CLIMBING ROSES

Climbing roses have been bred to grow up walls and trellis. Typically they have small clusters of medium to large sized flowers. Normally flowers appear in two flushes with a few in between but some climbers produce only one flush.

Normal rose feeding rules apply to climbing roses. Dead-heading the flowers after the first flush will encourage a good second display. But the sheer height of some climbers will make dead-heading difficult.

Good support is critical because climbing roses are weighty plants when in full bloom. Check the support each year.

"Blush Noisette"

To get the best flowers from climbers which are grown up a wall, trellis or other vertical structure, tie in shoots nearly vertically as they grow. If the climber is growing through a tree then training is only needed in the first couple of years.

There is disagreement when classifying some climbing and rambling roses. A climbing rose that is happy growing through a tree is close to being a rambler.

Often, other types of rose have mutated and become climbers as well. Iceberg is a good example. The climbing version has exactly the same flowers and leaf colour but for some reason they have changed into climbers. Check the label carefully when buying.

Some vigorous growing shrub roses can also be trained to grow as climbing roses. Vigorous English roses make especially beautiful specimens. Examples include Gertrude Jekyll and Graham Thomas, both of which will climb to 1.5m (8ft) high.

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Name: jonathan
E-mail: jonathan392@btinternet.com
Date posted: August 08, 2010 - 12:21 pm
Message: Ive recently planted some rambling rose bushes in a large planter. The heads have died off and i have dead headed them. How soon will i get new buds or will i have to wait til next year?

MANY THANKS