Climbing Roses

Climbing roses are extremely versatile and good value for money. They can climb into trees, over unsightly buildings, along fences or against walls, pillars or pergolas. Generally, climbers have large flowers and bloom repeatedly throughout summer and autumn. Ramblers usually have large clusters of small flowers, giving a mass of colour in early summer and flower on the previous year's wood. Height given in feet (eg. x10ft)

Climbing roses add a dimension to your garden that no other rose bush can. It builds on the vertical, to lift your eyes, and develop your garden into a three dimensional space. They can be rigidly formal or allowed to meander: trained on an arbour or left of their own free will to grow up a dead tree. But more than that, climbing roses are ideal for companion planting, something that is difficult with your average Tea Rose bush bed!

Companion planting is a very important consideration for some gardeners. Not only can you grow other climbers such as clematis beside, and even with a climber but the base of the rose, often referred to as "the bare legs", is ideal for lower growing perennials, especially if you time the blooms of the perennials to maximize during the middle, down time, of the climbing rose.

Climbing Roses that are from Hybrid Tea or Floribunda parentage, rarely have the profuse flowering of their bush counterparts.

Climbing Roses differ from Ramblers in a few respects. A climbing rose will have five leaflets that make up the leaf, whereas a rambler normally has seven leaflets per leaf. Together with this, Climbing Roses generally have stems that are more rigid than rambling roses.

Size: The first step is to determine how much room the rose will have to climb or ramble. Do you want a monster vine that will climb 30 feet, up onto the roof? Or do you need a delicate, well-mannered rose to cover a six-foot arbor over the garden gate? Many people make the mistake of choosing a rose they happen to like even though it wants to grow 25 feet or more, thinking they can keep it cut back to fit a five-foot trellis. This simply will not work. The constant pruning needed to keep it under control will butcher the plant, prevent it from blooming, and exhaust the gardener. If you're looking for an eight-foot climber but you love Climbing Cecile Brunner (which has been known to rip the front porches off houses with it's large mass), you'd be better substituting a smaller but similar rose, like Blush Noisette or the Hybrid Musk Bubble Bath. Beware of books and catalogs that give sizes for different climates, such as England or New England. With our long growing season and mild winters, the same roses often grow much larger here.

Shade Tolerance: Once you've determined the ideal size for your rose, the next thing to consider is the amount of sunlight that will reach the site. Although most roses need full sun and heat to bloom and stay healthy, there are a few climbers that will thrive in partial shade. In general, though there are exceptions, the white, light pink, and light yellow roses can tolerate more shade, while the reds, oranges, and stronger colors need more sun. Most of the Hybrid Musk Roses (which can be trained as small 6'-10' climbers), including Buff Beauty, Lavender Lassie, Kathleen, and Cornelia, will tolerate up to a half day of shade. The wrong rose will stubbornly refuse to bloom if there's not enough sun. If the spot is too dark, a rose may not be your best choice.

Disease Resistance: Even if you like to spray your roses (which I don't!), it can be very difficult to reach all the leaves on a climber that's tall and massive, so starting out with a healthy variety can save you a great deal of trouble. It's also important to choose disease resistant varieties if you're planning to grow the rose along a wall (which greatly reduces air circulation), or if you're planning to grow it in partial shade. Roses on a chain link fence or on top of a pergola in full sun will have fewer fungal problems than roses on a north wall, which will need to be chosen with great care. There are several varieties, particularly the Noisettes like Madame Alfred Carrière, that acquire disease resistance with age: a few years patience will pay off. Check our list of disease-resistant roses at the front counter.

Rebloom: Many climbing roses, particularly the old Ramblers, bloom only once in the spring, while others will continue to bloom spring through fall. If this rose is going to be the star attraction in a small garden, you probably want to choose one that will perform for more than a month or two. But if you have room, many of the once-bloomers are so beautiful they're worth growing for their annual spring show. For the most part, the exceptionally large (over 20') climbers like Belle of Portugal, Kiftsgate, Lady Banks, and Félicité et Perpétue put more of their energy into vertical growth and less into flowers, so they are once-blooming. There are a few exceptions which are large but repeat-flowering, such as the gorgeous, healthy, white Sombreuil, which can climb 25' or more. Many climbing roses will repeat with much greater frequency if given adequate water, fertilizer, and sunlight.

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