Roses high and mighty - climbing roses

Sunset, Jan, 1993 by Lynn Ocone

THESE 14 CLIMBERS DAZZLE GARDEN WALLS, FENCES, AND POSTS

If a single rose is enough to suggest romance, consider the impact of climbers. Their first shoots instinctively flirt with a picket fence or post. Gaining maturity, they'll overtake a trellis with a billowing bouquet of buds. The most lionhearted go for broke with an aerial flower show big enough to overwhelm a house wall.

Plant a bare-root climbing rose this month, and it'll start romancing your landscape this summer--and increasing its charms for years to come.

Climbers are the most vigorous forms of many kinds of roses, from polyanthas to hybrid teas. But their training and pruning requirements set them apart. "The quickest way to destroy a climber," says Southern California rosarian Clair Martin, "is to treat it like a bush rose."

Climbers won't clutch and twine without help; they need tying when canes are long enough to move into position. Though some rampant growers develop canes as long as 60 feet, others are compact and easily trained; choose one that's right for your situation. "It's for us to harness climbers," says Texas rosarian G. Michael Shoup, "not for them to harness us."

The chart below lists 14 of the best climbers for the West. Some will work in a small space, trained on a single post or a fan trellis, while the larger ones require large, sturdy structures.

Climbing sports (whose names start with the abbreviation Cl.) are naturally occurring mutations of bush varieties. They bloom off old wood and may take a few years to establish; the same is true of Lady Banks'. The other roses on the chart bloom on both TABULAR DATA OMITTED new and old wood; they will start flowering the first year they're planted.

PROVIDING SUPPORT

Choose a structure that's large and sturdy enough to support the plant at maturity. Use pressure-treated wood for posts, and set the posts in concrete.

If you build or buy a structure like an archway or pergola, construction must be solid and the base long enough to set 2 feet into the ground. Some prebuilt units are not hefty enough for climbing roses.

You can place a trellis in front of a masonry wall and train the rose on it, or secure plant attachments directly in the wall. Nurseryman Ray Sodomka of Santa Barbara, California, suggests threading plant ties through eye screws attached to the wall with expansion bolts. Or train canes on a grid of 14- or 16-gauge wire threaded through the eye screws. Either way, the eye screws should extend a couple of inches beyond the wall to provide air circulation.

One of the best structures for a climbing rose is a chain-link fence: it's strong, and its links provide air circulation and spaces for tying branches.

PLANTING AND TRAINING

For best results, plant roses in full sun and well-drained fertile soil. Place them about 15 inches from their support structure, and avoid planting next to trees or shrubs that will compete for water.

All climbers bloom best when canes are trained horizontally. This causes growth buds to emerge and grow upward, producing an abundance of flowering branches. Untrained, upright-growing canes produce fewer flowers.

Roses that do best on pillars have flexible canes to about 10 feet. These climbers need little space, yet give a dramatic display, especially if you twist the canes around the post.

Although small, stiff-caned bushes like 'Altissimo' can be trained to a post, they bloom better when canes are fanned or horizontal.

In mild climates, where canes grow rapidly, you may need to start training the first year the rose is in the ground. In colder regions, growth may stay in bounds without training until the second year.

To attach canes to the support, use a stretchy, strong material like plastic nursery tape or strips of old nylon stockings; avoid wire or cord that can cut into branches.

PRUNING AND CARE

For the first two or three years, just remove faded flowers to promote repeat flowering. Once some wood has matured and strong climbing canes are established, prune to stimulate growth of new canes and flowering laterals. Each winter (at the same time you prune bush roses), shorten flowering laterals to 3 to 6 inches long, or to two to four buds. Remove weak or dead wood at the base.

Keep as many productive shoots as possible. If you can't redirect a wayward stem by tying it, cut it back to a bud headed the right way.

Climbers' other needs--water, fertilizer, and pest and disease control--are similar to those of bush roses.

SOURCES

You'll find a good supply of plants in nurseries this month. Collectively, these mail-order sources offer all the roses in our chart except 'Cl. Iceberg' (available in some nurseries).

The Antique Rose Emporium, Route 5, Box 143, Brenham, Texas 77833; (800) 441-0002. Catalog $5.

Edmunds' Roses, 6235 S.W. Kahle Rd., Wilsonville, Ore. 97070; (503) 682-1476. Free catalog.

Jackson & Perkins, Box 1028, Medford, Ore. 97501; (800) 292-4769. Free Catalog.

Pickering Nurseries, Inc., 670 Kingston Rd., Pickering, Ontario, Canada LIV 1A6; (416) 839-2111. Catalog $3.