Margery Fish, A Flower For Every Day. Published by The Garden Book Club, 121 Charring Cross Road, London W.C.2.

Mrs Fish's garden East Lambrook Manor is in Somerset in the south-west of England.

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I was asked recently which climbing rose I would choose if I could only have one. I said Albertine, which may surprise some people. I know the flowers are not the most shapely roses we can have, nor do they last for more than a day or two. Another drawback is that it has only one flowering, but what a job it makes of it! Whatever other roses are grown, I think there should be at least one Albertine in every garden for its luxuriant growth and rich stunning foliage which never has a trace of black spot. Its cuttings strike with all the ease in the world and those delightful deep salmon pink roses, so sweetly scented, are produced in such profusion that one can cut and cut during the weeks they are in bloom. At no other time am I so prodigal with flowers in the house. Bowls of Albertine appear in every room and I have no conscience in sacrificing buds as I have with other roses. As a matter of fact it it impossible to cut Albertine without a few buds, but they open in water so it is not really wasetful.

I'm quite surprised to see in this rose's description: "Climbing, thornless (or almost)", I always found it a rather prickly rose.

Albertine is described as once-blooming, but I get a few additional blooms later on. Mine bloomed big in May and early June, but she has a blossom and a bud now, in July. Does anyone else experience this?

I garden on very light soil (we are a stone's throw from a river) and, as a result, Albertine roots almost everywhere she touches ground for very long. One of of my basic off-season chores is to wade into its mass of thorny branches and uproot baby plants.