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Climbing or Rambler Roses for my Garden?

Climbing Roses, Rambler Roses, Rambling Roses

Climbing Roses, Rambler Roses, Rambling Roses, Great Roses, Top Roses, Best roses for walls, Best roses for pergolas, Best roses for fences, Best roses for Arbors, Best roses for Arches

Climbing Roses are superb for clothing walls, draping porches, or adding romance to pergolas with their foliage and colorful blossoms. What to pick? A Climbing Rose or a Rambling Rose? While these roses produce long stems and attractive blooms, they differ in several ways.

Here is a summary of the main differences between Climbing and Rambling Roses:

  • Rambling roses are vigorous shrubs with long, flexible stems which emerge from the base of the plants and are easy to train on trellises, over archways, and pergolas. They are useful for scrambling through bushes and into trees, covering unsightly objects or large expanses of walls. Very strong-growing, they grow bigger than Climbing Roses and need space. Many Ramblers grow up to 20 ft. high (6 m) and 8-15 ft. wide (2-5 m). Less vigorous and more controllable, Climbing Roses are shrubs with long, arching, stiff stems that are well adapted to training on arches, arbors, obelisks, pillars, fences, trellis, and walls. Most Climbing Rose varieties grow from 6-12 ft. long (180-360 cm) and will spread about 3-4 ft. wide (90-120 cm). They are well adapted to small gardens.
  • Rambler Roses usually produce an abundance of small flowers in large sprays, sometimes up to 20 blooms per stem. Climbing Roses produce a profusion of large, single, or clustered flowers.
  • Most Rambler Roses bloom once in late spring or early summer for several weeks. They may not repeat flower, but they make up for it with the massive quantities of blooms they produce in their main flush. Their long canes are smothered in roses, forming impressive cascades of colorful blooms. Most Climbing Roses usually repeat flower throughout summer and fall. Most bloom two or more times every season: first on old canes and then on the current season’s growth. A few cultivars bloom continuously from early summer to fall.
  • Many Rambler varieties produce crops of decorative hips in the fall, which persist in winter and glitter in the sun.
  • Tough and reliable, Rambling Roses are generally healthy and disease resistant, tolerant of partial shade and poor soils.
  • Rambler Roses require less care than Climbing Roses. They can thrive on neglect, although they may look unkempt and become unmanageable after a few years. Climbing Roses require more attention and an annual routine of pruning and training.

 

Guide Information

Hardiness 4 - 10
Plant Type Roses
Genus Rosa - Climbing Rose, Rosa - Rambling Rose, Rosa
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Late)
Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Fall
Maintenance Average
Water Needs Average
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Plant of Merit, Showy
Attracts Butterflies
Landscaping Ideas Wall-Side Borders, Arbors, Pergolas, Trellises, Walls And Fences
Garden Styles City and Courtyard, Informal and Cottage, Traditional Garden

Climbing or Rambler Roses for my Garden?

Discover These Helpful Guides for Further Reading

Pretty Climbing Roses for your Garden
Pretty Roses and Clematis Combination Ideas (Part 1)
Combining Roses and Clematis
Pretty Roses and Clematis Combination Ideas (Part 2)
Pretty Roses and Clematis Combination Ideas (Part 3)
Pretty Rambler Roses for your Garden

Garden Examples

A Super Climbing Duo with Clematis ‘Ernest Markham’
A Super Climbing Duo with Clematis ‘The President’
A Super Climbing Duo with Clematis alpina
A Super Climbing Duo with Clematis montana Grandiflora
A Super Climbing Duo with Clematis x durandii
A Super Climbing Duo with Crimson Roses and Purple Clematis
While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 4 - 10
Plant Type Roses
Genus Rosa - Climbing Rose, Rosa - Rambling Rose, Rosa
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Late)
Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Fall
Maintenance Average
Water Needs Average
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Plant of Merit, Showy
Attracts Butterflies
Landscaping Ideas Wall-Side Borders, Arbors, Pergolas, Trellises, Walls And Fences
Garden Styles City and Courtyard, Informal and Cottage, Traditional Garden
Explore Great Plant Combination Ideas
Rosa (Climbing Roses) Rosa (Rambling Roses) Rosa (Rose)

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