I'm new... I live in Zone 7 in a handmade adobe home. Front door faces east with about 6 hrs. of sunshine in the mornings, so the walls stay warm for a long time. I want to plant a climbing rose to cover the front wall. I can remove adobe pavers and plant in the terrible soil, which I can amend, or should I plant in a container and cover it in winter? It can freeze here no more than two or three days running. Any suggestions? And which roses can you recommend. I'm looking for something with color that will show nicely. Thanx

"Elizabeth J" wrote in
message ...

I'm new... I live in Zone 7 in a handmade adobe home. Front door
faces
east with about 6 hrs. of sunshine in the mornings, so the walls
stay
warm for a long time. I want to plant a climbing rose to cover the
front wall. I can remove adobe pavers and plant in the terrible
soil,
which I can amend, or should I plant in a container and cover it in
winter? It can freeze here no more than two or three days running.
Any
suggestions? And which roses can you recommend. I'm looking for
something with color that will show nicely. Thanx

I'm guessing your house is only one storey? That would limit the kind
of climber, since some of them can go up 20' or more.

I wouldn't worry about covering the plant if it freezes only two or
three days. I have potted plants I leave out during what is
laughingly called the winter here, and sometimes we do have temps down
to 20 F, but the plants are next to the house and the "local" temp
means the roses don't need any special protection. I have lost roses
due to the rare freezes we get here, but I plant mostly in raised beds
in fairly light soil, and newer roses (root system not well
established) can be somewhat frail.

Your requirement for "color that will show nicely" pretty much covers
any climber I've seen. Maybe you could visit an online nursery and
check out what's available to decide what color or colors would work
best for you. Some sites that have a fairly good selection (and which
I happen to have bookmarked) include:

http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/Advanced.asp
http://www.regannursery.com/roses/index.lasso
http://www.vintagegardens.com/rose_index.aspx

You might do a search for rose nurseries in CA and turn up others
online.

I would tend to amend the soil rather than plant in a container.
Climbers, even smaller ones, can get an awfully big root system.
You'd need an awfully big container, IMO.

HTH
Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8 USA

Hi Elizabeth!
WOW! A hand-made adobe house! Back in college days (about 55 years ago) I
had all the government data on "Rammed Earth Houses" (in which the earth was
mixed with a petroleum product and poured into forms for the walls, as
opposed to baked bricks). We always wanted to build a house somewhere in AZ
(even bought property in South AZ), but unfortunately never was able to make
it. Would love to have those foot-thick walls.

As for the roses, can't help you there. We live in S. Florida, and grow
mostly "T" roses. Our primary problem here is nematode resistant rootstock.
Good luck.

Graybeard
PS: Would love to see a picture of the house (but this is a text group).








"Elizabeth J" wrote in message
...

I'm new... I live in Zone 7 in a handmade adobe home. Front door faces
east with about 6 hrs. of sunshine in the mornings, so the walls stay
warm for a long time. I want to plant a climbing rose to cover the
front wall. I can remove adobe pavers and plant in the terrible soil,
which I can amend, or should I plant in a container and cover it in
winter? It can freeze here no more than two or three days running. Any
suggestions? And which roses can you recommend. I'm looking for
something with color that will show nicely. Thanx




--
Elizabeth J

Gee, Zone 7, nice.

If you want big plants, I'd put them in the ground, unless you are going to
use really big pots, like 10 gal or more. Otherwise you're going to
restrict root growth. If you do go with a large pot, and you only just
freeze, you should be fine without protection. If you dig a hole, make it a
big one, at least 2 feet across and almost that deep.

Roses love water, but don't care for wet feet, so good drainage is a most,
however you plant them. As for which rose; go to
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/roses.php and look around. Its a great
search engine for looking at different roses. The advance search will let
you dial-in on climbers.

Six hours of morning sun will support just about anything. I have a Jacob's
Robe that's nice, although it only goes about 8 feet. Dortmund is nice too,
and can grow to around 12 feet. The Explorers series is very hardy,(like
you need that) and need little attention and also get pretty large.

Good luck

Jeff, Southeast Michigan, Zone 5




"Graybeard" wrote in message
g.com...
Hi Elizabeth!
WOW! A hand-made adobe house! Back in college days (about 55 years ago) I
had all the government data on "Rammed Earth Houses" (in which the earth
was mixed with a petroleum product and poured into forms for the walls, as
opposed to baked bricks). We always wanted to build a house somewhere in
AZ (even bought property in South AZ), but unfortunately never was able to
make it. Would love to have those foot-thick walls.

As for the roses, can't help you there. We live in S. Florida, and grow
mostly "T" roses. Our primary problem here is nematode resistant
rootstock. Good luck.

Graybeard
PS: Would love to see a picture of the house (but this is a text group).








"Elizabeth J" wrote in message
...

I'm new... I live in Zone 7 in a handmade adobe home. Front door faces
east with about 6 hrs. of sunshine in the mornings, so the walls stay
warm for a long time. I want to plant a climbing rose to cover the
front wall. I can remove adobe pavers and plant in the terrible soil,
which I can amend, or should I plant in a container and cover it in
winter? It can freeze here no more than two or three days running. Any
suggestions? And which roses can you recommend. I'm looking for
something with color that will show nicely. Thanx




--
Elizabeth J