Roses
Tips for Growing Climbing Roses
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Apr 21, 2006 - 12:51:00 PM

Tips for Growing Climbing Roses

by Kent Swanson

Climbing roses are a popular plant for vertical gardens. Interestingly, botanists do not consider them true climbing plants like vines because they don’t grow their own support structures to hold onto a surface. Therefore, they need a helping hand and a vertical space to attach to and grow on.

If you’re interested in growing climbing roses, you can choose to purchase a trellis or a garden arbor so that they have a suitable place to grow. You can also be creative and train your roses over a fence, a pillar, a garden shed, or other structures in your yard.

Professional gardeners often refer to climbing roses as “pillars,” “ramblers,” trailing roses, and everblooming roses, depending on how they grow. You can find varieties of climbing roses that bloom during the entire growing season (everbloomers), or that only bloom only during the spring (spring bloomers). We can further categorize climbing roses in the following ways:

• Climbing Grandifloras
• Climbing Floribundas
• Climbing Polyanthas
• Climbing Hybrid Teas
• Climbing Tea Roses

Please see this PDF document from the Kansas State University Extension Service for more information on how gardeners categorize climbing roses.

When you’re getting ready to plant your climbing roses, you’ll need to take into account the following factors:

• The size of your yard or garden.
• The soil and sunlight requirements of the plant.
• The kind of gardening structure you’d like to grow your climbing roses on.
• The height and size of the plant.
• The frequency and color of the blooms.

Be realistic about the space you have to grow your climbing roses. Although you may want a sprawling 30 foot batch of rose blossoms, if you have a smaller yard you may have to grow a more humble plant.

Always take into account the quality of the soil and the amount of sunlight your roses need to grow. You can amend your soil with high quality compost to improve drainage and to give your climbing roses the proper nutrients they need to grow. Roses also appreciate a dose of organic rose fertilizer now and again.

Most roses like sunny, warm conditions. However, if you don’t have an appropriate place in your garden that will get 6-7 hours of sunlight a day, there are a few varieties of climbing roses that will grow in partial shade. Hybrid musk roses are good choices for growing in partial shade.

Climbing roses are appropriate for growing on a number of garden structures. While arbors and trellises are popular for growing climbing roses, you can also check out pergolas and tripods. As we mentioned above, you can also be creative and grow your roses on fences, garden sheds, pillars, and a variety of other structures in your yard or garden.

Climbing roses vary in how tall and ample they will grow. They can get up to 30 feet tall like the Climbing Cecile Brunner, or be a more humble 7 feet tall, like the Westerland rose. Talk to your local nursery or extension agent about the climbing roses that are appropriate for your yard. And remember to be realistic about the time you have for gardening and pruning. Also, make sure you always pick a rose that is appropriate for the garden structure you’d like grow it on.

If you’ve just planted your climbing rose, be patient, as they may take a while to get established and start blooming. Also, take into account that climbing roses can vary in height depending on the local climate. Your nursery or extension agent should have a good idea what to expect when you plant a certain variety of a climbing rose.

Like all roses, there are dozens of colors of climbing roses you can choose from. Another important factor to consider is how often they will bloom. As we mentioned above, climbing roses will either bloom once during the spring, or during the entire growing season. We call these roses “spring bloomers” and “everbloomers.” See our list of climbing roses below for more information.

Recommended Varieties of Climbing Roses:


ALCHYMIST 13 feet. Orange. Once blooming.

ALOHA 9 feet. Pink. Blooms all growing season. Disease resistant.

AMERICA 13 feet. Pink-Orange. Disease resistant, everblooming.

BUBBLE BATH 10 feet. Pink. Hybrid musk.

CLIMBING CECILE BRUNNER 30 feet. Pink. Huge climber. Blooms once. Needs lots of room.

COMPASION 10 feet. Orange to pink. The most popular climbing rose in England.

"DARLOW'S ENIGMA" 8 feet as a shrub, more if grown as a rambling rose. White. Rambling rose. Disease resistant. Everblooming.

DON JUAN 10 feet. Red. Climbs well on pillars. Continuous blooms.

EDEN 10 feet. Pink. Works well on a variety of structures.

HANDEL 12 feet. Pink with white highlights. Blooms throughout the growing season.

NEW DAWN 20 feet. Pink. Very popular climbing rose. Always blooms.

PORTLANDIA 10 feet. Creamy pink. Disease resistant with continuous blooms.

RED EDEN 10 feet. Red. Large blooms.

SUMMER WINE 13 feet. Lightly wine colored. Single blooms on a cluster.

WESTERLAND 6-7 feet. Orange. Good rose for small spaces. Winter hardy.

WHITE CAP 10 feet. White. Winter hardy. Repeat blooming.

ZÉPHIRINE DROUHIN 12 feet. Pink. Thornless rose. Blooms throughout the growing season.


Kent Swanson is a freelance writer specializing in gardening, the environment, and travel. Check out these sites for more of his writing:

Aztec Gardens
Festival of Mexico
Flor Canto

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