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Tallest climbing roses?

Reb Z6-KS
last year

I've gotten such great rose advice here, it's always the first place I go with new rose ideas!

I am looking for a very tall climbing rose to replace my Westerland. She's beautiful, but not tall enough for her spot.

I need a rose that will get 7 to 8 ft, over the top of my deck, and then train horizontally on supports across the length. I need at least 20ft of cane to work with.

I joined HMF, but I can't get good results from my searches? I don't know if you get better results with fewer criteria or more?

I'm in Z6, good fragrance is a deal breaker. My picky detail that makes it a tough search is that if at all possible I don't want real red, bright white or bubble gummy light pink.

Any suggestions would be great!

Comments (58)

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Let me find a post a picture of a single new dawn. Give me a sec.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Have you considered Mme. Alfred Carriere?

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  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year
    last modified: last year

    She's in the list, along with Phyllis Bide, La Perle, Alister Stella Gray,

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Here, I do not believe Phyllis bide would get that large. Here is mine after many setbacks in Fairly good sun. I doubt she will reach the top of this roof but I could be wrong! Lol!


  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    I will try to remember to take a picture of Mac on Friday climbing up a chimney. This Rose would do all you want and is low thorn also.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    I also wanted to say that some roses such as New Dawn or what I consider indeterminate. They just keep getting laterals off of laterals.

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year
    last modified: last year

    I've read about Phyllis Bide getting big, but maybe in a milder zone.

    If I forget my pink issue, Renae also fits the bill. I suppose I value fragrance a tad more than exact shade, since I have a fairly small list to chose from. My neighbor has 2 pygmy goats, in his regular city backyard, they are cute, but my yard now smells like a farm.

  • sharon2079
    last year

    What about Above All

  • charles kidder
    last year

    Sounds like you might want a rambling rose. Google search for rambling rose. There are a lot that get very tall.

  • marascz9b
    last year
    last modified: last year

    I would second Mel. Flexible canes, fast grower, excellent fragrance, prolific bloomer, and to my eyes an apricot pink. It could look different in your zone though.

    My Above All has very thick, straight canes. Not sure if that's something that improves with age, but getting it horizontal might take some effort. Mine is in a very tough spot against a wall where it gets blasted with sun and radiating heat from the wall. It doesn't bloom well, but at least it survives, which can't be said of Violet's Pride (died from summer + spider mites a couple feet away).









    Mel's Heritage in a 10 gallon pot, second year from band.







    Above All, first summer in ground when it had unlimited hand watering before it was put on drip and started declining:



    Two years later, with 24-48 gallons water per week

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    I know you didn't mention it Vaporvac, but my final idea is ZD. Really hard to figure out how tall it will get in Z6, according to every rose site online, definitely somewhere between 6 and 20ft! lol

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Do you need rebloom? Sorry if you already mentioned this.

  • dianela7analabama
    last year
    last modified: last year

    @Reb Z6-KS I think unless Mel's heritage is tender in your area (I am in 7b) he will more than meet your expectations. I have a baby Mel's heritage that is only two years old and it is over 10 feet wide on a fence. I have another one that is 5 years old and I have to fight it every year to keep it less than 20 feet tall. Mel's heritage should be able to fill your space. New dawn is also a good contender or Awakening which I think it is a sport of new dawn so same genetics. Here however Mel's heritage grows at more than twice the rate of my awakening. The flowers are peach to pink and has great scent (awakening is not very fragrant)



    out of over 300 roses in my yard, this rose is one of the most fragrant, rapid growing and healthy. It also reblooms. It gives soooo much and demands nothing. The only downside to Mel's heritage is that it needs lots of space, because I can't see it being happy if kept too small. I have 3 of these and would love to add more if I had where to put them lol.




    This is how flexible it is. you can really work with it


  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    Thats so great! You're right, it does seem like exactly what I'm looking for. I have a lot of room to take in a couple different directions. I'm sold!

  • dianela7analabama
    last year

    @Reb Z6-KS I am glad you liked Mel's heritage, it is an exceptional rose. Before you commit just verify it is hardy in your zone, tho I just checked helpmefind and it says 6a and warmer so hopefully it will be alright.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    I grew it Dianella and also recommended it. It's completely hardy here To 4Fahrenheit. That is how cold we have been since I received it. However it has put up with a lot of abuse, Surviving in unheated Garage When everything else died and being sprayed with round-up. 2 years ago I planted what I thought it was a MAC and Mel in my friend's garden But he covered Mel with cardboard and mulch and he didnt survive. Last year I saw a small little cane on MAC And was happy to see she had survived at least. This year she bloomed and low and behold, she was a he, the mels heritage i thought he Covered with cardboard! So it is really a survivor. This year it got nothing at his house And it was covered with mulch.


  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    I have continued searching a bit, I did find a Scarman rose, Goldammer, only available in Europe that fits my bill and is yellow, which I'd much prefer.

    Thought I had come close with climbing Lady Hillingdon, but there's debate about whether it's hardy here.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    I I believe lady hill and is hardy here but whether she experiences die-back, i dint know. Do you prefer yellow? If grear rebloom isnt an issue please consider ghislaine de Feligonde.

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year
    last modified: last year

    I much prefer yellow to pink or white, yes. I was of course hoping for rebloom.

    GdF is gorgeous!

  • Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Look for posts by Nippstress, shes in Nebraska i believe. As you are searching keep in mind that just because it’s listed as hardy does not mean it’s going to be cane hardy in your zone. I grow Mel here, he gets big by the end of the season, but has quite a bit of die back - I love him though! If you are open to once bloomers, Above and Beyond is a beast, does have some scattered re-bloom, don‘t know if it will hit 20’. I’m trying Super Excelsa, did ok last winter, which was mild - looks like a 10 footer. Could you plant another rose to fill in?

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    It seems like it might be easier to build a raised bed area to give a rose an extra 3 ft leeway than it is to find one that will make it up there before going horizontal...

  • Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland
    last year

    But a raised bed exposes the roots to more cold…..

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Perpetually yours, MORGENSONNE

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Many roses mentioned here will climb to the desired height.

  • dianela7analabama
    last year

    @Reb Z6-KS I missed if you already answered this but have you considered Malvern Hills by David Austin?

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    I have considered Malvern Hills. It's only the "light fragrance" that keeps it lower on my list. I will have to dig up my Westerland to do what I want to do, so I'm waiting until I'm sure I've found exactly the right rose. Has to be at least 15 ft, strong fragrance, good repeats, and my preference is the yellow/orange/apricot/peach family.

    I think I'll do something else if it's a compromise.

  • Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland
    last year

    @Reb Z6-KS if it checks all the boxes why not try it? Fragrance is so different for everyone - i have some that are marked light or no scent and i find them to be strongly scented.

  • dianela7analabama
    last year

    I agree with Dingo. Unless you are able to smell the roses before purchase I would be very weary of making your decision based on anyones else’s idea of strong fragrance. There are many “strong scented” roses I would barely rate as mild scented and viceversa. Scent is extremely subjective and varies with temperature and humidity also.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Are there any public gardens you can visit? That's how I generally judge many of the roses before I buy them.

  • Steve_M in PA
    last year
    last modified: last year

    In Zone 6, I think it may be tough to get any plant to grow tall canes without winter dieback, reliably. I would shoot for at least 1 zone colder. I also assume you want a repeat-blooming rose. What about a climbing Cecile Brunner? (If so, be sure to search for the "Everblooming" version, if you want that, as there is supposedly a once-blooming version out there.)


    There are a few others that are reputedly cold hardy and fragrant repeat-blooming climbers, but they may not get as tall as you want:

    America

    Bathsheba

    Candy Land

    Ghislaine de Feligonde

    Harlequin

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year
    last modified: last year

    I guess I need to do this in bits and pieces. Just lost my whole post and pictures. I believe it is quite possible to have the type of growth required in zone 6. It just depends on the sighting of the Rose and the rose itself and the requirements for the rose. It is often hard to have it all! The correct color, the correct size, fragrance etc.

    Here is New Dawn pressing all of the correct buttons for me! This is a single New Dawn reaching out over a 35 ft Plus balustrade and arching over to Cascade another 15 ft!




    Just to show it's not just my yard, here is a friend's New Dawn intermingling with Peggy Martin. Each post is 8 ft tall. I think they are 8 or 10 ft width.


    Here is another Pe


    ggy Martin in his garden.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Lastly, is gdf. This beauty climbs 15 plus feet and is now intermingling at the top of the balustrade with new dawn. I did not expect this growth and hope to someday acquire her pink sport. Everything planted prior in this Shady spot had grown backwards.



    Click all pics for full definition.

    Reb Z6-KS thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Just to confuse you more, here is a rose I've seen growing to gigantic proportions up the arbor I pictured prior Near the climbing America. I said truly spectacular rose that should be grown more often. Golden Gate

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    I still haven't stopped looking every day, lol. I like Golden Gate. I have a strong fondness for simple roses that aren't fancy and open all the way so bees can enjoy them.

    I've been looking at my tropical/hot colors deck garden. I really think it would ruin the vibe I've worked so hard on if I added a light pink or white rose. I kind of collect orange flowers, and anything in the sort of orangish range, salmon, apricot, peach.

    I've been thinking about seeing if I can just get a bit more height/length with Above All. Papi Delbard looks good too, can't quite tell how big it gets.

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    And I guess I'm a bit sucker for marketing, because this description makes me feel I might not be able live without Golden Gate, lol!


    "Golden Gate has an extraordinary and thrilling fragrance. The head note first reminds one of lime with lemon also present. This develops quickly to a tangy note of freshly cut lemon grass. The heart note is an exotic, tropical scent of green banana. There is a strong flowery nuance of tropical flowers. In the base notes is the impression of ripe banana and the humid tropical rain forest floor which completes the exotic character of this rose fragrance."

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Was that from the Kordes site? They used to have a professionalq nose do all of their fragrance descriptions and it sounds just like that. Having seen it I can say it is a very beautiful rose and I know that it is hardy And climbing Quite tall in zone 5. Freedom gardens highly recommended it.

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    Yes. I'm going to go back and read more fragrance notes. What a little surprise gem of a description.

    I like that it has the slightly orange center, it would not stand out with all my orange stuff.


    This one has one of those great descriptions, with a cool scent wheel, and what a great color. https://www.rosen.de/en/garden-roses/shop-by-type/fragrant-roses/carmen-wuerth?c=777

  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    Oh! Vaporvac, did I tell you I talked to John Scarman? I was doing a deep internet dive on that rose "Goldammer" and Googled his name, there was a FB link, it looked like a rose nursery, so I messaged and asked if they ship to the US. He answered me himself and said he couldn't but was looking for a US grower to work with. I suggested Rogue Valley, because she seems to have some interesting European stuff. He thanked me and said if it worked out he'd send me a free rose, lol.

  • titian1 10b Sydney
    last year

    Wow Vaporvac. Beautiful photos of New Dawn and GdF in your garden, and ND and Peggy Martin in your friend's.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    Thank you, Titian. I was especially please with that combo. It really exceeded my imagination as Peggy literally wrapped herself around the canes of New Dawn so she bloomed together with her as well as adjacent. It was so unexpected and really beautiful in person. He has great soil if a bit boggy and perfect sun exposure so I moved many of my suffering climbers to his house when we installed the fence. Im there a lot working on his house so I get to visit them like old friends. Theyre much happier there.

    GdeF is a joy. Im hoping for a bit of rebloom since the shading mulberry limb decided to do me a favor and fall down during a storm. It was huge, but it fell perfectly and saved me the trouble of removing it myself. Thanks for commenting. I lost all my old pics, so just have a few with my new phone that takes pitiful garden shots, in general.

  • dianela7analabama
    last year

    @Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley did you ever get a picture of the MAC? I have one growing on the side of my house hoping it will go up to my balcony. It seems to growing well so far but I have gotten very few blooms and I keep wondering if I should just shovel prune it and place Me'ls heritage there instead. Does Mac ever blooms profusely?

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Despise Houzz erasing my post!!! Grrrr!!! Anyway... funny you should ask! First let me post a pic from early in the season when Carefree Beauty was in full flush. They were by far the earliest to bloom. MAC is now MUCH taller even considering the back and forth training across the bricks; I think shell have no trouble climbing to your 2nd fl. balcony.

    As usual, click for detail.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    @dianela7analabama, I took some more pics yesterday which Ill post in a minute. It has grown a lot, but needs training. In this full sun spot in its 2nd or maybe 3rd year, bloom has been sparse which leads me to believe this particular rose has a high need for phosphorus to promote blooming. My friend has not amended or fertilized with anything. I say all this because I have grown many MACs up from cuttings and they have or bloomed WELL even as small baby starts, giving multiple blooms over their first summer and lush blooming their next year in pots. The difference is I fertilize my potted plants often with a weak liquid solution as well as incorporating some sort of tone into their soil. Ive been baffled by this difference in bloom habit and its the only conclusion I can reach under its current growing conditions. Do you fertilize yours regularly?

  • dianela7analabama
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Vapor I have only fertilized mine with Osmocote plus. It has bloomed some (always 4 or 5 blooms at a time) it is a 2 year own root that has canes around 6 feet tall. I will take a picture when I get home and show you. I love the delicate individual blooms, but have been a bit disappointed. I have two plants in different locations and neither of them has bloomed much. I know it is a young rose yet, but when I compare to several other 2 year roses (Peggy M, Mel's heritage and Laguna) MAC is definitely lacking in the blooming power. Laguna and Peggy haven't rebloomed well for me yet but their spring flushes were spectacular while MAC's was not even picture worthy. I may start fertilizing her more and see if I see more blooms.

    It is driving me crazy because I have several great candidates for that location like Awakening and Mel's heritage that could be getting established while I am giving MAC the time. Every day I look at it and wonder if I should move her. BTW do you know if Awakening has good rebloom? Mine is 4 years old and I only get a beautiful spring flush so far.

  • dianela7analabama
    last year

    @Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley


    Here is one ofy MAC good sun exposure. Rarely more than 4 blooms at a time


  • Reb Z6-KS
    Original Author
    last year

    Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley Do you grow Penelope by any chance?

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    last year

    These are lovely photos.

    Does New Dawn get black spot badly?

    I love all the blooms on New Dawn. I have a small potted one. I also have a potted MAC.

    I have grown MAC before but not New Dawn..

    If New Dawn is a better bloomer, maybe I should grow her up my barn instead of MAC. I had planned to put MAC there because she gets huge. She blooms sporadically but leaves stay healthy.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    last year

    @Reb Z6-KS, I grew Penenlope for a brief moment, but she died over a winter in my virtual Z5 spot. Dont let that discourage you as Cl.Pinkie was near death in the same spot and grew to the size of a VW when moved up the hill in more sun.

    @sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish), ND i spotless here under high BS pressure. Do you get any large flushes from MAC?

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    last year
    last modified: last year

    I do get a few large flushes here and there from Mac some sporadic blooms in between.

    Great to know, ND is spot free! I may just put one on each side and they can meet in the middle and duke it out haha. There's a tree on one side that one of them might latch onto.

    I also have a CL Iceberg which I was orginally planning on putting with the ND somewhere. Then I heard Iceberg gets BS bad in the South, so I might find somewhere else to put it where not as visible.