What is more beautiful than seeing a home or building with an arch of climbing roses in the landscaping? Climbing roses are one of many plants that branch out and intertwine themselves among arches, trellises, or even buildings and railings. They can add a great landscape element to any foundation.

Climbing roses are different from the regular roses that are planted as they are trained to grow upward like vines. Some of them are hybrid teas, wichuraine, and large flowered climbers. They are a beautiful addition to the look of ones house

Would you like more information about climbing roses? It is easy to learn about this great beauty. First of all, there are many types of climbing roses. They range in color, texture, and look. They also range in hardiness as well. Of course, you need to know what you are looking of in your climbing rose. When choosing climbing roses, some things that you need to consider are size, shade tolerance, disease resistance and colour.

Most important is knowing your hardiness level. This tells you what will grow in your area. Also as important is to pick varieties that will grow in the element you are placing them. What type of soil will you use? Will the area have full sun, partial sun, or will it be in shade.

Before getting discouraged, though, realize that there are many varieties of climbing roses to choose from and more then likely, you will find something to meet your needs. To find variety, forget about choosing your local hardware store, discount department store, or even the local gardening outlet. While these places often have a good selection, they don’t have the most.

Use the internet to find some great climbing roses of the most beautiful variety. Often you can have a catalog sent to you with many choices, or you can find and buy online. You will be able to find just what you are looking for, or maybe even something you never imagined.

Climbing roses can add a lot to any landscape. Take the time to choose climbing roses that fit your area and landscape design. Also, grab a book or do a little research online about the care the type of climbing rose you chose will need. Taking this time to do these things will give you the best climbing rose you can get.

About the Author

Ken Austin
Online Discount Shopping Guide
Roses and Rose Gardening

You’d have to have been living in a cave not to have heard of the most popular flowering plant of all time, the rose. Just mentioning the rose plant can spark a quick conversation among even the shyest people. Just about anyone can tell you of someone they know who is either grown beautiful roses or of someone who failed miserably. Almost anyone can tell you someone who received or sent roses, especially around the holidays. Why even little children know what the rose plant is.

Your local florist will most likely have dozens of colors, types, and sizes of rose plants. It seems to be the best selling flower of all time. These days you can even purchase a rose plant at the local discount store or the local grocery store.

In my opinion, the best rose is one that has a strong scent since the rose has a most distinctive smell. It is a scent most welcome to most people. Indeed the fragrance is like no other and it has been reproduced in perfumes, air fresheners, etc. for years. You can find rose scented oils and lotions and bath products in a wide assortment of rose scented items. There are rose colors and rose images and you can even find rose parades and people named Rose. Why you can even come out “smelling like a rose”. All because of the enormous popularity of the rose plant.

You can purchase the rose plant in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and types. It’s popularity is worldwide, of course the prices vary depending on where you buy or what type and size you might want.

If you want to purchase a rose plant that’s already started in the pot be aware you may have to repot it. Make sure you do your homework before you buy your rose plant.

When you’ve made your choice on what type of rose plant you’d like, you need to think of placement. While there is a plant called the thornless rose plant that will grow on the shade, most rose plants are known to have thorns. You wouldn’t want your small child or grandchild or any frequent tiny visitor to see something that is so pretty that they can’t resist grabbing and end up with an unwelcome thorn surprise. Such an experience could sour them on the enjoyment of the rose plant for life because of a painful memory. Roses are just too beautiful to allow such a thing to happen!

The placement of your rose plant is very important. There are climbing rose plants which you certainly wouldn’t want trailing across the ground to be stomped by animals or people. Some roses are so delicate that unfiltered light would cook their leaves to an unwelcome brown color. If your rose plant is the type that grows into a bush, you’d want to make sure you place it in a spot that allows it to spread.

The bottom line is while there are a wide variety of rose plants, do your homework and pick the plants that are best suited to your locale and your particular garden situation. But don’t be afraid, just forge ahead and soon you will be enjoying both the beauty and fragrance of your own rose plants.

Roses are an old standby for any garden and one of the worlds favorite flowers. There are over 5,000 varieties of roses in the United States and they can be used to enhance your garden in many ways as creepers, shrubs, vines, climbers, hedges or just as beds of pure colour.

When picking out roses for your garden, it is important to get healthy plants. Make sure the stems are green and not shriveled and the roots are moist and partly fibrous. The most expensive rose is not always the best rose; it may be only a newcomer, much discussed and, therefore, a favorite.

In general, there are two types of roses: bush roses and climbers. Bush roses are shrub like and climbers produce canes that require some sort of support. The most commonly planted type of bush rose is the hybrid tea rose. Other types of bush roses include polyanthas (roses in large clusters), the fioribundas (large-flowered polyanthas), and the hybrid perpetuals (vigorous growers with a great crop in June and continuous blooming throughout the summer).

The climbers include ramblers, whose long pliant canes have large clusters of small roses that can be used for covering walls, fences and banks. The climbers also are pillar roses, adapted to growing near buildings and on posts and the climbing hybrid tree.

If you are contemplating planting roses in your garden, make sure you pick out the proper spot and prepare the soil appropriately. You should use garden loam with organic matter that contains peat moss, leaf mould, compost, rotted or commercial manure. Prepare the soil in the rose beds well before in order to allow for settling of the soil.

You can plant roses in fall or spring, but fall is actually best. When planting roses, inspect the roots to make sure they have not dried and if they have make sure you soak them before planting. Trim back any roots that are weak, long or broken.

Set the plant in a hole that is large enough so that the roots can spread. The part of the plant where the top attaches to the roots (called the bud) should be just under the surface of the ground. Plants should be spaced 18 apart. Prune the branches back to about 8 from the soil.

To grow good roses it is necessary to cultivate, to prune and to spray. If you have a well-cultivated bed you need not worry about watering. But if you start to water in hot weather, you must keep it up, soaking the roots thoroughly about once a week.

Spraying every 10 days guards against the diseases and insects that attack roses. Nicotine sulphate wipes out the green lice; arsenate of lead is used against chewing insects; or sulphur and arsenate of lead may be used in a dust, as may DDT dust.

When winter approaches, protect your roses by piling sod or straw mulch around them. If you have climbing roses, remove the supports and place the canes on the ground, peg them, and cover with soil mounds.

How to prepare any rose for winter always depends on temperature. In general, if in your area during winter the temperature drops to minus 10 degrees F or lower then any rose bush will need some protection.

Note: If you live in a area that has a mild winter then most of the following will not apply. However, the advice on fertilizing and watering in general does. (In mild winter areas a rose never really goes dormant though does require a season of rest).

Whether you have a hybrid tea, floribunda, tree rose, miniature or climber the goal is always the same… To protect the crown and roots of the plant from the worst of the winter cold and possible mid-winter thaws and re-freezings.

In the case of climbing roses and tree roses you will also need to protect the upper parts (long canes for climbers and top flowering crown for rose standards) as well.

Preparing a rose for winter will always start in spring ( yes, I did mean spring). Any rose that has had a long and well tended growing season will be better able to tolerate the worst any winter has to offer.

Throughout the growing season be sure to water a rose deeply (allow the soil to dry to a depth of 2 inches or so before watering again, the root system needs air too) and fertilize regularly which will encourage a deep and healthy root system as well as healthy canes and flowers.

Roses store nutrients in their woody canes and so the bigger the plant the healthier it will be. Maintain a routine of pest and disease prevention as well as careful pruning to remove spindly growth and damaged or diseased canes.

About mid to late August stop fertilizing though do continue to water deeply (never let the roots of a rose completely dry out). About late September stop cutting blooms and allow a few rose hips to develop which will be a signal to the plant that it’s dormant period is approaching.

Once you have had a few good frosts, leaves will start falling. Apply a dormant spray such as lime sulfur or a dormant oil spray. This will kill pests and fungal diseases that might try to over-winter on the plant or surrounding soil. It can also help nudge those final leaves off. Rake leaves from around your plants and throughout your yard to prevent the spread of disease or a place for pests to hide.

Continue watering only as needed until the first hard frost and the ground is frozen. At this point cover the base (crown) of the plant and the surrounding soil (about 12 inches around the base of the plant) with a thick layer of straw, leaves or mulch and then cover with a few inches of soil. Do not remove soil from around the plant to cover the crown, that soil is needed to insulate the rest of the surrounding roots. Instead, use soil from another part of the garden.

Climbing roses require the same protection listed above and in addition will need to have their long canes protected as well. Carefully remove the canes from the trellis, fence or wall they are tied to, lay them on the ground and cover with a thick layer of straw, leaves or mulch and a few inches of soil just like the base of the plant.

Tree roses are a special case in that not only do you need to protect the base and “trunk” of the plant but the top flowering crown as well.

There are 3 ways to over-winter a rose standard if it is planted in the ground. One, is to dig the plant up keeping a good sized root-ball and “heal” the plant into a large container then move it into a shed or garage for the winter. As spring approaches the plant is brought back outside and re-planted in the ground.

The second method is to carefully remove some soil from one side of the plant and bend it until it is laying on its side and then covering the entire plant with a thick layer of straw, leaves or mulch and 3 to 4 inches of soil. This method can be tricky for the novice gardener as there is a danger of cracking or breaking the plant at one of its grafting points.

The third method may be the easiest for a ground planted tree rose. First, wrap the entire plant in a thick layer of straw and burlap taking care to fully protect the plant from top to bottom. Secure everything with either clips, string, twine or wire and after taking a few measurements construct a ply-wood box (with an open bottom) to place around or over the plant.

Rose standards that are planted in containers are the easiest to care for. After following the advice for preparing a rose for winter listed above, simply move into a shed or garage where the temperature will be milder than the temperature outside. Check the soil now and then to make sure the roots do not dry out (water lightly when needed) and move back outside once the danger of frost has past.

Late winter – early spring: When there is no longer a danger of a killing freeze uncover your roses and water deeply if needed. Once new growth starts to appear is when you’ll want to prune. Remove any damaged or spindly canes and prune back healthy canes by 1/3 to 1/2. Then fertilize and follow all the steps necessary to promote healthy vigorous plants for the entire growing season.

Good Luck and Happy Gardening!