Ihave just spotted my first rose of the year — a bright-pink semi-double rose called ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’. This fragrant ‘rugosa’ has bright-green foliage and it will flower in shade. It also tolerates poor soil because in the wild this healthy Japanese species grows on sandy soil. The only thing it does object to is really alkaline soil: this turns the leaves yellow. Other than that, this rose can make a large shrub or a tallish hedge — albeit a rather prickly one.

Choosing the correct rose for your garden is vital because they come in all shapes and sizes, varying degrees of prickliness and equally variable constitutions. In general, many roses close to the species are healthy but highly bred roses can be disease prone. However, modern rose breeders are now selecting for vigour and health and this is vital because many of the fungicides for black spot and the like are no longer commercially available. If they are, most have been reformulated and therefore tend to be weaker in strength.

The rose pictured, ‘Lucky’, was the Rose of the Year in 2009 and the flowers are unusual lavender-pink. It was discovered by Fryers Roses and entered into rose trials held across the country before gaining the award. I have grown three bushes for at least two years and I have found it vigorous, healthy and floriferous — although a little leggy. ‘Lucky’ is technically a floribunda and these repeat-flowering roses bear clusters of flower and have a very natural habit.

Prune after Christmas, while dormant, and take the strongest stems back to 18 inches — always to an outward-facing bud. Remove any weak stems. Other good floribundas include the blush-white ‘Champagne Moment’, the bright-red ‘Trumpeter’ and the rich-yellow ‘Amber Queen’.

Hybrid Tea roses are more-traditional in shape, bearing one bloom per stem. These roses dominated the rose scene for most of the 20th century with their upright shape. I am not a fan, but over the years they have become softer in style and less prone to disease. Probably the only two I really love are the copper-orange ‘Just Joey’ and the peachy ‘Warm Wishes’. Pruning is done while dormant, but hybrid teas can be taken back to six inches if needed.

Some roses are much less compact and they have arching wands of flower. These include David Austin’s English roses, some Hybrid Musks, shrub roses and many old-fashioned roses. Pruning these is a gentler affair and you should aim to remove ‘the three Ds’ (dead, dying and diseased wood) and then shorten the leaders by a third.

This will encourage new growth while preserving the shape of the bush. My favourite shrubby roses include the soft beige-apricot ‘Buff Beauty’ and David Austin’s pale-buff ‘The Generous Gardener’.

Repeat-flowering roses are often more popular. Once-and-only roses only flower once in June. But they do it magnificently and drip with flowers for three weeks. These are the roses that make summer special and the gallica roses, almost all ramblers and some old-fashioned roses are ‘once and onlies’.

n If you want advice on which roses are right for you, consult an expert company like Peter Beales Roses (0845 4810277/ www.classicroses.co.uk).