Show me the gardener who isn’t seduced by the sight and smell of a climbing rose in full and heady June bloom. And why not? It’s a particularly seductive mixture of perfume and colour that’s always guaranteed to pull at the heartstrings, reminding us of the beauty of the summer garden as well as its fleeting nature.
That said, it’s important to choose your varieties wisely, with the focus firmly on those that have proven themselves to be resilient, floriferous and disease resistant. There’s nothing gloomier, for example, than the sight of a plant badly blighted by black spot or mildew, no matter how pretty its flowers are. Where every inch counts, repeat-flowering varieties will also always earn their space over those with just one flowering season. Fragrance is another important consideration; a variety with little or no scent will always be disappointing like a promise made but only half-kept. With all this in mind, here’s a handy little shortlist of 10 of the very best varieties out there.
1 Rose ‘Penny Lane’
I planted this award-winning modern variety of climber against the sunny walls of our old farmhouse last year, and it has already proven itself worthy of all the accolades heaped upon it. It flowers in June-September. Its large, ruffled, long-lasting fragrant flowers are a soft blush-apricot in bud, fading to a warm cream as they age. Plus, unlike the climbing Iceberg planted nearby, its handsome glossy foliage shows no signs of disease. One for a sunny wall, like most roses it needs a fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Height and spread of 3.5m x 2.2m.
2 Rose chinensis ‘Mutabilis’
This unusual and exceptionally beautiful, very long-flowering rose featured in Sara Price’s swoon-inducingly atmospheric design for this month’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London, where its large, scented, single, molten gold-apricot-pink flowers glowed against the garden’s hand-painted canvas walls. If the opulent fullness of traditional garden roses just isn’t your thing, then the pared-back elegance of this vigorous, healthy, pollinator-friendly variety will almost certainly win you over. Technically a shrub rose, it can also be grown as a smallish climber against a wall or fence, where it will reach an average height and spread of 2m-3m. It is more tolerant of poorer soils than most varieties but likes a sunny, free-draining spot.
3 Rose ‘Graham Thomas’ (‘Ausmas’)
A garden classic, this award-winning, disease-resistant, repeat-flowering variety was introduced by famous rosarian and breeder the late David Austin, in 1983, and is named after the late Graham Thomas, another famous British gardener, writer and rosarian who was a frequent visitor to Austin’s nursery, where he personally hand-selected it. Its large, burnt-yellow double flowers are known for their fresh tea fragrance and appear from early summer tight into autumn. This vigorous, repeat-flowering English climbing rose grows to an average height and spread of 3m-4m.
4 Rose ‘Pierre de Ronsard’
Also known as the Eden rose, this rose has fast become a modern classic prized for its lightly scented, deeply cupped pink flowers that fade to white as they age, and that appear profusely on the plant throughout summer and autumn. This vigorous, prolific, hardy, disease-resistant variety, bred by the famous French rose breeders Meilland, is named after the French Renaissance poet. This sun-loving climbing compact rose is tolerant of poorer soils and grows to an average height and spread of 2.5m x 2m.
5 Rose ‘Perfume Dreams’
A star in the making, Rose ‘Perfume Dreams’ is a new, award-winning variety that stands out for its superb disease resistance, intense scent, vigorous, floriferous growth and clusters of long-lasting cream-blush blooms, which appear throughout summer and autumn. This climbing rose grows to an average height and spread of 2m x 2.4m and likes a free-draining soil in full sun.
6 Rose ‘Peach Melba’
Another new variety destined to become a classic. This flower was recently voted Rose of the Year 2023, and is making waves for all the right reasons including its excellent disease resistance, vigour, hardiness, exceptionally long flowering period (June-September) and very large, double, deeply perfumed, fruity-coloured blooms in shades of deep golden-apricot and pink. This climbing rose, bred by the famous German rose breeders Kordes, reaches an average height and spread of 2m x 1.5m and is happy in sun or light shade and a fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil.
7 Rose ‘Zephirine Drouhin’
Introduced into cultivation over 150 years ago, this much-loved, award-winning, repeat-flowering variety’s popularity among gardeners is enduring. A vigorous climbing rose that will tolerate a shady north wall, and less than perfect soil, it’s almost thornless (making the job of pruning so much easier), with beautifully scented, deep pink flowers that appear abundantly on the plant from June-September. Its resilience and vigour mean that it’s also a great choice for an informal flowering hedge. Height and spread of 3m x 2m.
8 Rose ‘The Simple Life’
Single-flowering varieties of rose (where the flowers are much simpler in shape, with far fewer petals and an open centre) are becoming increasingly fashionable as gardeners prioritise pollinator-friendly plants and a more natural look. This relatively new variety, bred by Harkness, is prized for its very pale pink, golden-eyed, lightly scented single flowers, which appear in profusion on the plant in June-September and are followed by a beautiful display of ornamental hips in autumn. Vigorous, disease-resistant and very long-flowering, it’s a beauty. Height and spread of 2.5m-3m.
9 ‘Etoile du Hollande’
The classic crimson-flowered climbing rose ‘Etoile du Hollande’ is a vigorous, repeat-flowering, disease-resistant variety with large, deliciously perfumed blooms that appear in profusion on the plant during June-October. Growing to an eventual height and spread of 2.5m x 4m, it loves a spot in full sun and a fertile, moist but free-draining soil, making it a great choice to grow against a house or high wall.
10 Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’
Last but not least, no shortlist of outstanding roses would be complete without the quintessential cottage-garden variety famed for its very large, extravagantly lush, double bright-pink flowers. Technically a shrub rose, it can also be grown as a compact climber trained against a sunny wall. Another classic from David Austin, it’s named after the famous English plantswoman and garden designer, and likes a fertile, moist but free-draining soil and a spot in full sun, where it will reach an average height and spread of 2m-3m.
This week in the garden
Cut back the faded flower stems of hellebores, along with any very tatty foliage. The fresh, ripe seed, can also be harvested at this time of year and sown into pots or else put into in a clear plastic bag filled with a mixture of damp seed compost and vermiculite. Once you see signs of germination, gently sow each seed in its own pot, water well and place somewhere out of direct sunshine to grow on.
Regular deadheading of flowering plants is crucial at this time of year to keep the show on the road by prolonging the display. Try to do this in a way that looks natural, by always cutting back to a new bud or a set of leaves, rather than leaving ugly stems to die back.
In the kitchen garden, make sure to net brassica plants against damage from the cabbage white butterfly, which likes to lay its eggs on the undersides of leaves at this time of year. Once the eggs hatch out into caterpillars, the latter can quickly do tremendous damage by eating the leaves right back to their midribs.
Dates for your diary
Today, Saturday June 24th (11am-5pm, free admission): Tullynally Castle, Pakenham Hall Road, Co Westmeath. Tullynally Plant Fair will take place, with plant stalls by many of the country’s leading specialist nurseries and the opportunity to visit the 12-acre gardens of Tullynally Castle. tullynallycastle.ie
Also today, Saturday, June 24th Old Schoolhouse, Delgany, Co Wicklow: The Delgany & District Horticultural Society Rose Show will take place with all visitors welcome.
Saturday & Sunday, July 1st & 2nd (11am-5pm): Galway Castle Garden Festival, Claregalway Castle, Co Galway, with a range of talks by guest speakers, plant sales by many of the country’s leading nurseries, exhibitions of botanical art, music, craft and entertainment, admission €10 (children free). galwaygardenfestival.com
