September’s speaker was Simon White on the subject of “Ramblers & climbers in all situations”. He has recently retired from Peter Beales Roses, after working there for over 40 years and has received an RHS Long Service award for his contribution. We got an insight into the differences between the 2 growing forms. Ramblers are more vigorous and generally flower only once in the season and the blooms are produced on last season’s growth. Climbers on the other hand are repeat flowering, blooms are bigger and are produced on this year’s growth.
We were given examples of varieties that do well on north facing walls, where dark coloured flowers can be used as they will not fade and get scorched. Simon is in favour of using 2 roses of the same variety when planting on each side of arches. This gives uniformity in colour, also an equal growing habit. Depending on the soil type, flowers may differ slightly, eg. on light sandy soil, they grow a bit paler than on heavy clay. When planting against walls it is advisable to leave a gap of about 1ft, as conditions very close to a building are much drier, and the use of wire for support is better than a trellis.
Roses are very versatile and even the shrub varieties can be trained to grow upright. We were shown that many features can be used for roses to climb over, for example, trees, obelisks, sheds or left to just ramble on the ground. Growing roses in pots and containers is a possibility but very high maintenance. In the growing season watering should be done every day, fed every 2 weeks and the compost changed every 3 years. There is a rose called “Dorothy Perkins” and this is where the inspiration came from when naming the clothes store of the same name. One of the varieties he made a few references to was “City of York”. This can grow to about 30ft and has pliable stems making it ideal for training and dangling.
We were shown a vast range of roses that can grow happily in every situation. The evening ended with the sale of roses and other flowers, bulbs and various garden gadgets which Simon had brought along.
