GROWING a rose on a wall requires a little effort, proper ground preparation apart.
Roses do not cling of their own accord, so they must be supported and tied in. Beginners often make the mistake of encouraging the bush to grow upwards and tying in stems vertically. The result will be a flush of blooms on top of the plant and an undistinguished leggy display beneath. There is not much beauty and pleasure in that.
Many climbers and ramblers produce strong vertical stems, so these need to be trained carefully in a fan shape. That way, vigorous side shoots will be encouraged and a really worthwhile floriferous display will result. A necessary item for this business will be wire on the wall preferably horizontal lengths of wire held taut, to which the young rose branches will be tied. If you are not prepared to give the plant the proper attention and the proper space to expand and grow, the results will be less than thrilling.
I am not so great at this approach myself let us call it the classic approach. I do not, have expanses of wall, so certain improvisations are engaged in. On a low wall about four feet high, I grow the old reliable Albertine. This is a rose many will pass on, but it makes an obliging, spreading bush with only a minimum of training. In general it is healthy, glossy leaved and viciously thorned. Perhaps that is why I never try to train or repress its enthusiasm. In June and well into July it makes an enchanting display of muddled double blooms richly scented. The colouring is strong a "lobster pink" and not always a tone that fits snugly into a refined boudoir pink scheme. There is one mad gorgeous show for weeks around midsummer and then it is over for another year. Like the best things, it is a relatively short lived, sweet, intense interlude.
THE nice thing is, Albertine can be allowed to grow into a small tree and cascade out and down. Altogether I think it is better and more satisfying when allowed to grow as a loose sprawler. So this is not a rose for the classic wall training but one for those who favour an unconstrained, lax approach.
There are other roses which I could not imagine corsetted and pinioned on a wall. Another large flowered rambler for this treatment is Francoise Juranville. Vigorous, with loose stems up to 20 feet in length, this is the ideal rose for draping over a summer house or for scrambling into a large shrub such as a holly or a small tree. Francoise is almost thornless, so one may safely twine, and train the stems at will. The foliage is glossy and healthy there can in places be a tendency to mildew but in 20 years of delightful friendship I have seen no signs of that. The flowers are a clear rose pink, double and somewhat muddled.
The scent is of sweet apples and altogether it is a real charmer one of my top for climbers. The flowering goes on a long time, a great rush in June and July with a nice sprinkling of blooms through August.
Equally good for this sort of use is "Emily Gray". The vigour is similar and the foliage healthy. The flowers are loose, pale buff yellow, produced with delightful generosity. The main show is mid summer, the scent is good. Another which I cannot do without is "Alberic Barbier" again, loose lax growth which hangs down seductively and would be" good furnishing a pergola. Like the others above, it is lard removed in habit and growth from your average modern climbing rose. The flowers are creamy white, tending to pale lemon. Glossy, healthy foliage makes this a most desirable rose. Who needs walls for roses when there are such charmers for growing in less formal situations?