Although in general the Gardening Australia magazine is a good publication, I just received the latest issue (May 2016) and noticed some rather odd inclusions.

In one of their usual rose articles for this time of year they claimed that Mutabilis is a "modern shrub rose". I thought they really should know better than that, so made sure of it.

They were also claiming that Crépuscule is a "modern shrub rose", so I set them straight on that too.

Then they recommended Mermaid as a docile and easy to train climber that was ideal for screening a garage. I pointed out that although wonderful in the right spot, Mermaid was not only likely to eat the garage and then start on the house, but is possibly one of the least trainable roses ever invented and is notorious for being equipped with teeth that would terrify a great white shark, and that perhaps they should mention this before recommending it to beginners.

Will be interesting to see how they respond.