I'm in humid, hot Houston, and looking for a climbing rose to put next to my garage door that is disease-resistant and obviously a great bloomer. Can anyone recommend? I have a Don Juan Climbing Rose (pic below) and I like it but it sure is taking a long time to fill out. It does have a great scent! Whatever you recommend, it's got to have a great scent, otherwise, what's the point of growing a rose?!?
Lu
I am in 8b too but we are quite dry, but here climbing blaze can grow 8 feet in a season if you get a good quality blaze, also lady banks does great and is quick coverage unfortunately it isn`t everblooming, cl Josephs coat too, I had the same problem with Don Juan, it is slow to grow and fill in.
I just ordered Cecile Brunner Antique Climbing rose - the Sweetheart rose - from Jackson Perkins and it is supposed to be here by the 26th. It is a petite flower, pink, ever blooming. Some tell you it puts on a flush in the spring and then blooms intermittently thruout the rest of the year. In my experience it does put on a great show in the spring and not only that there are always plenty of flowers to make a bouquet of good size everyday. It needs no care and for me it is foolproof which is what I want and need.
Ann
Go for antiques if you can, a good antique rose grower can tell you which are more disease proof. I haven't grown an antique climber yet but I know that teas (the original, not the hybrid teas) and chinas are extremely resistant, I'm sure there are climbers!
Erin (plantnutga)
Petals from the Past in Alabama http://www.petalsfromthepast.com/
Antique Rose Emporium in TX http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/
Lady Banks, Cherokee, and Mermaid are the most disease resistant climbers I have. Lady Banks has a scent sometimes, as does Cherokee, and both bloom only in the spring and get huge. Cherokee has lots of thorns. Mermaid blooms large, scented, creamy white blooms, lots in the spring, and some over the summer and fall. I have three. They have killer thorns and are as big as a truck. Pruning is an excruciating experience. (Please note that one of my friends cannot smell Mermaid, though all others can. Scent is very individual.) All three are evergreen here, though Mermaid may drop some leaves in extremely cold weather. She hasn't yet this year.
Crepuscule is a mannerly climber with few thorns and apricot blooms that smell good. She blooms lots in the spring and pretty well the rest of the year. As to disease resistance, the year we had 50 inches of rain, she got some blackspot, but shook it off without any treatments. (I have heavy clay soil that holds water, so that exacerbates disease tendencies.) In years that are not so wet, she generally does well. She takes some shade, but blooms better with more sun. She still has all her leaves.
Climbing Pinkie is another mannerly climber, with pink (surprise!), scented blooms. She blooms from spring to fall and has few thorns. Like Crepuscule, she had a little blackspot the year we had 50 inches of rain; otherwise she does well. She takes some shade, but doesn't bloom as much after the leaves come out on the trees. She still has all her leaves.
Alberic Barbier is a spring only bloomer only, withe very double scented cream colored blooms. He needs support and gets very large. He threw out canes 20' long the first spring after I planted him in the fall. He is evergreen. He had a little blackspot the same year as C and CP, but that was the only time he's had a problem. If you plant him, be ready to watch him vigilantly; I have to go out at least every two weeks and tie up canes. during spring and fall. He currently spreads over 40' down a bull wire fence. Some of his leaves have yellowed and will drop because of cold (25 degrees) weather this year, but most are green.
I would not recommend my other climbers (New Dawn and a passalong that I don't know the name of) to someone who wants disease resistance. New Dawn is thorny, scented, light pink, and blooms well, but seems to get some blackspot every year. It's never been bad enough to treat. The passalong gets powdery mildew most years and is unscented. I have Blaze, but he is in heavy shade after the trees leaf out. He seems healthy, doesn't get huge, the blooms are scented, but not all the time. They seem to lose their scent as they age. He blooms well until the trees leaf out. After that, he doesn't bloom. I've broken two or three shovels trying to dig him up to move him, and have given up on that.
My favorite roses are Lady Banks and Zephririne Drouhin. They both seem virtually disease resistant and that is a difficult task in our climate. The Zephy has a fabulous scent and is almost thornless. I had to take out my Lady Banks because it became so huge, it outgrew its space. So, if you get that one, make sure you can give it lots of space.
oh ya zeph drou is great too, iforgot to say cecil b too, it is a super one for mass color and cute roses, the yellow lady banks smells nice but the white has no smell. the lady with a poor blaze is because of the shade,it doesn`t do well in shade. i have a few in shade or semi and they all look like doo doo. they have cl. iceburge too now and they are known for disease resistance and almost thornless, though white, it is everblooming in masses. you know white looks ratty as it fade but always has plenty of newbie blooms.
The first time I read this I thought about this rose, but could not find the orignal article. There was a new one in the Austin paper. I called Barton Springs Nursery, they have over 100 people on a waiting list. The web sites gave me 0 hits when I searched for Peggy Martin. I will keep a look out.
David
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/gardening/02/24/24garden.html
Edited to add:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/PeggyMartinrose.html
Edited to add that I found the rose here:
http://petalsfromthepast.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=9e77c4ae83cc3945ae57e643ac9b16f5
This message was edited Feb 25, 2007 1:38 PM
This message was edited Feb 25, 2007 1:50 PM
What a sad but beautiful story about that rose. I'm going to get one, it's lovely.
I copied and pasted it in my Finds section of my Diary here on DG. It is one of those God Things, that bush had it`s own guardian angel.
If you have a reliable nursery in your area (as we do in Houston) they will steer you toward the best roses - both flower-wise and disease resistant ones. I steer clear of most roses in Houston altho you do come across one that that will do what you want it to do. I prefer, personally, roses that repeat bloomers thru-out the whole summer and even into Dec. and don't have disease problems. Otherwise, they just take up space after an initial blooming in my mind.
Ann
I think it should be mentioned that climbing roses take a good 3 years to get established ..so patience is required to finally have the "look" one wants...had you decided on a color that you would like?..My Don Juan is 3 years old this year and already leafing out and growing new canes like mad....Jeanne
Is this area in full sun? Part shade?
I agree with others that have recommended Cecille Brunner. It is disease free, has a wonderful scent, drought tolerant for a rose, and has amazing blooms. Some label it as a repeat bloomer and others say huge display in spring and then sporadic until frost. Please note, it is a potential monster. There is a picture in davesgarden somewhere of a sixty foot cecil brunner climbing up a tree. There are reports of it ripping porches off of houses, so make sure it has a firmly anchored climbing support system. It takes aggressive pruning well, and most tame it to 12 feet.
I got this 'top five' list from gardenstops.com (Woodlands, Texas) for climbing roses
Climbing Cecile Brunner
Lamarque
Reve d'Or
Climbing Pinkie
Lady Banks/Banksie
Isn't Lady Banks a ONE time bloomer...thought I should mention that since it was suggested several times...A beautiful White that I just ordered it "Mme. Alfred Carrier" and I have DA Teasing Georgia which is a beautifully cupped apricotish-yellow....I have ordered quite a few OGR from Antique Rose Emporium...Jeanne
they are one time bloomers , however they are usually evergreen so they have nice dainty leaves that will cover a chainlink fence or ugly eye sore, they can kind of mound to almost resemble a big shrub
One-time bloomers?!? No way! I want constant blooms! Thanks all for the input!
Me too, I hate one time bloomers, the 3 I have look like crap and are rugosas, I hate that shape of flower. I had a great one at my old house that I loved because it became a monster and everbloomed. Wish I knew what it was? I love the Big cabbage type roses but they are mostly single blooms too, atleast the antique ones I hear. I like them big or cute like cecil B
