Best climbing roses – 12 charming varieties to add height, scent and color
Cover your walls, fences, arches and pergolas with stunning rose blooms for years to come
The best climbing roses cover the vertical surfaces of a garden with alluring flower shapes, hues and fragrances. You need to choose your cultivars carefully, though. You may fall in love with the fragrant, creamy apricot blooms of ‘Desprez á Fleur Jaune’ but can you accommodate a rose capable of topping 20ft? Likewise, many gardeners have a soft spot for thornless bourbon ‘Zephirine Drouhin’, but while the blooms are lovely and the plants tolerant of poor soils, they can be prone to mildew.
Before you choose any varieties, and certainly before you plant climbing roses, analyze the space or structure you want them to fill. Consider the size and background color of any walls or fences. Creamy roses will be lost against a whitewashed wall, and similarly red blooms disappear against red brick. Roses appreciate deep soils and thrive on well-nourished clay. They also like a sunny position, and don’t want competition from overhanging growth or nearby trees and hedges. Yet some cope well on poorer soils, and a few flower well in light shade.
Whether you are adding a climbing rose feature to a striking modern pergola or an old-fashioned cottage garden archway, strong fragrance is often a number one requirement. So make sure the rose you choose can be enjoyed fully at a suitable height for catching those perfumes.
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BY ANNE SWITHINBANK
Cover your walls, fences, arches and pergolas with stunning rose blooms for years to come
