Rosa is a genus of about 150 species of deciduous (occasionally evergreen) shrubs and climbers noted for their beautiful, often fragrant, single, semidouble or double flowers which are borne singly or in clusters on often prickly stems clad with 5-9 leaflets often having toothed margins.
Climbing rose also referred to as crawling rose, is any rose variety that produces canes long enough to be trained on a support for vertical growth. Generally, Climbing Roses are an excellent way of bringing height, charm and sophistication to the garden. Most climbing varieties grow vigorously and bloom with enthusiasm, filling the air with fragrance and treating the eye to a truly glorious sight.
They are best and most frequently used on house walls but are also perfect for growing on pillars, obelisks, walls, trellises and over arches. They can also be used to hide an unattractive fence or as a privacy screen if you have space between your fence slats. Climbing Roses usually have large flowers, held singly or in small groups. Nearly all varieties have the ability to repeat flower.
Some climbers are sports or spontaneous genetic mutations of regular hybrid tea or floribunda roses. Others were specifically bred for the climbing trait. Climbers can be relatively short or soar to great heights. Different types have large or small flowers and may bloom once a season or several times. Here are some of the popular fast growing climbing roses for your garden:
- Joseph’s Coat (Rosa “Joseph’s Coat”)
- Calypso (Rosa “Poulclimb”)
- Carefree Beauty (Rosa “Bucbi”)
- New Dawn (Rosa “New Dawn”)
- Golden Showers (Rosa “Golden Showers”)
- Iceberg (Rosa “Iceberg” climbing)
- Lady Banks rose (Rosa banksiae or Rosa banksiae var. normalis)
- Sally Holmes (Rosa “Sally Holmes”)
- Dublin Bay (Rosa “Macdub”)
- Don Juan (Rosa “Don Juan”)
- Rosa ‘Cécile Brünner’
- Rosa ‘Aloha’
- Rosa ‘Crimson Glory’
- Rosa ‘Etoile de Hollande’
- Rosa ‘Gloire de Dijon’
- Rosa ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’
- Rosa ‘Maigold’
- Rosa ‘Mrs. F.W. Flight’
- Rosa ‘Mme Caroline Testout’
- Rosa ‘Altissimo’
- Rosa ‘Golden Gate’
- Rosa ‘Summer Wine’
- Rosa ‘Stormy Weather’
- Rosa ‘St Swithun’
Joseph’s Coat Rose
Joseph’s Coat rose is a climber with lots of showy blooms. Its buds are cardinal red and upon opening, coral, orange and yellow semi-double flowers bring your garden to life. This lightly scented rose will bloom from spring through summer and can grow to 7 feet high. This heirloom climbing rose is perfect for covering walls, arbors, fences or other garden structures.
Also Read: Different Types of Floribunda Roses
Calypso Rose
Calypso climbing rose is quick to repeat its blooms. This vigorous, nearly thorn-free vertical plant has clusters of ruffled, rose-pink with cream-striped flowers with a fruity scent. It grows to 15 feet in height and prefers a mild climate. Calypso roses bloom from spring until fall, and they need regular fertilization throughout the growing season.
Carefree Beauty
Carefree Beauty is an upright, bushy, compact rose hybridized at Iowa State University. It typically grows 3-5 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. It features large, fragrant, pink, semi-double blooms which occur in small clusters on arching canes. Blooms profusely from late spring to frost. Glossy, dark green foliage. Orange hips in fall with good persistence into winter.
New Dawn
New Dawn is a large-flowered climber that features soft pink semi-double to double flowers and a free-blooming habit. This popular variety is free flowering and sweetly fragrant and reblooms persistently deep into fall. This type of rose can grow up to 20 feet high with a spread of 6 to 9 feet. If you’re looking for a sizable flowering plant, this might be the rose for you.
Golden Showers Rose
Golden Showers Rose is a yellow-flowered climber, with petals that open flat. It reaches 6 to 10 feet tall and blooms repeatedly through the growing season. Blooming continuously from midsummer to early fall, this large climber has a stiff, upright growth with almost thornless stems and glossy, dark green leaves.
Also Read: Easy To Grow Climbing Roses
Iceberg Rose
The Iceberg rose shrub can grow up to 4 feet high and 3 feet wide. Its leaves are small, glossy, and bright light green. It’s exceptionally disease-resistant and a repeat bloomer. The roses are bright white flowers that grow in clusters on stems that can have up to seven roses per stem. Each flower has at least 25 to 30 petals and make excellent cut flowers. The blooms have a scent like fruit and honey.
Lady Banks Rose
Lady Banks rose is a large, early flowering, semi-evergreen rose with a profusion of small, multi-petalled, pale yellow, double flowers. Held in clusters, the lightly scented blooms are perfectly displayed on the thornless, slender branches which are clad with a rich green foliage of small, smooth-edged leaves. Lady Banks rose is the most popular and the most floriferous of the banksia roses and is regarded as one of the best roses for dry gardens.
Sally Holmes Rose
Sally Holmes is a vigorous, climbing rose with generous clusters of fragrant, single, creamy white flowers and pink-peach buds. The large blossoms open their ruffled petals to reveal their golden stamens. They stand out against the healthy foliage of glossy, dark green leaves. Free-flowering and almost continuously in bloom from early summer to fall, ‘Sally Holmes’ is well-branched and almost thornless. Very versatile, it may be grown as a climber or a bushy shrub.
Dublin Bay Rose
Dublin Bay Rose is a red, large-flowered floribunda climbing rose. The rose cultivar was bred by Sam McGredy IV in 1969 and introduced into Ireland by nursery, Samuel McGredy and Son. Dublin Bay’s bright red flowers are produced from plump ovoid buds and the flower shape is delightful with rounded petals. Some flowers are produced on single stems but mostly in clusters and there is a light but noticeable fragrance which adds to the delight of this stunning rose.
Don Juan Rose
Don Juan Rose is a climbing hybrid tea rose with very large, full, cupped-to-flat, dark velvety red flowers having as many as 30-35 petals. Blooming in flushes from early summer and throughout the season, the sumptuous blooms stand out against the leathery foliage of glossy, dark green leaves and make an impressive display. Regarded as one of the best of the red climbers, this rose has seduced gardeners and rosarians for more than half a century.
Rosa ‘Cécile Brünner
Rosa ‘Cécile Brünner’, also known as ‘Mlle Cécile Brünner’ is a light pink polyantha rose bred in France by Marie Ducher and introduced by her son-in-law, Joseph Pernet-Ducher in 1881. It is a vigorous, almost thornless large climber with generous sprays of pleasantly fragrant, fully double, pale pink flowers. Extremely free-flowering, this climbing rose experiences a long, overwhelming flush of blooms in late spring or early summer. Its smooth, reddish stems are clothed with pointed, dark green leaves, often with a reddish tint.
Aloha Rose
Rosa ‘Aloha’ produces abundant and gorgeous clusters of fragrant, deeply cup-shaped, fully double, coral pink flowers, slightly darker on their backs, with a coppery tinge at their heart. The large ‘old fashioned’ blossoms open nicely, despite their many petals (over 50 petals), even in damp weather, and exude a very strong apple fragrance. Very free flowering, tall, bushy, upright, ‘Aloha’ is quite versatile and can be grown as a shrub, although it is most effective when trained as a climber.
Crimson Glory Rose
Crimson Glory rose is a climbing hybrid tea rose with very large, double, deep crimson flowers, up to 6 in. across (15 cm), having as many as 26-40 petals. Blooming in flushes from early summer and throughout the season, the sumptuous blooms stand out against the dark green foliage and make an impressive display.
Etoile de Hollande Rose
Rosa ‘Etoile de Hollande’ is a magnificent climbing rose with masses of very fragrant, large, fully double, deep crimson flowers. Rich of a warm powdery fragrance, the flowers are set off by the healthy foliage of glossy, dark green leaves. Blooming first in early summer, this deliciously fragrant climber produces a second flush of flowers in late summer.
Gloire de Dijon Rose
A magnificent old rose introduced in 1853, Rosa ‘Gloire de Dijon’ is a climber with strongly fragrant, fully double, creamy-buff flowers sometimes tinged pink. Counting up to 40 petals, they are produced in flushes from midsummer to fall. Abundant, they stand out well against the lustrous, deep green foliage. ‘Gloire de Dijon’ is one of the best loved of all climbing roses.
Madame Alfred Carriere Rose
Madame Alfred Carriere rose is a vibrant almost thornless large climber with very fragrant, fully double, creamy white flowers tinted with pink. Vigorously blooming in summer and fall, this repeat-flowering climbing rose features long and graceful, pliable stems which are clothed with light green leaves and are perfect for training over arches, fences or pergolas in sun or partial shade. Reliable and hardy, this Noisette rose is also ideal for a north-facing site.
Maigold Rose
Maigold Rose is a beautiful climbing rose with masses of large, semi-double, bronze-yellow flowers with golden stamens. The pretty clusters are set off by the healthy foliage of glossy dark green leaves along the prickly arching stems. This early flowering, strongly scented, climbing rose produces a second, smaller flush of blooms in early autumn. Vigorous and hardy, it’s an excellent climber for poor conditions, such as partial shade.
Mrs. F.W. Flight
Mrs. F.W. Flight rose is a vibrant, almost thornless, climber with large clusters of lightly fragrant, semi-double (16-25 petals), deep pink flowers adorned with white centers. Free-flowering, this climbing rose expreriences an overwhelming flush of blooms in late spring or early summer. Its smooth stems are clothed with handsome, pointed, mid-green leaves. A feast for the eyes, Mrs F.W Flight provides a charming display and makes a great choice for arches, pillars, walls or containers.
Mme Caroline Testout
Mme Caroline Testout rose produces masses of voluptuous, goblet-shaped, double flowers, in shades of bright and cheerful silvery pink, with rolled edges to the petals. The large blossoms (17-25 petals) emit a most delightful and refined fragrance, not in as great volume as some other Roses, but certainly sufficient. They are perfectly displayed against the healthy bluish-green matte foliage and make an impressive display.
Altissimo Rose
Altissimo rose is a vibrant climbing rose with masses of long-lasting, bright blood-red, single flowers with a boss of deep golden-yellow stamens. The flowers are produced freely, early in the summer with regular repeats thereafter. This continual blooming rose features long, stiff stems which are clothed with large, dark leathery, exceptionally healthy leaves. An excellent climbing rose for walls, fences or to train as a pillar or support to the posts of a pergola.
Golden Gate Rose
Golden Gate rose features attractive clusters of fragrant, loosely cupped, very full (55-60 petals), semi-double flowers in the most glowing shade of golden-yellow and paling to creamy yellow as they mature. Born from pointed, ovoid buds, the blooms, open to reveal golden stamens and exude a pleasant citrus and fruity scent. They stand out against the foliage of large, semi-glossy, mid green, leathery leaves. Very free-flowering, this climbing rose blooms in flushes from summer to fall and produces decorative hips in the fall.
Summer Wine Rose
Summer Wine rose is a vibrant medium-sized climber which produces very fragrant, single, coral-pink flowers adorned with golden centers and striking red anthers. The large blossoms with 8-10 petals. Blooming continuously throughout the summer, they stand out against the foliage of lustrous, glossy, dark green leaves. Plant it where you will be able to enjoy its perfume daily: near a doorway, along a path, near your patio or deck.
Stormy Weather Rose
Stormy Weather rose is a vibrant medium-sized climber with large clusters of slightly scented, semi-double to double, dark smoky purple flowers with lighter reverse and lighter centers. Blooming in flushes from late spring to fall, this elegant, repeat-flowering climbing rose is reliable and a prolific bloomer. Perfect along a fence, arbor or garden wall, its ravishing flowers look great in flower arrangements and bouquets.
St Swithun Rose
St Swithun rose produces very large, fully double flowers, full of over 120 frilly petals neatly arranged around a central button eye. Soft pink at its heart, the blossoms gradually fade to the palest pink at the edges and exude a strong fragrance that is reminiscent of pure myrrh. Quick repeat-flowering, vigorous, tough and reliable, ‘St Swithun’ features a bushy growth that makes it perfect as a tall shrub or trained as a short climber.