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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Soil pH
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
    • Christmas Wreaths
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Snowbell
    • Japanese Spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
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Climbing Roses 

Amanda's Garden Consulting Company
A red rambling rose. Photo by Amanda Jarrett

Climbers vs Ramblers - Climbing Modern - Kordesii - Large Flowered Climbers - Hybrid Wichuraiana Climbers - Pruning 

CLIMBERS VS RAMBLERS

climbing roses
A vigorous climbing rose in Bathurst Mews, London England.
element_settings.Image_30621876.default
'New Dawn' is a repeat blooming climbing rose so prune lightly after each flush of bloom.
Not all roses grow as shrubs, some have elongated flexible stems. They are sorted into climbers or ramblers depending on a few factors. Climbing roses bear long pliable stems with 7 leaflet leaves. They flower more than once, unlike ramblers that flower only once, but when they do it they put on quite the show. And they tend to be quite fragrant and bear foliage with 5 leaflets not 7, like climbing roses. 

Many, but not all climbing roses, flower more than once per year. Their stems are stiffer than ramblers and they have 5 leaflets, not 7. There are many types of climbing roses: Climbing Modern roses (hybrid tea, floribundas), Kordessi climbers, Large-flowered Climbers, and Hybrid Wichuraiana Climbers.

​Climbing roses and ramblers are not vines; they have no tendrils nor suction cups to help them cling. However, they do have extremely long, pliable canes that need to be tied to a support. 
'Lady Banks' species climbing rose
'Lady Banks' species climbing rose
'Lady Banks' species climbing rose
'Lady Banks' species climbing rose
'Lady Banks' rose is one of the earliest roses to flower with profuse yellow blossoms in May. This climbing species rose flowers on old wood, so prune directly after flowering, no later and only once a year. 

Climbing Roses

Don Juan hybrid tea climbing rose
Don Juan, a hybrid tea climber.
climbing floribunda rose,'Danse des Sylphes' climbing rose
The climbing floribunda rose, Danse des Sylphes.
​​Climbing Modern Roses
USDA zones 6 to 10. When hybrid tea and other Modern Roses send out mutant, overly long, flexible canes, breeders propagate these 'sports' to create climbing versions. Popular climbing hybrid teas are 'Casino', 'New Dawn', 'Don Juan’ and floribundas include 'Iceberg', 'Allgold', 'Paul's Scarlet' and 'Handel'.  
Ex: Rosa 'Don Juan' is a romantic dark red velvet hybrid tea rose with a rich fragrance. Long canes with large thorns reach 10 feet. Susceptible to blackspot.
Kordesii Climbers
USDA Zone 3. These hardy climbers are a cross between Wichuraiana and Rugosa roses. Subsequent hybridization has produced repeat blooming roses in large clusters with canes up to 15 feet. Blossoms may have a slight scent and bear colourful rose hips. They are extremely robust and disease resistant. Ex: Rosa 'Dortmund': USDA zone 4 to 9. Flowers are cherry red 4 inch blossoms with 5 to 8 petals, with a white central eye surrounded by many yellow stamens. They are held in large clusters and often have a repeat bloom with little or no scent. Blossoms are followed by large orange rose hips. Plants grow to 12 feet by 6 feet wide and maybe grown as a shrub. They are shade tolerant and disease resistant. ​​
Picture
'Golden Olymp' is a large flowered climber. It flowers repeatedly through the summer.
'Bobby James' hybrid wichurana rose
'Bobby James', a hybrid wichurana rose, flowers only once a year.

Large Flowered Climbers
Medium to large sized blossoms in small clusters that may or may not have a repeat bloom. This category includes climbing roses that don't belong anywhere else. Some are repeat bloomers, but not all. Ex: Rosa 'Altissimo': USDA zone zones 4 to 9. Flowers are crimson red with 7 petals on 5 inch blossoms with many yellow stamens and yield a slight scent. It is a repeat bloomer and a vigorous climber growing to 14 feet. Shade tolerant and disease resistant.
'Soaring Flight' climbing rose
'Soaring Flight', a hybrid Wichurana rambler Rose is a repeat bloomer, so prune lightly after each flush of blooms.
Hybrid Wichuraiana Climbers 
USDA zone 5 to 9. Long, slender pliable stems up to 20 feet allow this vigorous rose to sprawl, ramble and climb. Canes bear numerous blossoms up to 4 inches. Some of the hybrids are repeat bloomers. Flowers are pale pink, white or yellow. Some bear colourful rosehips. Most are very disease resistant and hardy. Ex: Rosa 'May Queen' has pretty pink, 3 to 4 inch double blossoms with a fresh scent of green apples. Flowers midseason with no repeat. Grows to 15 feet, is hardy and disease free. ​
'Dortmund' kordesii climbing rose,repeat flowering climbing roses
Don't prune climbing and rambling roses for two years after planting to allow canes to develop. Pictured 'Dortmund' a Kordesii climber.

large flowered climbing Altissimo rose
Large flowered climber 'Altissimo' rose is a repeat bloomer.
The Difference between Climbing Roses and Ramblers
Although both climbing roses and ramblers both climb with their overly long canes, their flowering differs. Rambler roses only flower once per year while climbing roses generally have repeat flowerings.
 
Training Climbing and Rambling Roses
Although both of these rose types have long flowering canes, they do remarkably well when trained horizontally. Tie canes along a fence or onto another support as this stimulates flowers to form. Wait a couple of years before pruning newly planted climbers and ramblers. Allow them to form a framework first.
 
When trained upright, tie the stems to their support as they grow. Space the major canes to promote air circulation, optimize the sun and to show off the flowers.  

Pruning Climbing & Rambling Roses

pruning climbing roses,how to prune climbing roses
Don't prune climbing and rambling roses too far back as you want them to grow overhead. They must be tied to their support as they grow.
Picture
'Tropical Lightning' is a vigorous large flowering climber with repeat blooms.
Pruning Climbing Roses
  • For climbers that flower only once per year, prune just after flowering.  
  • For repeat bloomers prune in early spring, after flowering and a wee bit in fall.
    • Remove dead, diseased, crossing, spindly, rubbing and non-productive canes.
    • Cut back all side shoots by 1/3rd just above an outward facing node but keep the main branches.  
  • For all types of climbers, cut back each lateral stem, whether it has flowered or not, to 3 to 6 inches just above an outward facing bud or leaf.
  • In autumn, remove dead, diseased, old non-flowering canes and spindly ones to ground level
  • Secure remaining canes to their support to prevent winter winds dislodging the plant from the soil.
  • Remove suckers on grafted varieties asap.
Pruning Ramblers
  • Ramblers blossom once a year so prune right after flowering.
  • Keep the main branches but cut back all the side shoots to 6 inches, just above an outward facing bud. Or remove entire stems to 8 inches off the ground once they have finished flowering.
  • Remove suckers from grafted varieties as soon as they form. In autumn, prune off old, dead, diseased canes and ones that grow towards the centre of the plant at their base and secure remaining canes to the support.
  • Since ramblers flower on second year’s wood, don’t cut back all the stems every year as this removes any future blossoms.
  • To rejuvenate old plants, cut all the canes to the ground in late summer.
  • As new stems emerge, keep only the strong ones and cut them back by 1/3rd and secure them to a support. 

More on Roses....

Click on the links below:
  • Growing Roses Successfully
  • Types of Roses
  • Easy Roses
  • Climbing Roses
  • Portland Rose Test Garden
  • Rose Insects & Diseases
  • Pruning Roses
  • Rose Sawfly

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Soil pH
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
    • Christmas Wreaths
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Snowbell
    • Japanese Spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
    • Viburnum, Pink Dawn Bodnant
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Winter Daphne
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tours & Such
    • NW Horticultural Society July Garden Tour 2024
    • Burnaby in Blooms
    • Burnaby's Century Gardens
    • South Delta Garden Club Tour 2023
    • Garden Club Events
  • Website Index
  • May Garden Chores 2025
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
    • Gift Cards