I am new to gardening, however I would like to plant a low maintenece
rapid growing climber along my picket fence. I live in Wilmington,
North Carolina, does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of
climbing rose I should plant. PLEASE HELP ME!

On 22 Mar 2003, (heidi) wrote:
I am new to gardening, however I would like to plant a low maintenece
rapid growing climber along my picket fence. I live in Wilmington,
North Carolina, does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of
climbing rose I should plant. PLEASE HELP ME!

Hi Heidi,

I tried to look your zone up on a tiny little map. It looks like you're in
zone 7 or 8, right? You have nearly limitless choices. Are you looking for
a specific color? How much space are you trying to cover? Is it important
to you that the rose be fragrant? I hesitate to give you a recommendation
without knowing what you'd like.

I can tell you my favorite climber (so far) is Sombreuil. It's a big
beautiful white that's very healthy and disease resistant and blooms
throughout the season. The fragrance is wonderful. I think it would look
fantastic on a picket fence. The only drawback I can think of is that it is
a thorny booger.

You can see some pictures of it he
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=5858

The helpmefind site is very useful when you're looking for a rose. You can
go to the main search page for roses he
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/searchPlants.php

I hope that helps, if just a little. If you want to post another message
with some more details about what type of rose you'd like, I'd be happy to
give you some more suggestions.

Good luck!

Mike
z8TX

"Mike" very nicely said to Heidi

Hi Heidi,

I tried to look your zone up on a tiny little map. It looks like you're in
zone 7 or 8, right? You have nearly limitless choices. Are you looking for
a specific color? How much space are you trying to cover? Is it important
to you that the rose be fragrant? I hesitate to give you a recommendation
without knowing what you'd like.

I can tell you my favorite climber (so far) is Sombreuil. It's a big
beautiful white that's very healthy and disease resistant and blooms
throughout the season. The fragrance is wonderful. I think it would look
fantastic on a picket fence. The only drawback I can think of is that it
is
a thorny booger.

You can see some pictures of it he
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=5858

The helpmefind site is very useful when you're looking for a rose. You can
go to the main search page for roses he
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/searchPlants.php

I hope that helps, if just a little. If you want to post another message
with some more details about what type of rose you'd like, I'd be happy to
give you some more suggestions.

Good luck!

Mike
z8TX

Hello Heidi,

Welcome to the group. I second in its entirety what Mike has
said. It is easier to make suggestions if not recommendations
for your area if you would be a bit more specific. Again remember
that both climbers and ramblers take a bit to get established
and the length of your fence may also be an issue if you plan
or would like to have it covered in a hurry - a hurry here could
mean maybe 2 to 3 years.

Color and preferences will narrow the field and I am sure
you can ask questions of fellow rosarians in Colorado who
may know more about microclimates and the inherent
problems of certain areas that people like me in Portland
may not even be aware of.

And don't let anyone tell you that growing roses is difficult.
It is not. But like any endeavor worth the time spent on it,
you need to do it according to what the requirements are
in order to reap the benefits. I hope we all can offer you
some suggestions when you get back for the answers.

Allegra

....
I am new to gardening, however I would like to plant a low maintenece
rapid growing climber along my picket fence.

Hi,

I am on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in 7b, and have been very happy with
Climbing White Dawn. It is white, as one would guess, very light fragrance,
and has blooms that look almost like gardenias. It was introduced in the
1940's. In three seasons it has reached almost 15 feet, and has thick,
shiny, almost "leathery" leaves that are very resistant to disease. It is
one of my first to leaf out this spring. It doesn't like a lot of spraying,
although I did foliar feed (stinky fish emulsion with a preventative dash of
copper) last year, in the early mornings. I learned to bypass it, along with
most of my climbers, my Bonicas, the Fairy, and the Pink Grootendurst, when
on a chemical offensive.

When everything else is looking like death warmed over from blackspot, Cl.
White Dawn's fat, dark green leaves appear to be too tough for the fungus to
cause any real problems for it. It's not immune (is any rose truly immune to
blackspot?) but it seems like a "common cold" rather than "pneumonia" for
the rose, to use a loose analogy.

I have about 175 roses, mostly different varieties, including about 9
climbers, and this is by far superior, in vigor, hardiness, and resistance.
Nice blooms, although not a gigantic producer, quite reliable.

It's in my "less care is better" list...if in doubt, don't touch it; it will
survive just fine without whatever Chemical du Jour I've come home with. It
simply prefers to take care of itself, although it has survived several
"can't miss, can't hurt" experiments.



--
Scopata Fuori