A brutal attack on a family friend leads to something darker and deeper for DC Hazel Best and Gabriel Ash. No one ever said: “See Norbold and die.” So why would a man from DC Hazel Best’s past cross England in order to get himself beaten senseless in this uninspiring Midlands town? Everyone assumes he was looking for Hazel. She can’t think why he would; and when David Sperrin wakes up, he can’t think why he would either. Amnesia – or something to hide? Flashbacks as Sperrin’s battered brain recovers only make the case more troubling. His sharpest memory is of a girl dying in his arms. But who, and how? And why is there no body, no witnesses, no missing persons report? Struggling to make sense of the situation, Hazel turns to her close friend Gabriel Ash for help. But Ash has problems of his own: one of his own ghosts has returned to haunt him. And the stakes are so high there’s no one, not even Hazel, he can confide in . . .

We hear roses are hard to grow. . . . We hear they require constant care and treatment. . . . Depending on where we live, we hear they can’t stand the heat . . . the cold . . . the humidity . . . the arid air. The list of reasons not to grow roses is long, yet we persevere.—from the first chapter Most gardeners have tried, with more or less success, to grow roses. For a plant that has been in cultivation all over the world for millennia, roses have an oddly persistent reputation for being finicky and disease-prone, difficult to establish, and in need of constant tending. And then you see a sprawling shrub, loaded with yellow blossoms, spilling carelessly over a church dumpster or a climbing mass of red roses clambering over a chain link fence. You wonder why growing a rose bush in your backyard should be so intimidating. Now, veteran gardener and author Judy Barrett tackles the persistent rumors and illusions that inhibit many of us from trying our hand at cultivating roses. She answers the most common questions (how to water, prune, train, and choose the best locations, among others) and then points readers in the direction of the many good choices to be had among both antique and old roses (the Bourbons and China roses, for example) and some newer varieties (hybrid teas, miniatures, and others). She also gives advice about cold-hardy roses and offers tips for ensuring success with heat- and drought-tolerant Earth-Kind® roses. Illustrated with gorgeous photographs throughout, Yes, You Can Grow Roses will convince you that these beautiful plants are not nearly as fussy, frail, and persnickety as you thought. By following Barrett’s advice, you’ll enjoy season after season of durable, aromatic beauty in your garden.

A former curator at the New York Botanical Garden describes 150 different varieties of roses that can be grown without the use of pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers and provides information on planting, pruning and caring for these gorgeous blooms. Original.

This 1920 work written by the Rev. Joseph Pemberton, then vice president of England's National Rose Society, is a thorough source of information on both wild and cultivated roses.

Thirty-three eminent gardeners on their favorite rose.