The foliage is mid green to begin and as it matures it will darken. The blooms are 3 to 4 inches across with up to 25 petals with the old-fashioned rose fragrance, and the more you ‘hack’ it back, the more blooms you will get. You will need lots of space and strong support for this non-stop grower. It has few, if any, thorns and it is shade tolerant.
New Dawn. Hybrid Wichurana Rambler.
Rosa ‘New Dawn’ J1
New Dawn is just about the most popular Fragrant Climbing Rose. It is officially a Rambler which means that it can reach amazing heights: anywhere from 10 to 20 feet; so it needs a very strong support. Its fragrance is strong, fruity and very sweet. Unlike most Ramblers, it flowers more than once, beginning in spring or early summer and continuing right through until late autumn.
You can train it to cover and surround a whole Gazebo for afternoon coffee! It has pale pink, silver-like blooms which are 4 inches across with up to 40 petals on each. It is a very romantic and delicate-looking climber, but it is very vigorous and disease resistant. And on top of all that, it will tolerate both shade and heat. What more could you ask of a rose? It has been around since 1930 and was inducted into the Rose Hall of Fame in 1997. It has its own page: the New Dawn Rose.
Gertrude Jekyll. English Rose.
Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ 01
A highly fragrant climbing rose by David Austin with the scent of the true old fashioned rose (Damask). It will grow to a height of 10 feet. Gertrude Jekyll was a famous garden designer whose influence is still around today. The foliage is mid to dark green. It has from about 80 to well over 100 petals on the beautiful bright pink blooms which are 4 inches or more across when fully open and blooms in clusters of the true English Rose rosette shape. The flowering period is throughout summer and autumn. Developed in 1986.
Constance Spry. English Rose.
Rose Constance Spry ?? ?????? ???? (6795055192)
Constance Spry is another David Austin Fragrant Climbing English Rose. It was his very first rose, introduced in 1961, and is named after the famous floral designer. Here’s what his website has to say about it: “One of the most superb of all climbing roses. A beautiful rose with magnificent, clear pink blooms of true Old Rose form. The flowers are exceptionally large, with a luminous delicacy that is hard to compare with any other rose”.
That would be enough for me, but there are other features of this beauty to consider. Height: 12 feet. The blooms are deep cups, 4 inches across with up to 40 petals of a gorgeous rich rose pink (which is the only colour for a rose, after all …) and the fragrance is a strong Myrrh (sweet and spicy) scent.
The foliage is mid green and the blooms appear singly, but when this rose really gets going, there are masses of them. It blooms only once for a month or so during spring or early summer, but is well worth waiting for. It is excellent as a Pillar Rose as the canes have a lovely arching habit, but it looks good wherever it can be shown off to full effect, like all fragrant rose climbers. It is a hardy and very vigorous grower.
Don Juan. Hybrid Tea Rose.
Rosa Don Juan
A sumptuous Fragrant Climber with velvety rich red blooms, in clusters, up to 5 inches across with up to 40 or more petals which are delightfully ruffled and have the a strong, true old-fashioned rose fragrance (Damask) with even a hint of Raspberry. Being a Hybrid Tea Rose, Don Juan is excellent for cutting and filling your home with fragrance.
It is an excellent rose for training on a trellis or pergola or against a wall and it repeat flowers from spring through to autumn. Definitely a rose for Valentine’s Day. This beauty will grow to a height of 12 feet and will not disappoint you. It’s parents are New Dawn and New Yorker and it was first bred in 1958, so it comes from good stock and has had plenty of time to prove itself as popular. See what can be done with this glorious red fragrant rose climber on Google Images.
Apart from Crimson Glory and Chrysler Imperial, which will both reach 6 feet or maybe more (see Fragrant Roses page), this is the only red fragrant rose climber which has enough scent to be called ‘strong’. However, there are plenty of other red fragrant rose climbers with a milder scent.
Madame Alfred Carriere. Old Tea Noisette Rose.
Mme Alfred Carriere Schlingrose 1879 IMG 6477
The Madame Alfred Carriere rose was introduced in 1879. It is also known as a French Antique Rose. This is an amazing and easy to grow fragrant rose climber which will grow to a height of 25 feet. But it must be pruned regularly in early winter so that you don’t end up with all the flowers on the top. It was the first climber to be grown at Sissinghurst Castle in the 1930’s and it still grows there today.