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Climbing Rose varieties - opinions and suggestions

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  • @Marlorena - Me again  ;)

    I remember you said previously that the Austin climbers are really just large shrubs which can be trained as climbers.

    Does that mean therefore that you could treat say - Mortimer Sackler - as a shrub and not train it on anything, just have it in a border, pruning it like a shrub.

    Is it possible to keep it to say 5ft or 6ft without it negatively impacting on the plant?
    East Yorkshire
  • We like Masquerade which is a climbing rose that flowers twice in a year.  The flowers vary from yellow to a deep pink which causes much interest from visitors and family.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    5 foot is not practicable with these larger growers but yes you can grow most of them as large shrubs, but 6-8 foot would be more reasonable..  I kept Mortimer Sackler to around that height, it's a stiff upright grower but pliable enough to train on an arch as Yorkshire Rose has done so attractively there.. I would have struggled to keep it less than that without removing lots of flower buds every time I cut it back... 6-8 foot is doable.. 5 not so much..  and if you cut them back hard in winter, they put on a huge spurt in Spring which takes them right back up again..
     
    ...the few exceptions are 'Wollerton Old Hall' which is so lax it needs constant support, as does 'The Wedgwood Rose'.,...and  'Strawberry Hill', these will flop with being attached to something...   I've seen 'James Galway'.. 'St Swithun'.. and 'Claire Austin' trained as shrubs..also 'Crown Princess Margareta' but a similar one called 'Bathsheba' needs support in my opinion...  'Teasing Georgia' can be grown as a shrub too, thick stiff canes.. but as I say you're looking at something more like 7-8 foot really... 

    I've grown 5 of those I've mentioned there, so speaking from experience with those... and from what I know of the others... 

    If you're looking for a 5 to 6 foot large shrub, generally self supporting, with sturdy low thorn purple coloured canes, huge scented blooms over a long season, look at 'The Ancient Mariner'... after 3 years that's what it'll be... 
    East Anglia, England
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    edited December 2018
    Oh goodness I'm swooning... I've just been looking at photos of 'Emily Bronte'... so if you want another 5 footer take a peek at that one...  I wish I had room for it, I might have to remove something .lol...
    'Dame Judi Dench' too, if you like apricot orange... oh wow...

    @Guernsey Donkey2 

    Oh that's gorgeous... I've only just noticed your photos, they weren't showing up when I posted my comments above, otherwise I would have mentioned it... 

    East Anglia, England
  • Haha, yes see this is the problem. Too many great looking roses but limited space.

    I spotted Emily Bronte looks lovely - this was my basket last night. Didn't order just shortlisting.

    If Sackler was trained on a narrow section of wall (say up to a metre wide) but the canes were zig zagged at 45 degrees up it rather than fanned - could it be kept to 6ft wall height?

    Alternatively I could grow that one on the shed and have Royal Jubilee in the middle between the shed and the fence.

    I was thinking of having RJ on the shed and having Scarborough Fair on the ground as a lower shrub nearby, thought it would looks nice with that and GG.

    Roald Dahl in a large pot on the patio.

    scary thing is with 4 of them that's £70 - which isn't bad if they're main features in the garden (I've got birthday money to spend) but I've got a lot of garden things to buy - I'm going to have another look at the garden centre roses to see if there are any good ones as they were priced between £4 and £10.

    Only problem is I know nothing about them. I'll have to make a list and report back



    East Yorkshire
  • For sentimental  reasons I planted a climber called Last  of the Summer Wine, as I  lived in Holmfirth  for 27 years. It has  single flowers is flushed pink with yellow/Orange tones. Is scented and has bright red hips if you deadhead up until September  then leave the last lot of repeat flowers to set fruit. I love it x
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Lovely roses Mr Vine Eye.  I did see a special offer in Garden News recently of 5 roses for £15 I think in 5 different colours, all looking very similar to DA ones? Marlorena probably wouldn't approve but it might be worth a gamble. I've always had good results from my "freebie" (P & P only)roses  
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    As long as you're happy with them Lizzie, that's great...  but you're right, I probably wouldn't go there, but I'm not averse to buying roses on discount... I bought a 'Graham Thomas' rose for £2 and it's doing really well after a slow start.. it was badly damaged..

    @Mr. Vine Eye...   all great roses... just a word of advice... if you wait until early March, Austins and others will heavily discount their end of season bare root roses.. still plenty of time to plant them until end of March... the risk is that they will be sold out of the ones you want, but I've not missed out on any with Austin so far..   

    @tessagardenbarmy ...  nice to see someone with 'Summer Wine'... I don't have it but know people who do, and they say it's a great rose with a nice scent... produces lovely hips too as you have found.. good for culinary purposes so I'm told... I wish I had room for it...
    East Anglia, England
  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,394
    edited December 2018
    I saw three roses just now £4 each that looked  good for the border.

    Arthur Bell - rang a bell  ;) tehe, as in I've heard of it before.
    Amber Queen
    Rhapsody in Blue - looked similar to Purple Skyliner/Veichenblau - purple/blue fading to grey. 

    Any experience with these anyone?
    East Yorkshire
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    They're all good roses, if you like that type... they will all do well for you... 'Rhapsody in Blue' has a good reputation in particular,  one of its parents is 'Summer Wine' talked about above that Tessa has... and I'm fond of anything produced by British breeder Frank Cowlishaw ... this is another one of his along with 'Purple Skyliner'... and 'Forever Royal'... 

    I didn't answer your other question about M Sackler... I should think you could do that.. I grew it up an obelisk so a 3 foot width was no problem but it went straight up, I didn't do zig zagging...  but it's pliable enough for that..  these roses are very adaptable I find..
    East Anglia, England
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