated rose nurseries that did mail order?

Go to the market in October and you will find them readily available. You will also, believe it or not, find them sold in supermarkets like SuperU. My most successful climbing roses came from a supermarket.

I’ve always bought Davis Austin roses from their Albrighton base. There was a time after Brexit when it wasn’t possible to get them in France. However, if you search for David Austin roses France it will take you to their .com website.
I’m useless at uploading photos but my roses are looking lovely at the moment (despite all of the rain).

Chappers51 wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 12:26 pm I’ve always bought Davis Austin roses from their Albrighton base. There was a time after Brexit when it wasn’t possible to get them in France. However, if you search for David Austin roses France it will take you to their .com website.
I’m useless at uploading photos but my roses are looking lovely at the moment (despite all of the rain).

I bought some from there several years ago now, I wanted specific old roses that smelled nice and that was the only place I could find them.

But, as has been stated above most of the supermarkets and garden centres have really good deals on bare rooted roses in the Autumn.

Thank you all. I'm carrying on searching for dedicated rose growers as I know exactly the roses I want!! I have found two or three who will deliver bare rooted & am exploring them atm. Will report back.

My experience with expensive roses has been poor, and I don't know why. Those that have done best have been the likes of Paul Scarlett, roughly 3.99e, and other similar priced rises. I have a French rose called Grand Huit, and that has the most wonderful dark green leaves with big red flowers that smell divine. I would recommend it as a climber, bit I also grow it as a shrub.

It's hardly supporting the local economy, but the finest roses I've ever bought were from Rozenlottum in the Netherlands. https://www.rozenlottum.nl/en_GB/
Their range of stock is amazing, including David Austin roses at a fraction of the DA price. The roses I got from them are in their 3rd year now and there's no sign of them suckering, which has been a big problem with roses bought elsewhere. This indicates that they may not be grafted, but I didn't check that before planting. In too much of a hurry to plant them It's certainly not affected their size, health and beauty!

When we lived in 49, there were several excellent rose growers near Doué en Anjou (which we knew as Doué la Fontaine ).
We only bought bare rooted ones, ordered in advance and they were superb.