Climbing roses
MODERN ROSE HISTORY PART 8
This is the eighth of a 10-part series on roses written by AG’s former Editor Arthur Hellyer (MBE, VMH), originally published in Amateur Gardening in 1973. In this part, he looks at climbing roses. The last two articles in the series will focus on shrub roses.
CLIMBING rose varieties are defined as ‘plants climbing or rambling with long sprawling or arching stems normally requiring support’. This is a broad category, including roses of moderate height that reach around 7ft (2.1m) and giants that will clamber to the top of tall trees. Ramblers consist of climbing roses with lax stems, in contrast to climbers that have stiffer stems.
