Roses (Rosa) include thousands of varieties, from climbers and shrub roses to compact bedding and ground-cover types. They need at least five to six hours of sun a day and deep, loamy, humus-rich soil with pH 6.0–7.0. Plant bare-root roses in October or in March–April with the graft union about 5 cm below the soil surface; container roses can go in all season. Spring pruning, when forsythias flower, is the most important job: remove dead, weak and crossing shoots and cut healthy ones back to an outward-facing bud – hard for bedding roses, lightly for shrub and climbing roses. Water at the base rather than over the leaves to reduce black spot and powdery mildew, and feed from April to July only, so the new wood ripens before winter. Deadhead repeat-flowering varieties regularly throughout summer. In autumn, rake up fallen leaves that carry disease spores, and mound soil or compost 15–20 cm high over the base of grafted roses to protect them from frost.