Rambling Roses

Roses that are Classified as Ramblers

 

AbeDarbyTrim Phot

One uniform quality of ramblers is that they grow vigorously. Frequently they will be happy enough setting down roots near a tree and growing up through its branches. The root competition or the shade would be enough to kill a lesser rose. This sort of planting allows both tree and rose a kind of double life. Similarly, ramblers can be trained on arches and pergolas to better effect than most large flowered climbers.

But ramblers are not for every gardener. They can take up a lot of space. They can require ladders and awkward pruning rituals. And sometimes they simply take up too much real estate. Nor are all of them completely free of disease. Dorothy Perkins, for instance, took America by storm but a decade or two later the disease this rose brought to the garden was bad enough for ciimbers to fall out of favor stateside for almost a century.

The right rambler in the right spot, will make quite a strong gardening statement. When it is in bloom it could be the talk of the neighborhood; it could stop traffic; or if it is very fragrant it could perfume a whole yard.