For fragrance and colour, no other climbing plant beats a climbing rose. Even with little space available, you can plant one against a wall for months of gorgeous flowers. It’s the perfect way to add colour at a higher spot in your garden.
Training it upward
Actually, ‘climbing rose’ isn’t a very apt name. They don’t climb all by themselves but need a bit of help. You can do this by training it up a support: a rose arbor, rose obelisk, pergola, wall, trellis or fencing. Tie the branches together loosely since they will become thicker as they grow. Or use a piece of elastic binding tube. When planting, remember that most climbing roses reach heights of two to three metres.
A trick for climbing roses
If left to its own devices, a climbing rose will grow towards the light. In doing so, it doesn’t branch out very much. So, carefully bend these vertical branches into a horizontal position halfway up the stem and bind them to their support. Since the branch is no longer growing toward the light, the plant will produce new side branches that grow upward. Using this handy trick rewards you with even more flowers.
Ramblers
Ramblers belong to a special group of climbing roses. These can easily grow to ten metres in height. Their long branches make them perfect for allowing them to grow casually over sheds or in trees. Most of these old varieties bloom only once. Modern ramblers, however, can bloom all summer long. They also won’t grow as tall so they don’t need to be pruned.
Tips
- If you plant a climbing rose against a wall, leave 30 centimetres between it and the wall surface. This way, rainwater can reach the roots and the plant will receive the air circulation it needs.
- Perpetually flowering climbing roses will bloom from June to the first frost.
- Many climbing roses are very sweetly scented.
- Prune back old climbing roses or ones that have become too large during the second half of March.
- Both ramblers and other climbing roses often produce beautiful rosehips that provide colour well into winter.
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