Software
Houzz Logo Print
leah45

Looking for fragrant pink climbing rose recommendations

last year

I've recently moved to central Mexico and looking to plant a few fragrant climbing roses. The climate conditions here are very different than anywhere I've gardened before. It's temperate most of the year, and doesn't often fall below freezing in winter. In May and June it is extremely hot and dry, with temps in the high 90s and low 100s. Then in July the rainy season starts, with showers in the afternoons. This year is apparently somewhat unusual, as we've been getting extremely heavy downpours most days.


What are good climbing roses that can handle both the hot/dry season and won't ball in heavy rain? I'd really love something pink with a strong old rose fragrance, but I'm open to other suggestions. It can be tricky to find a wide selection of roses at the nurseries here, but I've found someone who sells most of the Tantau and David Austin types.


Comments (6)

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    The only fragrant pink climber I grow is Compassion, and it's spectacular. Re-blooms all year, and is very fragrant. My only caveat is that I garden in coastal So. Calif. (< 2miles from the ocean), where the average summer temp is ~78, so very different from the conditions you have! Compassion has normal double blooms, so it never balls in rain like the 80-100 petal roses sometimes do here. Here are a couple of pics:



  • last year

    Your new conditions sound similar to mine, Leah. We get very high summer temperatures combined with monsoon-like heavy downpours, resulting in a humid, sub-tropical climate.


    I grow mainly shrubs and have very few climbers, but roses here also have to resist frying in strong sun and balling in rain. Plus be hardy enough to survive the cold freezes in my mountain location! It’s a challenge for any rose.


    Although I grow it as a shrub, I find Gertrude Jekyll pretty resistant to both high heat and rain. The fragrance is strong, sweet old rose. It’s a classic for a reason. I don’t really know of any other pink climbing Austins that would suit. I believe Mary Delany needs a cooler climate.


    I have no experience of Tantau climbers, but would caution that quite a few of their very heavily petaled shrub roses ball badly in rain, so that’s something to look out for.


    Generally a single or semi double resists balling much better, while roses with thick petals and leathery foliage are better at resisting heat.


    Do you have access to any old roses?


    Perhaps too pale for you, but Mme. Alfred Carriere is the only tea/noisette that can weather my conditions. Others I have tried can’t cope with the extremes of heat and rain. Of the old roses, it’s mostly those of the bourbon/portland/damask classes that do well for me. Not Mme. Issac Periere though, that both balled and fried for me and was a diseased mess by the summer!

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Thank you, all! I only now saw that I'd gotten some responses, so apologies for my lag. The photos of the Compassion rose are gorgeous!


    I've been really curious about Gertrude Jekyll and Zephrine Drouhin, and they're now high on my list of roses to try. I'm not familiar with Mme. Alfred Carriere, but the pictures on Helpmefind are really lovely. I haven't seen that one mentioned in the rose trade forums here, but I'll ask around since they might use a different common name. I love all shades of pink roses (perhaps too obsessively-- I always admire other colors of roses in other gardens, and then I get online and find myself ordering more pinks). I've mostly grown Austins like Brother Cadfael, Generous Gardener, Strawberry Hill, and Scarbarough Fair roses, but I'm doubtful they could handle the extremes I get here.

  • last year

    I forgot to mention that my Mme. Alfred Carrière is planted against a northish-facing fence and only gets a few hours of sun. Planting position is important of course, few roses can take full on southern exposure, especially those labelled as ’shade tolerant’. Your sun is probably even stronger than mine.

  • last year

    Colette is a lovely pink fragrant climbing rose.