Climbing Roses
Climbing roses on an arbor or trellis add color and bring joy to any backyard or front yard landscape plan. These romantic flowering shrubs come in several varieties. The popular large-flowered climbers produce medium sized to large blooms. If you prefer smaller clusters of flowers, the Ramblers grow flexible branches that can be trained onto pergolas, arbors, or fences without much effort. For gardeners seeking long branches, the Hybrid Wichuraiana is a popular choice. The most beloved variety of Hybrid Wichuraiana is the New Dawn strain because of its light pink flowers and delightful fragrance.
When you are getting ready to add these climbers to your yard, be sure to soak their roots for about a day before planting. As the branches grow, tie them loosely to supports to train them without doing them any harm.
It's also important to remember that different varieties will have different pruning needs. We'll touch on a few of them here:
- Repeat bloomers need to have their stems pruned back to the first set of leaflets after their blooms fade.
- The large-flowered climbers that blossom only once must have their faded flowers pruned. The exception to this is the varieties with decorative hips.
- For Ramblers, the branches should be pruned right after they flower to stimulate growth of the horizontal shoots that will grow blooms the next season.
Generally speaking all climbers are best displayed when grown on vertical supports. But, because many roses need horizontal support to flower, balconies, fences, arbors, trellises, pergolas, and other similar features can be very helpful. Other climbers can thrive well on simple vertical structures like walls, poles, and trees.
Climbers often are an essential part of a well-designed garden adding character and even lending an air of romance to an outdoor living space. They can easily transform a garden or accent a house with their flourishes of color. Even with a small outdoor area will be enhanced by the presence of these delightful plants.