OFTEN plants evoke powerful memories.

I have an arbutus which was a spindly Woolworth’s special, planted well before my restored home began to bloom.

It brings back thoughts of that great Ryde store and the early struggles of Water Tower restoration. A magnolia grandiflora, bought as a 2ft specimen from the long-closed Lane End Nursery at Bembridge, now rattles its leaves two thirds of the way up the house — in a similar way to the grand Victorian specimen in the home in which I grew up.

For Bill Moore, when a beautiful rose blooms in his Ash Lane garden at Gunville, he remembers his dear wife. Jean sadly died in 2018 but her memory lives on in all sorts of things, not least the vibrant rose.

Bill said: “Jean really loved this rose, which has a beautiful perfume.

“Her daughter, Claire, has suggested planting one of these roses in her memory on the anniversary of her death on September 16.

“So, can you or your readers tell me the name of this rose so I can help her daughter preserve the memory of her mother?”

There are many thousands of variety of rose out there and I will contact experts if no-one knows — but my bet is that won’t be needed.

It is a type of English rose, also often called a David Austin rose after the breeder who developed them in the 1960s, crossing various varieties with Old World types. It is undoubtedly a type of shrub rose with its characteristic simpler petal form and strong perfume.

My favourite way of using them is in a grouping for a rose hedge look.

Unpruned, English, or shrub, roses will assume a bushy appearance which can be controlled by light pruning and, as Bill will attest, they are so evocative.