You’ve got to love a rose
Let a rambling rose spread romance throughout your plot in late spring
THE classic romantic flower is a rose, an enduring symbol of love.
Roses are also central to our vision of country garden idylls, the heart of which is a cottage covered in the flowers.
One of my favourite gardening views is that of a rambling rose which has scrambled up an old tree and brought it new life with a crown of flowers.
Rambling roses are different to climbing roses. Unlike climbers which often repeat bloom in late summer, ramblers generally only flower once, usually in May or June. The flowers are normally smaller than climbers but as they hang together in big trusses or clusters, the overall effect is dramatic.
Since they only flower once, all the energy goes into this dazzling display. It also means there’s no requirement to deadhead so you just leave the blossoms on to form rosehips in autumn.
The other major difference is their flexible canes. Their pliability allows you to train them around pergolas, arbours and arches, or fan the canes to spread over a wall.
Beware though – they can be extremely vigorous, behaving like fast-growing vines which can quickly smother their supports.
The largest rose in the world is a rambler, extending to 5,000 square feet.
It was planted in 1885 in Tombstone, Arizona, by Scottish settlers. The wife was homesick and when sent a bunch of bulbs and cuttings from her home country set about planting them around the coach house she was staying in.
One was a rooted cutting of Lady Banks’ Rose. As the rose grew, a pergola was built from poles and trellis to support it. It is still blooming today, with the town holding its annual Rose Festival for rose lovers around the world to come and enjoy the spectacle.
Lady Banks’ Rose (Rosa banksiae) has masses of white fragrant flowers, often described as violet scented.
It’s unusual since it flowers early in the year, usually around April and May. There’s a beautiful yellow version – ‘Lutea’ – but only if you have adequate space!
However, there are gentler cultivars available such as ‘Super Fairy’ which has clusters of small double pink roses and reaches about 3 metres height, making it a good option for a trellis or small archway.
‘Rambling Rosie’ is another short one, this time with crimson flowers, while ‘Goldfinch’ has the benefit of being nearly thornless and producing lovely primrose yellow flowers. So when buying, it’s important to check the expected height and spread of the plant.
If you want to create the classic rose growing through an old tree, I’d recommend a fairly vigorous climber such as Paul’s Himalayan Rose. It will tolerate poor soil and a bit of shade, and bears delightful musky scented dainty pink blush roses.
A bare root rose will establish quicker so this is a project for the next month or so.
Dig a planting hole around a metre in distance from the tree trunk – you want to avoid damaging the tree’s root system.
Add compost to the planting hole and position your rose at an angle leaning towards the tree.
Put in a cane that will extend to the trunk of the tree to support the plant on its journey, firm the soil and water in.
Pruning is not always possible with large ramblers but the advice where practical is to remove older canes that have already flowered.
Cut them right down at the base and this will encourage new shoots to grow which will flower.
If that’s not possible, you can just shorten lateral stems by a third or so.
Finally, given that their display is just a short but magnificent burst, consider pairing your rambling rose with a summer flowering clematis. That way this combination will still provide interest after the rose blossoms have departed.