Many kinds of climbing roses are available today. These include eight classes of types (ramblers, large-flowered climbers, pillars, everblooming climbers, climbing hybrid teas, climbing polyanthus, climbing floribundas, and trailing roses), each represented by wide varieties.
Climbing roses, as we know them today, form a recent group. The oldest class, dating back to 1895 in this country, is that of the ramblers.
Many of the lovely older climbers are not in commerce anymore, but the following, still obtainable, have proved their worth at Breeze Hill Gardens.
Noted For Fragrance
For delectable fragrance, there is Alberic Barbier, a rose associated with “lavender and old lace.”
It grows well and has glossy foliage and clusters of small, exquisite creamy buds, followed by a profusion of double white flowers with a cream base.
Another delightfully fragrant climber is Zephirine Drouhin, a Bourbon, early, thornless, vigorous, profuse, with long pointed buds and double rose flowers.
If you like copper and coral shades, consider the following:
- Copper Glow, with large, high-centered, fragrant, copper-colored blooms.
- Coralie, with exquisitely formed deep coral flowers.
- Coral Creeper, with shiny foliage, reddish stems, and semi-double flowers, deep coral, shading to light pink. It is also excellent on banks.
- Frederick S. Peck has thorny reddish sterns, but the coral flowers more than compensate for the thorns.
For Banks Or Walls
Max Graf makes a hardy cover on banks. A hybrid rugosa, it bears large, single, bright pink flowers with golden centers and is attractive all season because of its glossy foliage.
Carpet of Gold, with large, double, golden yellow blooms, is effective on banks or walls. Mermaid, one of the loveliest single roses, does far better on a bank at Breeze Hill than trained as a pillar. However, it has pale yellow, fragrant flowers and needs protection in colder regions.
Yellow Favorites
Elegance is rightly named. Dark glossy foliage and fragrant yellow blooms on long, strong stems are breathtaking. Like all the Brownell climbers, it is a vigorous grower.
Doubloon is a very large, cupped, and fragrant hardy buff yellow. This rose, as well as King Midas and Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James (often called Golden Climber), blooms more profusely if trained horizontally.
King Midas has pointed buds and huge clear yellow flowers, while those of Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James are sunflower-yellow, large, and fragrant.
Paul’s Lemon Pillar is strong and profuse, with pale lemon-yellow buds and large hybrid-tea-type flowers, more white than lemon.
Outstanding Whites
One of the outstanding whites is the vigorous City of York. In June, it is a mass of creamy, white cupped blooms in clusters with prominent yellow stamens.
Mme. Alfred Carriers, a hybrid noisette, is not common but is very beautiful, with its full globular, delicate, pale pinkish-white flowers that have a translucent quality when the sun shines on them. With a pleasing damask fragrance, it is hardy in southern Pennsylvania.
Prosperity, a hybrid musk, blooms profusely in June and intermittently the rest of the season. Like rosettes, large clusters of double flowers are borne on strong sterns.
Popular Climbing Roses in The East
- Paul’s Scarlet Climber, one of the most popular climbing roses in the east, bears large clusters of vivid scarlet flowers, which burn or fade very little.
- Blaze, just as popular, is an everblooming form of Paul’s Scarlet;
- Thor always elicits favorable comments, with its large, very double, dark red, richly fragrant flowers on vigorous stems.
- Dr. Huey is profuse and vigorous, too, with very dark crimson-maroon, semi-double flowers, which do not “blue.”
A Few Ramblers
Ramblers are no longer in style, having been superseded by the large-flowered climbers. One of the most attractive is Bloomfield Courage, which has been likened to an “old-fashioned calico.”
The small, single flowers, dark red, with white centers and yellow stamens, are a solid mass in June.
Evangeline is another pleasing rambler, with delicately fragrant, small, single apple-blossom-pink flowers, with prominent white centers and yellow stamens.
Newer Ramblers
Chevy Chase is one of the newer ramblers, and its small, double, dark crimson flowers have a more finished appearance than some of the older varieties.
American Pillar, classified as Rambler and Large-Flowered Climber, is a tall, vigorous, and profuse climber.
Its single, bright, light red flowers, with contrasting white centers and yellow stamens, are borne in large clusters with long stems from top to bottom of the plant.
Torch
The rambler, Torch, attracts more attention from visitors than any other because of its orange-scarlet color, much like that of the old polyantha, Gloria Mundi.
The small, semi-double, slightly fragrant flowers have a white eye, which adds to their attractiveness. The growth, while vigorous, is not too rampant.
Dr. W. Van Fleet
Dr. W. Van Fleet, one of the most popular climbers, has dainty, pointed buds of cameo pink, the flower arrangers’ delight.
The large, double flowers are fragrant and borne on long stems in great profusion. Plants need very little pruning.
New Dawn is the everblooming form of Dr. Van Fleet. Mary Wallace, a lovely clear warm pink is still a favorite after 30 years. The long pointed buds open to large, semi-double, fragrant flowers.
Kitty Kininmonth
Kitty Kininmonth, with large, semi-double, cupped blooms of an almost fadeless glowing deep pink, always attracts attention. So does Sunday Best, covered from top to bottom with a profusion of single, brilliant carmine-red flowers, with white centers.
Notable Pinks
A dream of beauty describes Daydream with semi-double, blush-pink flowers shaped like large water lilies. Dream Girl, adapted for pillars, has attractive buds of light salmon-pink and is extremely fragrant.
A comparative newcomer is Parade, clear deep rose-pink, which blooms heavily in the spring and again in the fall with large double, spicy flowers on long sterns.
Flash
Flash, yellow, and red are perfect roses for spectacular colors early in the season. The outside of the flowers is yellow, the inside a brilliant velvety deep red. One fault is that it fades quickly but makes a good pillar.
For continued bloom, consider Dr. J. H. Nicolas, a vigorous pillar that flowers far into the autumn. It is a very large, globular, fragrant flower of rose pink.
Climbing Christopher Stone
Climbing Christopher Stone is the best and hardest climbing hybrid tea at Breeze Hill. It grows and blooms well, with some scattered flowers throughout the summer, huge dark red, with an old rose fragrance.
Climbing Hybrid Teas
Another good rose in the same class is Climbing Will Rogers, with velvety black-red, intensely fragrant blooms. Climbing Peace is popular for its large blooms of lemon-yellow-edged pink.
This rose grows vigorously, producing heavy canes, but many reports that heavy bloom does not come for several years. In the climbing floribunda class, Climbing World’s Fair is our best, with deep crimson flowers.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter D. Brownell, Little Compton, Rhode Island, are the originators of a new group of climbers called everblooming pillars. Plants set no blind canes and bloom profusely from the first year on.
The flowers are in clear colors, large and double, and hardiness and vigorous growth are other assets.
More Reading On Roses
Unveiling the Top Rose Types for Your Dream Garden!
What are the best rose types for your garden? Hybrid tea roses, floribundas, hybrid perpetuals, climbing roses, shrub roses, and dwarf roses. Each type offers unique characteristics, growth habits, and uses, making it easy to find the perfect rose to suit your needs, preferences, and garden conditions.
44659 by Margaret Ruth Snyder