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thebadseed

Your favorite rambler...?

thebadseed
13 years ago

Three sides of my back yard are vegetable beds. I want to install a rose in the sunniest corner and train it along the chain link fence.

I honestly don't care much what it looks like as far as color/flower size go. I want a rose that will take horizontal training, SMELL GREAT, and bloom more than once a year. Did I mention it has to smell great?

I'm considering Zephrine Drouhin, which I saw covered in a recent thread, but, what other great ramblers should I consider?

It seems like the older roses are more likely to smell great, but, a lot of them also appear to only bloom once a year and, what can I say, I'm greedy :)

Has anyone tried twisting two ramblers together so you get two colors or complimentary bloom times?

Comments (9)

  • jaxondel
    13 years ago

    In rose lingo, the term 'rambler' refers to a class of climbing roses that bloom only once a year, but their flowering is usually very heavy and can last for several weeks. I think basic climbers are what you have in mind.

    'Zepherine Drouhin', altho not a rambler, doesn't reliably produce very good rebloom either.

  • thebadseed
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I have some climbing lemon meringues in front, and they are hell bent on being vertical. I thought perhaps ramblers had softer more horizontally inclined canes.

  • kstrong
    13 years ago

    Darlow's Enigma.

  • peachymomo
    13 years ago

    Ramblers are the largest and most vigorous climbers and they only bloom once.

    Repeat climbers have all sorts of different growth habits, some are more restrained or easier to train while others are more unmanageable. Training them to grow horizontally should encourage them to bloom more and make it easier to deadhead, which will also increase the number of blooms.

    Here are some fragrant climbers you might want to check out. I have a couple but they are still in their first year so I can't tell you how easy they are to train. I also don't know your zone, but this is a list to start with.

    Pink: New Dawn, America, Rosarium Uetersen

    Red: Don Juan, Illusion

    White: Sombreuil, White Dawn

    Yellow and Apricot: Alchymist, Autumn Sunset, Golden Showers, Polka

  • roseberri, z6
    13 years ago

    You could try Madame Alfred Carriere, It is supposed to smell good be lovely , eat houses, and repeat. A rose expert says that it will grow well in northern Ohio, which is Zone 5.
    roseberry

  • aimeekitty
    13 years ago

    you basically just want a repeating climbing rose and there are tons of those...! You can go to various rose selling sites and many of them will list by whether it's a climber or not:

    http://www.roguevalleyroses.com/rose_list.php?search_id=On_Climber_List
    http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/Advanced.asp?PageId=2017
    http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/Advanced.asp?PageId=2019
    http://rosesunlimitedownroot.com/new_page_16.htm

    etc...

    You could try a noisette (like Narrow Water or Nastarana... but most of them fit your smell and rebloom criteria). A lot of those smell nice and have repeat bloom. Some hybrid musks are good for both those qualities, too.
    Like Penelope, Lavender Lassie, Clytemnestra, Cornelia.

    Alchymist is gorgeous, but it's a once bloomer.
    I'll second Madame Alfred Carriere and Sombreuil. :)
    Also in the white-ish family,... Gloire de Dijon and Mme. Berard smell and rebloom. Lady Hillingdon, Cl., Pinkie cl., Renae, La France cl., Buff Beauty, Crepuscule, Reve d' Or, Laguna are also lovely and get recommended on the forums a lot...

    Some climbing versions of David Austin roses repeat and smell nice, like Gertrude Jekyll, Graham Thomas, Crown Princess Margareta, etc...

    please keep in mind that I'm listing ones disregarding zone. You'll have to check to see how they do in your zone. you can search all of these on helpmefind to check for fragrance, ratings and zones...

  • lorrainesyratt
    13 years ago

    Getting a David Austin to climb in Zone5B might prove difficult. The roses will do "okay," but unlike in higher gardening zones, they likely won't reach the ultimate heights mentioned in catalogs. There may be more winter die-back in 5B than in 6B or higher. Just sayin' If you do go with a David Austin.

    There are lots of repeat-flowering climbers that send out long vertical canes. Rose canes are pretty flexible and can certainly be tied-in horizontally to a fence, allowing more vertical shoots from those and therefore more flowers the following year.

    If you want repeat flowering roses along that fence, I agree with the others. You'll be hard-pressed to find a "rambler" that will repeat.

  • greenhaven
    13 years ago

    'Constance Spry' is an Austin climber that is extremely hardy to the tips in my 4b/5a and has beautiful, fragrant blooms. It does not, however, repeat. :o(

    Lavender Lassie and Viking Queen are both lovely, vigorous hardy climbers in my zone.

    Oh, and Darlow's Enigma, like kstrong said. What an amazing rose that has turned out to be!

  • lorrainesyratt
    13 years ago

    I love Constance Spry. It was the first David Austin rose and the only one I can grow with any success in my location. Still gets die-back, though. I'm on a hill, with drying west winds. But it's a beauty. Reminds me of those old Dutch master paintings.

    I am going to be looking for Darlow's Enigma. Sounds lovely.