Climbing roses are not only magnificent in bloom but versatile as well. No matter how small your garden or backyard is, there is always room for at least one climbing rose.
They can adorn the side of a garage, be espaliered against a chimney, used as a screen for a porch, or trained on an arbor or trellis. Then, too, they can be draped over a fence or a stone wall, used to cover a bank or brighten the prosaic mailbox.
For the formal rose garden, trained on pillars or arches, climbing roses furnish an essential accent and background. Even with the streamlined ranch house, they can be used as a frame for a picture window, a carport, or on low fences.
Simple Culture Of Climbing Roses
The culture of climbing roses is simple and demanding. Many thrive even when neglected but do better if given reasonable care.
Rose planting time is either spring or autumn, depending on your area. Spring planting is advisable where zero temperatures occur.
If winters are moderate, fall is better because the weather will likely be more agreeable. Plants also get a slight head start over those planted in the spring.
Give Extra Care
Since climbing roses are, as a rule, long-lived, please give them a little extra care when planting.
Often the site selected has a minimum of good topsoil. Hence dig a hole at least 12” inches deep and 18” inches wide.
Mix good topsoil or compost with the other soil (if not too poor) and several handfuls of complete fertilizer. Use this when planting roses.
If plants cannot be planted immediately upon arrival because of adverse weather conditions, unwrap them to see if the packing around the roots is moist.
If it is, rewrap them and put them in a cool place. If not, soak packing material in water, squeeze, place it around roots, and rewrap. Plants can be kept for a week in this manner.
To be supported longer, it is better to heel them in by digging a trench, setting plants at a 45-degree angle, and covering them completely with soil.
Though I have never seen it advocated, I buried the package when it arrived in winter without apparent harm.
Plant climbing roses like any others. Canes usually are pruned, but sift through plants and cut off any broken roots.
Spreading of Seeds
Spread the seeds out without cramping, and work loose soil around the bases while holding the plant in position with the other hand. When about two-thirds of the earth has been added, tramp down firmly, then water well.
When the water has drained away, add more soil but do not tramp. Instead, pile soil around the bush, whether planting in spring or fall, and wait to remove it until the buds begin to break.
Give specimens enough space, at least 3’ feet on a fence, or even more where they grow rampantly.
Remove the label because the wire will kill the cane, and substitute a permanent stick-in brand.
Tie Canes Loosely
When the canes begin to grow, tie loosely to the support. Many climbers bloom more profusely if trained horizontally instead of upright as a pillar.
Climbing hybrid teas and floribundas may also be trained as pillars. For neatness, fasten the outer canes to the lower part of the trellis or support and the inner canes vertically to a higher point. Then bend them over, right and left horizontally.
Clubs can also be trained in the shape of a fan—materials used for tying are raffia, jute twine, or even narrow strips of a soft cloth. Tie loosely; a ” too-tight” tie will sometimes bruise or cut the cane.
Feeding In Early Spring
Roses are not the heavy feeders they were once thought to be. Climbers which bloom once usually need only one feeding in early spring.
Well, rotted cow manure or compost is excellent. Cultivate it lightly, but never cultivate roses deeply, for the feeding roots are near the surface. A commercial fertilizer or exceptional rose food can be used.
Be sure to follow directions carefully. First, work it in the soil, then water it well. Everblooming climbers can also be fed after the first blooming period in late June and July.
Never fertilize after late August since it stimulates late growth so that canes do not harden sufficiently. Then winter injury results.
Applying A Summer Mulch
Climbing roses and other kinds benefit from a summer mulch to keep down weeds, conserve moisture, and lower soil temperature. Buckwheat hulls, peat moss, or ground corn cobs are good mulches.
If you use peat moss, soak it well before using because, if put on dry, it will absorb the moisture from the soil and thus be a liability. When fertilizing, push the mulch aside, apply the food, and replace the mulch and water well.
With the summer heat and drought, water thoroughly and avoid a mere sprinkling. Use a water wand, or place the open end of a hose at the base of the plant, allowing the water to run slowly for half an hour or an hour. Soak to a depth of 6” or 8” inches.
Most climbers only need pruning once they are three years old. Prune after they have finished blooming, not in early spring as with hybrid teas. There may be some winterkill in a severe winter, so remove this dead wood in the early spring.
Remove Old Canes
The method of pruning depends on the type of climber. Ramblers, like Chevy Chase, produce new canes from the base each year, and it is on these that next year’s flowers appear.
Older canes that have bloomed should be cut at the ground, and the new clubs kept and tied to a support.
It is better to prune ramblers each year, for if neglected, they become a mass of briers. To prune, it is unnecessary to untie the walkers, but the old canes can be cut piecemeal and pulled out.
Blooming Climbers
Large, once-blooming climbers like Paul’s Scarlet, Dr. Huey, and Elegance do not need drastic pruning. They produce significantly few new canes from the base; hence old canes are not cut off.
As new ones appear, cut back some of the older growth to keep plants within bounds. Then cut the flowering stems or laterals into three or four buds, producing new laterals that bloom the following year.
Remove only the dead blooms on everblooming rose climbers like New Dawn and Blaze. Cut below the flower heads and about one-quarter of an inch above the first leaf bud.
Spraying and Dusting
Climbing hybrid teas, climbing polyanthas and climbing floribundas require similar treatment. Invariably, when pruning, have sharp tools, including curved-edged pruning shears and long-handled loppers.
Spraying or dusting can be smooth if you have a few plants. Climbers are not heir to all the ills of hybrid teas, but a little blackspot and mildew are sometimes bothersome.
Where there is good air circulation, decay is rare. Aphids may appear early in the season, but an all-purpose spray will take care of them and other ills.
Time Sprayings Carefully
Follow directions carefully and avoid using chemicals in scorching weather since foliage will burn. Instead, start spraying early in the season and continue until frost. Again, proper timing is essential, especially with the rose blackspot.
With this disease, the idea is to cover the foliage with a protective film of the spray or dust before the rain because the blackspot spores develop under moist conditions. Also, coat both sides of the leaves.
Climbers do not need winter protection except where the temperature drops to almost zero or below.
Soil mounded 6” to 8” inches high around the base is sufficient for rose plants grown near zero weather. Cut back deadwood, and new shoots will be produced if tops are injured in a severe winter.
Where below zero temperature is the rule, take down the canes, lay them on the ground, fasten them with wire pegs, or cover them with boards or salt hay.
In 20° degrees Fahrenheit in frigid climates, cover the canes entirely with soil. Trailing roses need only a mulch at these temperatures.
Climbing Hybrid Teas
Climbing hybrid teas and floribundas are more tender than other climbers. At zero temperatures, mound soil around the base and remove canes from their supports.
At 10° degrees Fahrenheit, cover the bats with soil. Here at Breeze Hill, where 20° degrees Fahrenheit often occurs, I wrap the more tender climbing hybrid teas, trained on pillars, with burlap or straw mats.
Climbers are classified as ramblers, large-flowered climbers, pillars, everblooming climbers, climbing hybrid teas, climbing polyanthas, floribundas, and wailing roses. These groups overlap.
Ramblers are:
- Vigorous rose growers
- Produces new canes from the base each year on which appear next year’s flower clusters.
- Consisting of blooms less than 2″ inches across
Ramblers bloom once, usually a little later than the large-flowered climbers. They are hardy, but many are susceptible to mildew, and their color range is limited.
Dorothy Perkins is perhaps the best known, but Chevy Chase, Hiawatha, Minnehaha, and Sander’s White Rambler are good.
Large-Flowered Climbers
Large-flowered climbers bloom once, early in the summer. They have large flowers in loose clusters, a wide color range, and heavier canes than ramblers. Established plants produce very few new clubs from the base.
A few of the most popular are Dr. W. Van Fleet, Paul’s Scarlet Climber, Silver Moon, Mary Wallace, and Jacotte.
Pillar roses are a division of large-flowered climbers. They are so-called because they are adapted to training vertically on a pillar or post.
Moderate growers only cover other types of supports slowly. Mrs. Whitman Cross and the new Brownell Pillar Roses are examples.
Repeat Bloomers Everblooming
Some Repeat Bloomers Everblooming climbers bloom only occasionally, as their name implies. Usually, there is profuse bloom early in the summer, with occasional flowers throughout the rest of the season.
Therefore, repeat bloomers would be a better name. New Dawn, Dr. J. H. Nicolas, and Blaze are in this category.
Climbing hybrid teas, polyanthas, and floribundas can be discussed together. However, they are usually climbing sports of their shrub counterparts, and their continuity of bloom is less marked.
More tender than many other climbers, they need protection in colder regions. Thus they are popular in warmer areas. Climbing Crimson Glory, Climbing Peace, and Climbing Goldilocks are examples.
Trailing roses may be used on a bank, on the top of a vast wall, or as a ground cover. Coral Creeper, Max Graf, and Carpet of Gold are excellent for these purposes.
44659 by Margaret R. Snyder