Climbing rose, low care and tall.

13 years ago

I'm looking for a reliablely hardy climber for zone 5 that requires minimal tending and will get about 8-9 ft tall. I have a retaining wall at the back of my property and I want to screen the neighbour's sheds from my view, the rose will go on top of this wall, so its roots have to play nice with masonry. For the first few years it will be full sun, but as the shrubs in front fill in the lower part will get shaded. It's main function is as a foliage screen, so something with little winter kill would be best. As the rose is at the back I'm not concerned if it is an attack rose (maybe it will harass the squirrels!), or messy, etc.

I was looking at the City of York, does anyone have any experience with this one in my zone?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

lorrainesyratt
13 years ago
In Zone 5 wouldn't you get complete de-foliage? In colder climates, a rose that doesn't lose its foliage could suffer. It generally means it's continuing to grow on after the first frosts of Autumn, which weakens the rose. I suggest the Explorer rose, William Baffin. You'll get a lot of canes which could camouflage the wall in winter, and it will grow to the heights needed. Repeat flowering sporadically after the first big flush of flowers. Wonderful rose. Hardy. Gorgeous. Very disease-resistant. Full and floriferous. Hope that helps some. Oh, it's a bright pink and only lightly scented. Not a tradition tea rose shape.

Forgive my shameless plug, but I'm attaching an article I wrote about this rose. I love it and have several in my garden. Wish I new how to get pics in the posts.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian Explorer Rose, William Baffin
zaphod42
13 years ago
I just went through the process of looking for climbers for zone five. You're more limited than you think. Just because a climber says hardy to zone five that mostly means crown hardy and not cane hardy and you'll get die-back to the ground in some cases. I agree with lorrainesyratt on the Explorers. I planted 'Henry Kelsey' this year for my picket fence. I bought own root from Heirloom. I can't say much about performance because its so new, but overall the Canadian Explorers seemed to be the best option I researched.
Related Discussions
Rugosa Roses, other NO care roses? :-)
Q
Comments (19)
woolywoof, your availability of hardy roses probably has more to do with being in Canada than being in zone 4. If I head to nurseries in zone 4 New York, the situation is likely to be even more dire than it is here. Lack of availability of roses that do what I want roses to do is probably part of the reason I became so interested in rooting cuttings. Several wonderful roses are probably better known as pass along plants than in the nursery trade. This unfortunately doesn't make me a very good source of information as to where you should get your roses. I've bought more roses from Mike Lowe than any other source. He's in Nashua. Is Mike still in the nursery business? I don't know. Pickering, as mentioned, is a good source. I know Paul has gotten a bunch of his roses from Spring Valley in Wisconsin. I've heard nothing but good things about Spring Valley. I've often wanted to order from Corn Hill in New Brunswick, but never come up with a big enough order to make it work out. Corn Hill is Robert Osborne's nursery. If you don't have his book "Hardy Roses" you should. You should also have Suzanne Verrier's books. You want to avoid the nurseries that ship little twigs. For the money nurseries charge, you want them to send you a real plant. I'd like to be able to recommend Ashdown, but I've never ordered from him. Oddly enough, most of my recent purchases have come from Sequoia. Certainly Ralph Moore has no reason to specialize in hardy for the northeast roses, but he does have some neat oddments that I can't get anywhere else. He ships little twigs, but at least the price reflects this.
...See More
Three tall weeping roses (6ft tall)
Q
Comments (13)
You're welcome, Sophia. The placement looks about right, unless you can sink the umbrella a few inches lower so the crown of the plant is about even or slightly above the top so it rests on it instead of having to grow up in to it. You probably also want to invest in a couple of heavy metal pipes, driven well into the ground around the trunk of the umbrella then tied securely to it. Once the roses begin growing into weepers, they create an amazingly effective "sail" and will catch any breeze that passes them. Strengthening the upright stability as much as possible now will prevent you from having to stand them up and fight with them in the wind. Our SoCal winds are legendary and weepers are severe issues here. I learned this the hard way, and with an umbrella just like the ones you have. I thought one strong metal pipe, not a "stake", but a rigid metal water pipe, would suffice, but it finally required three, driven two feet into the ground, as close to the central trunk of the umbrella then all wired tightly together, to keep the structure upright in the winds. Yours may not be as severe, but you know you are going to eventually experience something similar. Securing them well now will prevent hours of totally wicked fighting and potential plant (and YOU) damage later. Plus, you have three of them to worry about. You need rigid, unbendable, rust resistant material such as galvanized water pipes, probably 8' long, driven in as far as you can to anchor the umbrellas. This is definitely a job you want to do ONCE. Good luck!
...See More
Has anyone successfully grown a 'Can Can' Rose? (Climbing rose)
Q
Comments (42)
It’s weird, I have one bush that really struggles, and the same bush that’s like 10’ away doing fairly well for the location (roadside)..the one that’s doing bad I blame on a maple tree that used to be right next to it..I just cut that tree down last year (hated the thing anyway) and the bush is doing a little better...not tremendously better..but I’ll know more after this growing season...this is also the bush that had issues with mildew (the healthy one never has) but again prior to maple tree being cut down...after tree gone, no mildew..it’s weird.
...See More
Climbing rose recommendation for large container in zone 6a NY
Q
Comments (20)
Yes, and I'm not looking forward to it. But last year and the year before we got down that low -- even a touch lower, as I recall a night or two each year that dipped just below 0F -- and only two died outright. Those were 'Jaune Desprez' and "Secret Garden Musk Climber" after Winter 2013-2014. I replaced SGMC with a gallon-sized plant, and that one survived Winter 2014-2015. I gave up on the pipe dream of having a Tea-Noisette growing out in the open on my dying Japanese maple, and stuck 'Baltimore Belle' there instead. Many things had damage, but rebounded after I cut out the dead bits. Of course, the ones with little or no damage were the OGRs with little or no China/Tea in them. But even "Bermuda Spice", which had to be cut back to under 12" inches the last two Springs, rebounded to about 5' X 5' by the end of each season. I was hoping to see what it does when starting Spring with something more like 3', but this weekend may keep that from happening. Meanwhile, my potted roses look frozen in time -- few leaves dropped, but no active growth, and no discernible damage. They're hanging out in my enclosed unheated back porch, getting some sun from the windows. This cold blast is an anomaly this year, coming as a brief interruption in otherwise mild weather. I'm hoping that such a short dose of intense cold followed by temperatures in the 50s a few days later won't kill anything. The Chinas and China-Teas I planted in the ground in 2015 are mostly in a protected spot against the house and facing south. The few I put in my tiny front yard are a bit more exposed, but I planted them deeply. We'll see in just another month or so, when I start pruning. Being a zone-pusher, I realize I take risks -- but how else do we learn? And frankly, considering the more tender Chinas and Teas keep blooming through our hot and humid Summers, they're worth it. :-) ~Christopher
...See More
lorrainesyratt
13 years ago
I do agree that in colder garden zones, some roses do need to be cut back in spring. But only of the dead wood. Unlike perennials, roses can generally take the cold. Their roots continue to grow on below the soil, but they are dormant above ground. More tender roses could be protected at the crown to a foot or so above ground level, but most climbers are grown on sturdy root stock, like rosa multiflora or rosa wichuriana, to begin with, because they need to be bred to be vigorous. The more tender climbers have a tendancy to grow on after the frosts and they could need severe pruning in spring, but never have I known them to "die back to the ground." Would love to know what roses zaphod42 has seen this happen to (for my own research.)
zaphod42
13 years ago
"Die back to the ground" was more a less a paraphrase from various posts that I've solicited regarding growing climbers in zone five. This is my first year planting roses so I'm probably off on my descriptions. I was trying to get something to climb over a picket fence and was under the impression that in the climbers that were not cane hardy, the cane would die back and the plant would have to start all over becoming more of a shrub than a climber to cover a 10 - 14 ft section of fence. My phrasing was probably a bit too dramatic.
athenainwi
13 years ago
John Cabot would work well. Mine is completely tip hardy and I'm trying to contain it to a 5 foot trellis but it is at about 10 feet right now or so. I need to cut it back but the thorns are nasty and it's got buds on top and a robin living in a nest somewhere in the middle of it. As Lorraine wrote, it will lose foliage during with winter so it won't be the best screen then.
lorrainesyratt
13 years ago
Oh, I'm so glad I joined this forum. I love talking about roses. :)
zaphod42
If you want a rose to scramble over a picket fence, don't you think a rambling rose would be more suitable? They send out long arching canes that are best suited for horizontal growth. And they are easy to train to encourage side shoots for more flowers the following year. There are lots of hardy rambling roses.
freki
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks.. I expect it to lose it's leaves in winter, but we don't spend much time (as in "none") in the backyard in winter, I was just hoping for something that would fill in nicely and fairly quickly in spring, to a good height.

Anyone have a Long John Silver? That one looks like a good attack rose if it doesn't suffer too much die back.
freki
Original Author
13 years ago
If anyone still cares, I've just gotten info that Long John Silver is cane hardy in zone 5. I think it will be going in the back as it's an attack rose, with the better behaved ones on the pergola.

Long John Silver is a setigera hybrid from the 30s, reputed to have a lovely scent, and the pics.. well, it's gorgeous, even if it is not a repeater.
lorrainesyratt
13 years ago
Glad you found the perfect rose, freki. Good luck with it. Hope it does the trick.

Climbing rose, low care and tall.

Comments (9)

lorrainesyratt

zaphod42

Related Discussions

lorrainesyratt

zaphod42

athenainwi

lorrainesyratt

freki
Original Author

freki
Original Author

lorrainesyratt

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Climbing rose, low care and tall.

Comments (9)

lorrainesyratt

zaphod42

Related Discussions

lorrainesyratt

zaphod42

athenainwi

lorrainesyratt

frekiOriginal Author

frekiOriginal Author

lorrainesyratt

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

freki
Original Author

freki
Original Author