Climbing Roses

What would our gardens be without climbing roses!

From the time when their tender green shoots look in at our windows, reaching to our bedroom and wreath it with fragrant blossoms, how much delight they have given us!  These happy-go-lucky plants tumble over fences, climb walls and trellises.  There are few sights as eye-catching as a climbing rose in full bloom.

In planting climbing roses the bed should be prepared in exactly the same way as for an ordinary bed, excepting that it should be much smaller, but the roots of the climbers will naturally take up more space underground than the roots of the dwarf bushes, and climbers should have a bed of some extent.  This is particularly necessary for the Hybrid Tea Climbers.  The bed should be made of the same depth and drained as the average rose bed. 

For each plant the bed should be about two feet wide and not less than four feet in length.     In planting climbers, especially the Hybrid Teas, it is hardly necessary to say that they will not do well on the north side of any arbor or wall.  Roses must have the sun in order to flourish.  It would be easy in the case of all rustic benches, with rustic tops and arbors running east and west, to plant roses on their southern, eastern and western sides and secure plants which would entirely cover the structures.

For an ordinary six foot bench with a rustic top the same length, one good climbing rose planted on the southern side would be sufficient to cover the entire structure.

Special culture

Perhaps a few words as to the special culture of climbing roses.  Do not cram them too close to the wall, or they will dwindle and starve.  Be very careful not to plant a rose pink variety on a red brick wall.  Give every plant plentiful supplies of water, as an ordinary summer shower never reaches wall plants at all.  Do not forget to tack the long shoots in an informal yet firm manner to the wall, or the strong winds will wrench them off and a whole summer's growth will be entirely lost.

Listed here are some of the most popular climbing roses  to choose from:

                            Climbing Hybrid Tea                               

                            Climbing Hybrid Musk                               

                            Climbing Hybrid China                 

                            Climbing Hybrid Perpetual           

                            Climbing Floribunda                    

                            Climbing Grandiflora                    

                            Climbing Bourbons

                            Climbing Polyantha

                            Climbing Tea

                            Climbing Noisette

                            Climbing Miniature

                            Climbing Shrub