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Climbing Roses are basically more vigourous forms of roses that grow well throughout tree, against walls or on trellises, they are not self supporting and are different to rambling roses in that the flowers are generally larger and many are repeat blooming roses.

So what are the best climbing roses for the UK garden?

In the right position, plenty of sun and something to climb on, a fence, a building or through an garden obelisk or on a garden arch all roses have their merits, some have larger flowers, some are more prolific and some have great fragrance or perfume. In terms of colour the choice is yours, red, pink, yellow or apricot, all have their merits.

When choosing the colour of a rose, consider where it will be growing, perhaps a dark background requires a lighter flowering rose, if you want it stand out, however a red climbing rose against a dark background can create a sense of romance and mystery.

We list out TOP TEN climbing roses, with notes on growing habits, perfume and colour, in the end the choice is yours.

Gardening, Advice and Plants in the UKon

Climbing Roses

Hardy climbing roses are some of the best roses for the UK garden. Similar to most others except for growth habit climbing roses are usually repeat bloomers with large flowers. As for colors, red, white, pink, apricot you name it these roses come in all of the best colors.

How much should you pay ? This depends on the actual rose, some are not as cheap as others, so between £8 and £16, sometimes less at the end of the season when they are on sale.

We guide you through some of the growing conditions needed for rose climbers are well as some tips on uses, pruning colours and hardy varieties. Many ordinary garden roses can actually be grown as climbers. We also list our Top 10 or Best climbing roses for the UK including yellow, white and red climbing roses for the UK garden.

Climbing roses differ from what we call rambling roses in a number of ways, climbing roses generally have larger anymore complex flowers, they may also be repeat flowering and are less leggy, more compact growth. In a position with adequate sun (preferably 6+ hours of sun a day).

Different varieties have different habits, some a very vigorous and require lots of space while the climbing roses are more compact.

Training

Like many plants they tend to grow up rather than out, however if you can train your climber along a fence or trellis horizontal rather than vertical you will find that you get many more flowers.

It is best to use flexible ties to secure a rose to its support rather than weave it through the support, this make pruning much easier and prevents the rose from breaking the trellis after a few years

All climbers need some support and roses are not exception, wires can attached to walls or fences, obelisks or arches can be used or roses can be trained to grow up columns or poles.

Pruning

It is often best to leave your new rose for a year or two before pruning, concentrate on training during this period. Prune back by 1/3 or more after this, removing dead, weak or damaged canes first, and then cutting back short spurs with 2 -3 buds.

Pruning is the key aspect to ensure lots of flowers, prune in autumn, first remove any dead or diseased canes from the base of the plant. Then the laterals are first reduced back to 10cm with weaker or crowded laterals being removed completely.

New canes, growing from the base can then be tied back to a horizontal position, this encourages flowering. Some of the older canes can also be removed if the plant is becoming crowded. Remember to tie canes back to wires or supports rather than 'weave' them through, this makes them much easier to prune and prevents them from exerting pressure of trellises and breaking them apart.

Finally water well and then give your climbing rose a good feed of rose fertiliser, mulch to help provide a cool root run and retain moisture, your climbing roses will love the care.

Landscaping Uses

Usually vigorous and hardy 'sports' of bush roses, Climbing Roses are a great feature in any garden. Roses such as the David Austin 'Constance Spry' can be grown in a range of situations and planting and growing positions do vary including:

arbors
against walls
around doorways
over garden arches
on a garden trellis
on an open framed obelisk

TOP TEN CLIMBING ROSES
	Gold Bunny (Gold Badge) A Meilland Rose. This is a repeat bloomer, clear yellow flowers, dark green foliage. The substantial flowers seem to last well, its one of our favourite yellow climbing roses.
Pierre de Ronsard and Red Pierre Red Pierre is the red version and Pierre de Ronsard the pink version of this famous climber. Named after the French Poet Pierre de Ronsard, this climbing rose is bred by Meilland a relatively small climber, but lots of flowers over a long period. Flowers are creamy white to pink, large and full (lots of petals). Pierre de Ronsard should be pruned back hard in the winter. Deadhead this rose and in the right climate you will have flowers for 8 - 9 months of the year. Pierre de Ronsard can stand a little shade, but thrives in full sun, mulch to keep the root run cool. Claire Austin Climber One of the best white climbing roses we have grown has turned out to be 'Claire Austin'. Yes it's a 'David Austin' rose named after his daughter 'Claire'. It has really nice creamy white cupped flowers with strong perfume. The 'Claire Austin Rose' seems to take well to being pruned and proved to be disease free in our garden. We have grown it on a trellis against a side wall, it would be equally happy growing on an arch, or on a pillar. Iceberg Climber Another excellent white climbing roses. Masses of white flowers, not a lot os scent but all the great characteristics of the Iceberg Rose Westerland Climber A Kordes rose. Repeat blooming, fragrant climbing rose with apricot/gold flowers, dark green foliage grows to 3m Celine Forestier Cream to pale yellow, fragrant vigorous climber Sutter's Gold Long yellow buds and large blooms with a light fragrance. Graham Thomas Golden yellow flowers, this is a David Austin Rose. Graham Thomas is a repeat blooming, disease resistant rose. Lightly scented and a great hardy climbing rose that copes well in the heat. Abraham Darby Another David Austin climbing rose that will grow to 3m as a climber. Large flowers, fragrant, grows 2-3m. Apricot Pink flowers. Disease resistant and hardy like most of the David Austin Roses and nice glossy foliage. Constance Spry A pink fragrant David Austin climbing rose one of his first roses Sombreuil An old fashioned climbing rose that will grow to 2m. Very large pure white flowers, fragrant, repeat blooming, vigorous grower. Golden Showers Deep Golden Yellow Flowers Papa Meilland (climbing) With a strong upright habit, nice perfume and deep red flowers, this is a classic. Dublin Bay (climbing) Perhaps a more shrubby type of climber, but great where you want a bit of height as well. Beautiful clusters of fragrant blood red flowers and a repeat flowering habit as well. Blaze Another repeat flowering red climbing rose with a nice perfume. John Allman