Climbing to new heights

OVER the past 20 years, climbing roses have bounced back into popularity and the market has responded with a spate of excellent new varieties. There’s nothing wrong with the old ones, but the breeders have improved upon them by offering larger flowers, healthier foliage and more manageable growth.

One hundred years ago, most hardy climbing roses were once-flowering ramblers, tall and vigorous, with large clusters of small, scentless flowers. Rosa Dorothy Perkins and R. American Pillar are good examples and both are still popular, but they do need annual pruning and often succumb to the charms of mildew and blackspot.

In the middle of the 20th century, new types were introduced, including the super-hardy, scentless Kordesii roses, with such names as Dortmund and Parkdirektor