Chapter 17 - Ramblers, Climbers And Hybrid Musks

The climbers as a group have not received the same full attention of the hybridists as have other types, nevertheless, a few new ones have appeared on the market in recent years. Being grown in smaller quantities than the Hybrid Teas and Floribundas their introduction in consequence has passed almost without notice, yet several are a great advance on the older types. Danse du Feu (scarlet red), Soldier Boy (crimson scarlet), Dortmund (scarlet with white eye), Winkfield Crimson Emperor, Leverkiisen (yellow) and Hamburger Phoenix (crimson) are most valuable newcomers in that they are repeat flowering throughout the season. Then there is the Kordesii climber Maigold with its lovely golden blooms which are produced in great profusion in May, and which will, if the dead heads are cut off, provide flowers intermittently throughout the whole of the season. The Ramblers, too, have been added to. There is one of my own—Crimson Shower—which is late in flowering, August-September, and for this reason most useful, together with Etain, an attractive salmon pink. Chaplin's Pink Companion is one of very recent introduction.

I cannot help feeling therefore that when planting, more careful selection might be exercised, particularly with Ramblers. So often the same old varieties—Dorothy Perkins, Excelsa, or American Pillar—are chosen. I have nothing against these roses, except that one cannot get away from them wherever one goes. I believe that the fact that these roses are so easily propagated from cuttings is responsible for this lack of discrimination. It is true that the above three have the virtue of blooming a little later than most other roses, and in consequence fill a gap until the second flush of bloom arrives. On the other hand, it is also the time when most of us take our annual holiday and so miss the best of the flowering. Not that it would be a good reason for not growing them, for whenever a holiday away from one's home is taken one is bound to miss the full beauty of something or other in the garden.

There is one advantage which these Ramblers of the Dorothy Perkins type have over most other roses, and that is they are by far the best for growing as weeping standards. Here the growths are thin and flexible and hang down without any assistance from the ugly trainers so often seen. In my view these roses are best grown as weeping standards. In that way they are much the least trouble to manage. Unfortunately, an unsuitable variety is often used for this form, and instead of a thing of beauty it is the reverse.

One mistake often made is to bud these roses on too tall a stem. They should never exceed six feet in height, for it must be realized that the taller the stem the less growth one will get. With a six-foot stem the ideal is to get growth to reach the ground. There are also the problems of supports and resistance to wind to be considered, so it is advisable to have something of a permanent nature for a stake. Wooden ones do not last long, and replacing one that has snapped off at ground level in an autumn gale is by no means an easy task. I always use six-foot steel angle-stakes, and provided the ties are renewed each season they give no trouble, and are much neater than anything else. Moreover, the stem of the plant fits snugly into the stake and all that is required is a piece of sacking or similar material wrapped round the stem before tying.

One often sees Ramblers planted against walls. Except for a few varieties this is a mistake, for they soon become a prey to all the troubles that the rose is prone to, mildew being the one most in evidence. If there is wall space going begging, and one rarely has enough, it should be utilized for a rose which would appreciate such a position, for example the climbing forms of the Hybrid Teas.

All the Wichuraiana roses like an open position where the sun and air get full play, so arches, pergolas and screens are the best places for them.

For screens, it is better to choose varieties which do not require taking down and pruning each year, especially if the purpose of the screen is to hide an unsightly object. Such varieties as Alberic Barbier—cream, Frangois Juranville—pink, Leontine Gervais— coppery pink, Jersey Beauty—single cream, would be a good selection for the purpose, since they retain a large amount of foliage throughout the winter. These varieties are very vigorous and cover a lot of space, so it would be wise to see that the supports are adequate to sustain the growth for many years. Here again, I recommend the use of the metal fencing posts driven into the soil, and the taller wooden posts fixed to them by screws. If chestnut or oak is used it should last for many years.

Where the object of the screen is merely to support the roses grown upon it and an element of tidiness is desirable, and the plants pruned each year, the following varieties are suitable: Paul's Scarlet, Chaplin's Pink, Crimson Conquest, Albertine (salmon pink), Mary Wallace, Easlea's Golden Rambler, Breeze Hill (a rather uncommon rose with large blooms, very similar to the old Gloire de Dijon), Dr W. van Fleet (pale blush). These are all early flowering types as are those I mentioned before. Of white Ramblers there is Sander's White having, which is unusual for a Rambler, a delicious perfume, and White Dorothy, and one I must not omit, for to my mind it is the most lovely of all the true Ramblers, Lady Godiva—a soft shade of pale pink.

Rambler roses have one great failing; they lack the beauty of the individual flower and depend almost entirely on their mass effect, but fortunately we have a large number of climbing roses which, while producing masses of bloom, have the beauty and charm of the dwarf or bush roses. Many of these roses are climbing sports of the Hybrid Teas and it is from these that a selection should be made, where the large type of bloom is required. They can be used for planting against walls, fences, screens, pillars and pergolas; perhaps not so happily on the last two mentioned as they have a tendency to leave the upright parts of the growth unfurnished, and in consequence, all the blooms are on the top. The best place for these climbing roses is a position where the long growths can be tied as near the horizontal as possible. In this way the habit of producing flowers only at the top of the plant is discouraged.

Not all climbing sports are capable of very vigorous growth, neither are they very profuse with their blooms. For instance, the climbing form of the old rose General McArthur is extremely vigorous, making twelve-foot growths with the greatest of ease, but just as niggardly of blooms as it is prodigal in its wood and leaf. Generally speaking, the majority are very free-flowering, and in some varieties quite a few blooms can be expected during the late summer, after the first blooming is past.

A word of warning to those whose gardens are subject to severe spring frosts. If possible, avoid planting in the open, as the early-growths run the risk of being damaged, with the consequent loss of a display of blooms. I have long since given up trying to get these roses to bloom in a satisfactory manner in the open garden for this very reason, and so all that I grow get a certain degree of protection that walls afford.

One of my favorites is the climbing form of the old Caroline Testout; its huge, satiny pink blooms look particularly well on a wall of a house and can be relied upon to cover that of any moderate-sized dwelling. It also gives a rather greater number of blooms in the second flowering. Madame Butterfly is always a good choice, also Shot Silk. Mrs. Aaron Ward is one that will always flower freely, perhaps more so than any, and the dainty cream and orange blooms are delightful for cutting.

In crimson varieties there are Crimson Glory, Guinee and Etoile de Hollande, three which are very satisfactory. Mrs. Sam McGredy would be almost worth growing for its foliage alone, rivaling that of some of the reddest maples, but it does not stop at that, for the abundant blooms are finer if anything than those produced on the dwarf plants, when they are at their very best. In my experience, however, it does require some measure of protection in the coldest positions, to ensure that the early growths are not injured by frosts.

In yellow we have Golden Dawn, not one of the most free with its blooms but well worth growing, as the colour is a much deeper yellow than that usually seen on the bushes of the dwarf parent. Another is Elegance which although somewhat pale in color is more reliable in flowering than most. It will often give a good autumn display.

It would be possible to make a long list of all the popular Hybrid Teas which have produced climbing sports, but those I have mentioned are, in my own experience, among the best. There are also a few climbing roses which have been raised which are not sports. Madame Gregoire Staechelin is one of them. This is an extremely strong-growing rose and requires quite a lot of room for its full development. The medium-sized blooms are two shades of pink, pale on the inside of the petals and deep on the outside, and are also a delightful shape. It only blooms once but makes up for that deficiency by giving full measure in June.

Lemon Pillar with its large, creamy, perfectly formed blooms also blooms only once, and it is suitable for all the purposes to which a climbing rose can be put. Mermaid, considered by many to be the most beautiful of all roses, is not grown nearly as much as one would expect, especially as it is one of the few climbing roses that do not make any non-flowering growth. Whether it is six inches or six feet high there will always be blooms on the tips. The blooms in appearance are very much like the flowers of the Rose of Sharon (Hypericum calycinum) and the long stamens add much to their charm. I think it is best grown either as a free bush or in a position which does not call for too much training and tying, as the growths are extremely brittle and will snap off if much bending is attempted. Although I lost three large plants in the winter of 1940, Mermaid is generally considered to be quite hardy by all my rose-growing friends, none of whom suffered losses to any extent from the severity of that frost.

The roses known as Hybrid Musks are not grown nearly as much as they should be. Raised and sent out about thirty years ago by Pemberton of Essex, they failed to capture fully the interest of the rose-growing public, yet they have much to commend them as really good garden subjects. Nearly all of them grow into large bushes and are suitable for hedges or as Shrub roses. They are very free flowering, keeping on till the end of the year. They are, furthermore, all very sweetly scented. My favorite is Felicia with its salmon-pink, fully double blooms, of medium size.

Penelope is also very good, with blooms a little larger but with not so many petals. Prosperity, creamy white, has fully double blooms borne in large trusses. Moonlight, white semi-double, is very free and grows into a large bush. Vanity is a single pink, and Cornelia has small double, coppery-pink blooms.

There are many others of undoubted value, but the foregoing are the varieties which are still being offered for sale in the rose nurserymen's lists.

These Musk roses have an additional claim to attention, for they can all be grown from cuttings. This is a great advantage when a hedge is being planted, because there is no trouble with suckers as there might be with budded plants.

It is quite possible that the Hybrid Musk strain will play a big part in the roses of the future, and there are quite a number of new roses not yet in commerce at the time of writing which will add much to the interest and beauty of our gardens.

Roses Described In This Chapter

Ramblers

Alberic Barbier, cream Albertine, salmon pink Breeze Hill, flesh tinted apricot Chaplin's Pink, pink Chaplin's Pink Companion, pink Crimson Conquest, crimson Crimson Shower, crimson Dr W. van Fleet, pale blush Easlea's Golden Rambler, golden yellow
 
Etain, salmon pink Francois Juranville, pink Jersey Beauty, cream Lady Godiva, pale pink Leontine Gervais, coppery pink Mary Wallace, warm rose pink Paul's Scarlet, scarlet Sander's White, white White Dorothy, white

Climbers

Caroline Testout, satiny pink Crimson Glory, crimson Danse du Feu, orange scarlet Dortmund, red Elegance, yellow Etoile de Hollande, crimson General McArthur, bright scarlet red Golden Dawn, deep yellow Guinee, dark scarlet Hamburger Phoenix, crimson Lemon Pillar, creamy yellow Leverkiisen, yellow
 
Madame Butterfly, pink, apricot and gold Madame Gregoire Staechelin, pale pink, deep pink reverse Maigold, bronze yellow Mermaid, golden yellow Mrs Aaron Ward, cream and orange Mrs Sam McGredy, scarlet coppery orange Shot Silk, bright cherry cerise Soldier Boy, scarlet crimson Winkfield Crimson Emperor, crimson

Hybrid Musks

Cornelia, coppery pink Felicia, salmon pink Moonlight, white

Penelope, shell pink Prosperity, creamy white Vanity, pink

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