Suggestions for Climbing/Rambling Rose on California Central Coast?
I know a few folks have recently asked about climbers -- I'm asking, too! I made a huge hole and have put in a sort-of retaining wall on a slope just to make a home for a huge rose that I hope will bloom its fool head off and create some privacy between the neighbors down slope and me. We don't have fences in my neighborhood, and it's not near a structure. Theoretically, I could put in some t-posts and string some wire to make a structure upon which to train laterals, but frankly I'd rather just have one big exuberant rose that is happy to spread, grow upright, and eventually kind of spill down the slope.
The most important thing is that the rose is healthy, since I have a sort of tough-love approach to roses and don't want to deal with spray regimens. Plus, I try to do everything organically. The only "spraying" I do is after pruning I do the dormant oil & the copper spray (used to use sulfur, but now that's not allowed? still don't know why...). Anyway -- Austins and Meillands seem to do well for me, but Kordes not so much. I think I'd love an own-root in that space, but am not attached to that idea.
I had initially settled on a Polka rose from Heirloom, but there was a snafu with that order, so now have to decide if I re-order Polka (own-root), or buy Polka locally (almost certainly grafted), or switch to a new rose altogether. I don't think I want an orange or orange-y rose. I do like fragrance. I do appreciate the flower shape of a lovely hybrid tea, but I think I really swoon over the more old fashioned blooms I see on so many Austins and the "romanticas." Nearby is a pink climber , High Hopes, and an old heirloom, Grandmother's Hat. But the GH is young, so could be moved if necessary. I also have an Albrighton Rambler nearby, that is young yet. I'd love a thornless, but that's not required. I just want a super healthy, exuberant, vigorous rose that will grow quickly and bloom constantly. No, I don't want a once-bloomer. I bought a velchenblau for that!
I live on the central coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. We can get a lot of cool, overcast days b/c of the marine layer, but we can also get hot sun and sundowner and Santa Ana winds in late summer and into fall. We have clay, alkaline soil. This will be on a slope, with a bit of retaining wall to help keep the water from just running straight down hill. There are oak trees nearby, but I won't want to train a rose into the tree canopy b/c we have to be very aware of "fire ladders" living where we do. In this photo the rose would be toward the left - past the end of the path just beyond the big oak on the left.
Thanks for your good advice!
Comments (22)
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Which Climbing Red Would You Suggest?
Comments (44)It is interesting how topics from the past are coming back up with Houzz Here is what ended up happening with this arch. I looked at this bed all summer debating the empty spot, disliking the blah tone of the Netune's in the summer sun. Finding out that the other lavender rose given to me is pink with lavender tones. And the idea of all red on the arch just reminded me of a hat band in a reverse of the Red Hat Society. Not that there is anything wrong with celebrating being over 50-we earned that hat. It was just not the soft look I wanted. Don Juan stays be cause my dad planted him and frankly he has a lot of very happy Doc Huey under the side walk that I know I would be haunted by if I tried to move him. So after saying I wanted no stripes and red with lots of scent, I fell in love with a Raspberry Cream Twirl who clashes perfectly with most everything tall in the bed. But she has wonderful flexible green canes with no thorns and from the right seat I can enjoy her with the Sweet Chariots and what ever that pink rose happens to be. I did get Rhode Island Red (Fields of the Wood) for the main garden and her blooms are incredible, although kind of rare since she is still a baby. Noella Nabonnand does have fabulously clean foliage and is in my Nabonnand court with a persimmon tree to climb. And Cramoisi Superieur is in the garden as of just a few months ago. If I had the energy and a spot for them, the Neptune's and Ebb Tide would move some where else. You would never know Ebb Tide was there so that just leaves the Neptune's and mom loves them.... Don Juan is now part of the HT's for mom to cut and bring inside...See Moreclimbing rose suggestion
Comments (21)The east coast disease issues cover a very, very large area. Coastal New England gets some relief, as does zone 8. Aside from that, it's pretty much all bad east of the Appalachians. So it's not only the Californians you have to watch, but also the midwesterners. There are a lot of roses they can grow well that cannot handle eastern humidity. The rose I'd recommend is Captain Samuel Holland. It's another Canadian Explorer, but isn't quite the beast Quadra is. I believe they are full siblings, and share the good qualities of excellent disease resistance and good rebloom. Hardiness isn't a question with any of the Canadians in 6a. Simply for completeness, since nobody has mentioned it, I'll throw out William Baffin. I don't grow it since I've never really been able to come to terms with that particular PINK, but if you are really looking for showy, it qualifies. Some people have had trouble getting it to rebloom, but it seems to not like heat. It is by far the most likely of the Explorers to show up in a local garden center. You said you want to buy the plant locally. However, be aware that most local garden centers sell roses they think will sell. They do not sell roses they think will do well in the local area. You will be lucky to find a climber locally that will not need a regular spray program, and probably about half of the ones available will not be cane hardy. This is really where growing roses in this region gets tricky....See MoreAmazing Climbing Rose Suggestion
Comments (35)I think you'll enjoy her, monsoon99. I don't know anywhere you can walk in and buy a canned plant of her anymore. I have begged a few locals to include her in their mixes, even promising to promote them as sources, but so far, no takers. I wish I had the abiltiy... You should be able to purchase her on line from Burlington, Rogue Valley and Vintage. They will all be small plants which can be encouraged to grow more rapidly if planted in a can to keep the roots warm. GHat is excellent own root. The Ventura County Rose Society Auction should be in spring and they often have plants of her included. If you are of the "immediate gratification" mentality (NOT a judgement, simply a suggestion), you CAN plant more than one, but I personally wouldn't as it is NOT needed. One will easily cover the area you've stated and won't out grow it, where two very likely will and possibly give you too dense a plant, allowing for greater potential for disease issues. Grandmother's Hat is very healthy, but CAN black spot under the right conditions. ANY rose can have health issues under the right conditions. Some are just more prone to it than others. This one is a survivor! Which Laguna are you asking about? There are three on HMF and I haven't grown any of them. Don Juan you should be able to find most nurseries and garden centers (NOT "home improvement stores") that sell canned roses. It can be a little slow getting started, but that is a characteristic of large flowered climbers which flower heavily. A plant can usually bloom or grow. Few do both as well all the time. There will be equivalent roots to balance long canes and the plant is going to grow those before it puts out the wood. Finding one already started in a can, preferably from last year or earlier, will allow you more immediate gratification. Dortmund...well, it can be a very good rose. It's excellent for harsh, arctic type climates. I have one at a client's house in Old Orchard, Valencia. She loves it. It is VIGOROUS, terribly prickly, glossy, dark green foliage and it will mildew on the peduncles and prickles in these climates. It flowers reliably and needs deadheading to force repeat flowering faster. It will repeat without it, but it isn't as "tidy", so that will depend upon your taste and how OCD you are about maintenance. My client loves it for two reasons, it was a plant installed in the garden by a very loved friend who designed it in the first place and who has sinced passed away, and it reminds her of Bougainvillea, which is not sufficiently cold hardy there. I frequently hack large hunks of it off to keep it on her wall, cut out large clusters of spent flowers and hips and at least once a month, have to hose it out to remove all the debris and spider webs it collects. I appreciate it for the accomplishment it is in breeding. I do find the foliage attractive, sort of like plastic holly; it does impress me with the quantity and reliability of bloom for such a cold hardy rose being grown in a warmer climate. I agree it is a suitable replacement for a Bougainvillea where bougies won't grow, or are 'iffy'. Do I want one in my garden? Um, no. Would I use it for breeding? Perhaps. It's more a personal taste issue. Is it a good rose? In many ways, yes, very. It keeps the neighbors on their side of the wall and covers twenty feet of unattractive concrete block. It does what it is supposed to and makes its owner happy. It makes me happy to be able to keep it looking good to keep her smiling. Dortmund should be fairly readily available canned. Again, a more developed one will provide more immediate gratification. A repeat blooming Cl. Mlle. Cecile Brunner...probably your best bet is going to be buying one on line from a source which states theirs is from the reliable repeater. An easier way would likely be to buy a Spray Cecile Brunner. It's a more vigorous bush form which flowers continually and produces wood more elongated than the original seedling, yet not as over powering as the "climber". There is a range of traits a climbing sport can express. Observing a large block of Iceberg will illustrate that perfectly. You'll find anything from more dwarf, very lightly prickled to nearly prickle free all the way to seven foot "bushes" with large, sharply hooked prickles. It isn't an either-or, but a continuum. Where the genes of the bud used to create that particular plant fell on that continuum determines what that particular plant is going to express. Climate and culture will massage that expression greatly. Mlle Cecile Brunner is one of the most bullet proof plants of any kind you can grow in Southern California. The more vigorous types tolerate heavier pruning better than the "dwarf" bush. Once established, it is rudely healthy; continuous flowering (unless you have the spring bloom climbing sport); extremely shade "tolerant" in this climate; a very "long suffering" plant which will often out last the gardeners and gardens in which it is planted. I love that it was named for the 8 year old daughter of Pernet's major competitor. In the early 80s, there was a lovely lady from the Riverside area who volunteered in the herb garden at the Huntington, and who had her mother's climbing Cecile. She made rose petal jelly from it. It was DELICIOUS! In our climate, you can plant Mutabilis, the Banksias and Cecile and they will just GROW! They're seldom afflicted by any pests or diseases and will out grow anything thrown at them. If you want something very similar in a slightly different color, take a look at Perle d'Or, often called yellow or apricot Cecile Brunner. It isn't available as a climber, but it is as gorgeous and wonderful as Cecile. If it helps, Grandmother's Hat, Perle d'Or and all forms of Cecile Brunner are frequently found in old gardens and cemeteries where they've been forgotten and just allowed to do their own thing. THAT is MY kind of rose! Kim...See MoreCoast Redwood in Central Florida?
Comments (34)" I wonder how one would do in pure muck soil where taxodium grow, if inland enough where saltwater flooding isn't a problem." Not well! It would last about a week in summer before the root rots would take it out! In the rest of the southeast where they do grow, they definitely only grow on well drained soils. I have had one die from root rot. In spite of being hexaploid, they are not invincible. FWIW, there's a 'trick' about the PNW - coastal CA climate. I saw rhododendrons almost in the bottom of swales at the old Greer Gardens in Eugene, OR.* You would NEVER see them growing somewhere like that in PA, NJ, or MD. But...the time plants like rhodies and redwood are most susceptible to root rot organisms is in the summer. That's when most of those disease organisms grow best...at temps >= 15C. I see redwoods in the native environs growing in soil that appears year round damp, but guess what? It's only going to be inundated with water, during California's wet winters! Likewise with the rhodies that would experience wet (but not underwater, mind you) soil conditions at Greer...only in winter! There's just NO WAY for Eugene to have 3" of hot wet rain in late July, on a single day, as we can have! (or, now that I think about it, at Sonoma Horticultural Nursery, which is called something else these days, the same is true. Although Polo did put some rhodies on the lowest plains of his property in impromptu little raised beds. That might be necessary because he was so mild in winter, root rot organisms could still grow well during the wet season.) Now that a nursery has supposedly grafted Sequoia onto Metasequoia, maybe people in the southeast can plant them in poorly drained soils with abandon. We'll see. * - although, TBH, it wasn't much to see and not even as nice as the peak of NJ Rarefind around the time Hank died in 2009, I'm glad I got to see it in 2011 and meet the famous Mr. Greer. Greer might have had rarer, more tender cultivars in zone 8a, but Rarefind had just more plants, and better displayed, period, in their 6b garden....See MoreDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years ago
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
3 years agoWhat a lovely yard, Deborah. Heritage is wonderful. It is in constant bloom. It is more upright than cascading down a hill. Mine is own root from Heirloom.
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) thanked Sheila z8a Rogue Valley ORDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years ago- DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) thanked Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
3 years agoSheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThis is as far as I've gotten with Mel. I'm planning on him heading up the tree and over the wall. You can see he is floppy and ropey and will go wherever you want him to, but you have to tie him up or he will flop on the ground like the wichurana rose he is.
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) thanked Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
Rosylady (PNW zone 8)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoDeborah....your garden is so beautiful.....what a setting! I am not on the CA coast, but I thought I would chime in as I grow Polka. It's been in my garden since 2017, so three years now. This is one of my favourite climbers out of the many I grow.
Firstly, it's very vigorous. It's planted in the hottest, driest, poorest soil part of my garden and it took off like gangbusters from day one. Mine was a grafted plant. It throws big canes from the base and they are somewhat stiff and very thorny. I have mine bent around a teepee and I have to get in their a few times a year and tie it down. I'm growing it in a formal rose garden....I think it would do better in a spot where it could get bigger. If I had a pergola to cover, this would be the perfect rose!
The foliage is a light green color and very healthy...extremely healthy in my garden.
Now let's talk about the flowers...my favourite part!! Polka is an apricot rose, not orange. It doesn't have any pink tones in it, just pure apricot. I love love love these flowers! And, it flowers continually for me. There are always beautiful blooms to pick all season long. It has a wonderful scent too. The flowers last very well in a vase, and they are very large and fluffy and somewhat ruffled. They are soooo grorgeous!
Here are some pictures. Let me know if there's anything else I can tell you about this beautiful rose.
Here you can see how the color compares to other roses...the Polkas are the three blooms in the very front (the middle one is squished).
This is the only picture I have of the whole plant....it's planted at the back of the border. It's the rose on the middle teepee on the left hand side of the picture, the rose that's the tallest.
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) thanked Rosylady (PNW zone 8)DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
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Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
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3 years agoI got my Teasing Georgia Planted today. If all goes according to plan, we will see it rising from behind this purple ribbon bush:
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)Original Author