Hi Cherri. I’m not trying to be a downer, but honestly, I can’t recommend any rose seeds from any seller. Not that roses can’t be grown from seeds, because they certainly can be. But a rose from seed will not be true to variety- in other words, you have no guarantee that the rose you grow will look or behave at all like the picture the seller posts with the seeds. Besides, most of the sellers trying to sell rose seeds are a hoax. Please do yourself a favor and get a rose plant or bare root from a reputable seller, such as Antique Rose Emporium, Heirloom Roses, Jackson and Perkins, etc. EBay and Etsy and even Amazon have a lot of scam sellers trying to sell rose seeds. Don’t trust them.

Cherri, I totally agree with Judi. And by buying yourself a plant, you'll get to see flowers almost immediately,if it's a potted one, or if a bare-root, you'll get them by the summer after you've planted it.

Totally agree with Judi. Seeds from any hybrid rose will not come true to their parents in the next generation necessarily. You don't know what you'll end up with. Diane

Thank you so much, Judi — I really appreciate your honesty and detailed advice. I’m new to growing roses, so hearing this from someone experienced really helps me avoid disappointment (and scams!). I had no idea most rose seeds wouldn’t grow true to variety or that so many online listings are misleading. I’ll definitely take your recommendation and look into buying a potted plant or bare root from one of the reputable sellers you mentioned. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out! 🌹

You’re welcome, Cherri! We were all beginners once, and all of us have received a lot of helpful advice from people on this forum. If you care to, let us know a bit about your location, country, city, growing zone, etc as well as the space you want to grow your climbing rose in, your color preferences, etc. Fellow gardeners on this forum will likely have some helpful suggestions as to which rose might fit your needs the best. We are always getting that sort of help from each other on this forum.

Hi Cherri. I'm sooooo glad you came here for advice. I can only second (and third, and...) what the others have said above. No rose comes true from seed, unless it's a species rose. A *few* species can be classed as "climbing", but they will all be white or pink, and single (sometimes semi-double), except for the Lady Banks rose, R. banksiae. It is yellow, fully double, and like most species, once-blooming. There is a single form of it, as well, which is actually the original species, but it was discovered second, after Rosa Banksiae had already been named as the "type" for the species, lol.

There's a VERY slight possibility that someone is selling a strain or grex (different from a hybrid) of climbers, but even then, it's a crap shoot as to what you might get.

Cherri,

You have no idea how much disappointment you have been spared by heeding the wise advice of our seasoned Roses Forum respondent, Judi, who has advised you to not fall for the scams being promoted for growing roses from seeds. Purchase your first roses from reputable local nurseries, or online from reputable mail order nurseries.

Please check with Judi and us before you purchase any roses, telling us the name(s), of the varieties, and from whom you intend to make your purchases. We can assist you with avoiding many issues, and direct you to roses that will be a joy to grow.

Judi is well known for her extensive knowledge and grows stunning roses!

Moses.

Moses, there are many here who have far more knowledge of roses and other gardening subjects than I do. I appreciate your kind estimation of my gardening abilities, but I’m grateful there are many here who know more than I and who have helped me out many a time when I need advice. That’s the beauty of a forum like this: none of us knows everything, but all of us know something that can be of benefit to someone else. Better together!

I’m in Washington DC Zone 7 and the spot I have in mind gets tons of sun but has heavy, moist clay soil. I’m thinking of a fragrant climbing rose in soft pink, white, or even yellow something that I can train up an arbor or trellis. I’d love any recommendations

Hello there! I am glad you posted before buying seeds. In your zone you probably have lots of humidity and blackspot pressure so choosing a rose that doesn’t require to be sprayed to keep its leaves would be ideal. How large do you need this rose to get? Some of the climbing roses can get very large and not fit in a smaller trellis or arbor. For some general recommendations of what grows in my garden no spray and does well (nothing is perfect here no spray): Also tell us if you want a LARGE flowered climber or any kind. I have noticed many people where I am do not recognize hybrid musks or more simple rose varieties as roses so that may not be what you want. Here goes a list with some of my best.

Mel’s heritage- this one gets very large but is amazing in every way.

Peach Melba: this one is close to perfect, but may be too peach.

Collette: fantastic variety, mine is young but healthy.

If needing something on the smaller side of a climber, let’s say to 8 feet or so my Earth Angel gets to about 7 to 8 feet tall every year so it could make a nice small climber.

Pomponella also makes a nice small climber if allowed to grow on a trellis.

For beast large pink climber I have Peggy Martin and Laguna, but they may be darker pinks than you want.

cloud ten is a smaller climber with great health. Guirlande dAmour is a nice large white climber if you have the space.

I have several others I can recommend if you need other colors but the light pink range in healthy climbing roses is very limited here.

This is such a kind and thoughtful response. Thank you so much. I really appreciate how much detail you shared. I had no clue there were so many great climbing options that don’t need spraying, which honestly sounds perfect for me. I’m definitely trying to keep things as low maintenance as possible.

Your suggestions are exactly what I needed. Earth Angel and Pomponella sound like a lovely size for my space, and I’m really drawn to those soft, romantic tones. I’m also intrigued by Mel’s Heritage and Guirlande d’Amour. They sound like total showstoppers. I’m going to look up photos of each one and see which speaks to me most.

Truly, thank you again. It means a lot to have such generous guidance as I start this journey. You made my day.

I wouldn't recommend Pomponella. It blackspots fairly badly here, and hasn't shown a tendency to climb. It also balls fairly badly.

For us, the Caramella photobombing from the left, is a much better rose.

your pomponella looks awesome Mad_gallica. I guess this shows location makes a huge difference. You are 2 zones cooler than the OP so I expect her growth may be more similar to mine here. I feel Blackspot is more of wild card like Quick Silver does great for Moses but defoliates here, and my dark desire is perfect but Vapor‘s gets a ton of blackspot.

in my old garden Pomponella 3 years old plant at 6 or 7 feet tall with madame Anissete and Benjamin Britten

op: Like Mad_gallica said Pomponella blackspots in some areas. It is hard to truly know what a rose is going to do until it is in your garden. How cold your zone is will also limit which roses can climb or not climb in your garden. Look at the Kordes arborose collection of roses. Many of the korde roses grow like climbers here even if not listed as such.

Madame anissette climbing an obelisk

Close up

Peggy

Mels heritage is also fragrant

Close up

I don’t have much to say about the disease resistance issue or hardiness, but I must mention Perfume Breeze as one of my favorite soft pink climbers. Big full bunches of fragrant blooms that really do perfume the air all around. I like it so well that I have two of them.

Dianela's recommendation of Madame Anisette is perfect for you, Cherri! Near white, ivory/palest pink double blooms with super charged fragrance. Madame Anisette is also a strong black spot fighter (the most horrific of the fungi that you will deal with there in DC area), having won an ADR designation, after being trialed for three years of no spraying in several test gardens in Germany, and passed admirably. Get it, you won't be disappointed. Look at the photo Dianela provided...fantastic.

Moses.

What I meant to say in post above, is that that I don’t know anything about the disease resistance of Perfume Breeze because I live in a climate where disease isn’t much of an issue. I virtually never see blackspot, but some of my roses do struggle with powdery mildew certain times of the year. My Perfume Breeze has none of these problems for me and throws out huge clusters of fragrant blooms. It has a very good rebloom as well.

Moses thank you! like you I really look for those ADRs to try when available, they may not always work out but it is a good start.

Judi I just saw heirloom carries perfume breeze, I will love to try it and see how it does here.

I too am interested in Perfume Breeze. In Tennessee we have plenty of rain and humidity, alternating with droughts. One of the reasons I like once bloomers is because I'm busy with veggies the rest of the summer. So BS doesn't bother me as long as a variety is vigorous to keep going. The wich hybrids and descendents do well here. Who else has this one, and what's your soil and climate like?

Nice getting a message from an AI robot. I'm flagging it. Diane