Along with nasturtiums and dahlias, roses are having their last fling as the days draw in and the weather begins to cool.

The climber Pink Perpetue has had a better summer in our garden this year - it was planted about 18 months ago and has managed to get its roots down during this time and produce a couple of really strong shoots.

As the name suggests, it is pink flowered with lovely, elegantly sculpted buds that open out into beautifully clear hued blooms.

It is a climbing rose and ours grows against an old, warm coloured brick wall, which complements the flowers very well.

Pink Perpetue is not a particularly tall rose growing about 3m/9ft high although, once established, it will be vigorous and cover a wide area.

The stems can be trained against a wall or along a fence where the flowers will be carried over a long period of time through the summer and into autumn when the show of flowers can be as good as or even better than the summer one. The flowers are double and slightly fragrant and the foliage is dark green, sometimes tinted with purple.

It is interesting to find out about the parentage of roses, although it can get rather like tracing a family tree and become very time consuming.

Pink Perpetue for instance was introduced in 1965 and is the offspring of two other climbers, New Dawn, introduced in 1930, and Danse du Feu, introduced in 1954. New Dawn has fragrant shell pink, semi-double flowers while Danse du Feu (sometimes called Spectacular) has slightly fragrant, rich orange scarlet semi-double blooms.

The next step back is the parentage of New Dawn which was (Rosa wichuraiana x Safrano) crossed with Souvenir du President Carnot which resulted in Dr W van Fleet.

New Dawn is a sport of this latter rose. Danse du Feu is a little simpler, its parents being Paul's Scarlet Climber and a Rosa multiflora seedling.

This is as far as I have got with the help of the book Roses by Roger Phillips and Martin Rix (Macmillan London) but even so a good "family tree" is developing for Pink Perpetue.

Roses are greedy plants and need to be fed every year.

This involves mulching in April or early May after applying a handful of rose fertiliser on to moist soil.

The mulch should be 5-7cm deep and needs to be spread around the base of the rose, but away from the crown of the plant. Some growers apply an autumn mulch either as well as or instead of the spring one.

This can be done now while the soil is damp and still warm from the summer, but rose fertiliser should not be used at this time of year.

Weekend catch-up

It is time to clear out all those pots that have been planted with summer bedding and tender perennials and get them filled for winter colour. The mild autumn has meant the plants have continued to flower for much longer than usual, but most are looking past their best now with scant foliage and few flowers.

The row of osteospermums I had on my kitchen windowsill did very poorly this summer and hardly flowered at all. They have now been replaced by pink and white coloured cyclamen that have been in flower for three weeks or so and still have a few buds left to open. Once they have finished they will be transferred to a shady spot in the garden and be replaced by something else.

There is plenty to choose from for winter pots. Violas and pansies are always popular and are reasonably long living. Choose a mixture of plants with some already blooming and others just at the bud stage to prolong the flower show. Cut back after flowering to encourage a second flush. This is usually successful, although I have rarely managed to get a third flush.

Evergreen ferns, ivy and grasses also make interesting additions to containers at this time of year, as do the ornamental cabbages with their pink, purple, cream and green leaves. They last for months before they have to be replaced.

TV and radio

Tomorrow8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Doug Stewart and Blair Jacobs.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther with Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners' Question Time. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Eric Robson are in the Gower Peninsula where they help members of the Reynoldston Women's Institute with their horticultural problems. Bob Flowerdew looks at methods of planting garlic.The gardening weather forecast is at 2.25pm.

Tuesday

8.30pm, BBC2, Digging Deep. Horticultural therapists Amanda Brooks and Andre Smith create a garden for a client in west London who is the full-time carer for her father.

Friday

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World. Monty Don prepares the vegetable gadren for winter while Carol presents the plans for the cottage garden next year.

Saturday

8am, BBC Radio York, Gardening Phone-in. With Nigel Harrison, phone 0845 300 3000.