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needsweeding

Help with climbing rose rigging

needsweeding
9 years ago

Could anyone please help with what sort of hardware or rigging to install to grow Mme Alfred Carriere across the front of my house? If the picture upload worked ... this is my house. I want Mme to grow up one of the outside posts and across the top - the total distance is about 9m (or maybe 11m if you count the distance up before going across)

I'm thinking maybe eyebolts with wire strung across, one set on top of the other about 40cm apart, sort of almost clothes line effect.

I've never done this before and I really feel like I'm making this up as I go along - could anyone advise?

Thanks!
needsweeding

Comments (23)

  • boncrow66
    9 years ago

    That's what I did to pillar my climbing pinkies and it seems to be working. I just went straight up a pole but not across my house. I used a coated wire too. Good luck!

  • thonotorose
    9 years ago

    Lovely home! I think you will need a freestanding structure. The Madame may pull your porch off. She is a very shrubby rose and acts like a sail here sometimes.

  • boncrow66
    9 years ago

    Ya I think it sounds like eye hooks and wire might work for climbing pinkie but sounds like MAC might need something sturdier.

  • needsweeding
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks so much for the feedback. I'll have a look for the plate-and-ring hardware, we have plenty of rural stores in the area.

    I looked up Reve D'Or, and that's a bit too yellow for what I'm wanting, which is cream/pink ... or at least leaning toward a pink.

    I can let Mme eat the water tank, like she did at my last house, but that's why I thought she'd do ok on the front - I knew she could go the whole distance. I would, however, be a bit distressed if she pulled the verandah down. That aside, I can plant two roses, one on either end post and let them meet in the middle.

    If anyone could suggest other varieties - and I do love Mme - along the cream/pink noisette line that would do the trick, I would be most grateful. I've got 2x Pierre de Ronsard, but in my experience he doesn't even hit the 3m mark - just a long caned shrub, really.

    Reve D'Or did sound like a very nice rose, if only she were a bit pinkier, but I'll plant that if a pinkier one doesn't exist.

    Thanks so much again!
    needsweeding

  • needsweeding
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Just a follow up - I had a look at what's available locally and so much was sold out, but Reve D'Or was still available, so I have ordered 2. It does have a pink blush, it may work better than I think!

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    If you are going to plant one on each end, you might look at 'Blush Noisette', 'Jacques Amiot', "La Nymphe", or 'Fellemberg'.

    Jackie

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    I just saw your last post - you will love Reve d'Or (and I personally think it will go great with your creamy white and green house!). The canes are very small around, lax, and very easy to train (unlike some roses I could mention...).

    Jackie

  • subk3
    9 years ago

    Here's an example of Jackie's plate and ring dohicky:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hitching Ring

  • thonotorose
    9 years ago

    Also, for me MAC is really a white rose. Very little pink.

    Have you looked at Celine Forrestier? Perhaps too yellow for you though it is, so far, is a cream with pink in my heat.

  • needsweeding
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Dear wonderful helpful people! Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out. As it turned out I got an email from the rose place that said they were very sorry, but Reve D'Or was sold out, so I will search for some of your other suggestions.

    If this internet gizmo works... here is a link to the local rose grower with the best old rose selection. I can wait until next July and get anything on the list, but it's so late in the season that there isn't much left if I want to plant now.

    I also think I can find the hitching ring dohicky locally as well, but it's good to have the amazon link if I am unable to source it - I'll take a picture in with me in case they call it something else.

    In the meantime, suggest away! Just not anything orange/red or bright yellow (like dandelion yellow). Buff yellow or lemon yellow is ok, soft pink/cream/blush or even salmon/coral maybe.

    Just a note - here in my climate (southern Australia) MAC is creamy with a soft pinky'ish heart, but I've only grown 1, maybe a one-off.

    Thanks again
    needsweeding

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mistydowns - Local old rose store link

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    Well, since now you are OK with cream/buff/soft pink, what about the old tea rose 'Anna Oliver'? It is actually my very favorite rose. I think it is more available in Australia than it is here - it is in the tea rose book "Tea Roses, Old Roses for Warm Climates" that was written in Australia.

    Ignore what it says about the height on HMF - those heights must have been taken from some sort of British database - it says 4 feet tall, but in my garden mine is easily 10-12 feet. I think it would look great on your house. The blooms tend to be cream/buff with pink on the reverse, so I will post pics of the front and the back. Since it does nod, it is good that the blooms will be above you - they will nod down at you and you will be able to see them perfectly.

    Jackie

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    Here is a pic of the back of the blooms taken from above.

    Jackie

  • thonotorose
    9 years ago

    You also might want to look at CL Clotilde Soupert. Not too many thorns, white blooms with pink centers, very good fragrance and here it is very healthy in my no spray garden.

    The only thing about mine on own root is it took a VERY long time to come into her own. Actually 5 years though I could of taken better care of her in the early years. She came mislabeled and did not bloom at all for the first two years. When she did bloom it was only spring and fall. Now she is almost a continuous bloomer and soooo very healthy. I just love this rose.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Clotilde

  • muscovyduckling
    9 years ago

    Hi needsweeding- I thought you might be Aussie when I saw that pic of your house! Where are you in Oz? I'm in the Dandenong Ranges just outside of Melbourne.

    I've just planted a MAC to cover my water tank, and a Reve d'Or to climb a fence and (hopefully) eat my neighbours ugly shed. Great minds think alike, eh?

    Anyway, I've recently fallen in love with Celine Forestier, which seems to be yellowish/pinkish/cream in most pics, and I've planted Cl. Devoniensis on a gazebo thingy, which is mostly white/cream with a touch of pink - Lamarque is on the other side, which is basically white.

    Awakening (sport of New Dawn) might be one to look into, apparently in Oz it's a reliable rebloomer. Cl. Duchesse de Brabant is slightly pinker (I will probably plant her this year), and Mme Caroline Testout is pinker again, but Jackie warns that the canes are stiff and very well armed.

    I've just planted a Blush Noisette too, which is very pale pink, but has smaller flowers. Renae might be worth looking into if thorns are an issue, too.

    Perhaps even something like William Morris would work? Does anyone know if he would get big enough?

    Please note all my roses were planted a few months ago, so I have no actual experience with any of them!

  • muscovyduckling
    9 years ago

    PS. Here is a thread where I ask about pale pink climbers, and get some very good suggestions :)

    Here is a link that might be useful: China pink climbers

  • needsweeding
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    OK, follow up

    I ended up getting climbing Cecile Brunner because that was about all that was going. I don't know if Cecile counts as an antique rose, but she's definitely not a modern. The only other thing going was Crepescule and that was just too orange.

    Jackie - one of my posts didn't actually post (hit the wrong button I guess), but your comment on Reve d'Or looking good with the house made me realise I had been looking at too many pictures of somebody else's house with cream/pink roses, and not at my own, so I didn't mean to seem fickle on rose colour - I just wasn't being very objective, so thank you for helping me see that. I will order Reve d'Or for next season, as it seems a really lovely rose.

    Muscovy - I'm closer to the Grampians, but I envy your climate, I think just about anything will grow in the Dandenongs. & yes, I'll let Mme Alfred eat the water tank too.

    Thanks again everyone!
    needsweeding

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    HA! Cl Cecile Brunner is one of my favorite roses (it is the rose which originally got my DH thinking about horse hitches to tie it up), but as I am sure you know, it can get very large. Get out your clippers. Here is a pic of one plant (the pink - any yellow blooms in the pic are an equally large banksia lutea) climbing up our house. Ours is not pruned, except to keep it off the windows and the roof (3 1/2 stories up). I am sure it can be trained and pruned and kept in order on your house - but just remember this pic if you don't feel like pruning it....the 2 windows you can see in the pic are on the second and third stories respectively.

    Jackie

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    Here is a slightly more pruned & trained bit of the same bush at the corner of the house - it can be done.

    Jackie

  • needsweeding
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh gracious! Another house eating rose! Oh but how very beautiful. At least you can prune Cecile (and Mme Alfred for that matter) without wearing a full set of armour.

    Cecile isn't in the ground yet ... Maybe I'll let her eat the chook shed and just be patient for the Reve d'Or roses next year for the house. At least I would have plenty of time to install the rigging.

    Thanks so very much Jackie for all of your help, and especially the photos - real eye poppers!
    n.w.

  • muscovyduckling
    9 years ago

    Have you tried sourcing Reve d'Or from anywhere other than Misty's? I got mine this winter from Reliable Roses and it's a lovely big healthy specimen. It might be worth contacting Reliable, Thomas for Roses, or Ross Roses to see if they have any potted ones for sale, if you haven't already done so. And if you were interested in Nahema, Silky's Roses is the only place I've found that sells it.

    I love Cecile Brunner too, but I am looking for a repeat bloomer.

  • needsweeding
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks Muscovy for the other listings, but no joy there - I am just too late in the season to get anything worthwhile. However, I had a lovely chat with the lady at Ross Roses, who seemed quite interested in my project.

    At the end of all of it, I have an order in for Reve d'Or for next season (and plenty of time to put up the rigging). Mme Alfred will be planted by the water tank, and Cecile will adorn the chook shed. I was going to plant something for the chook shed anyway, but I was thinking something more utilitarian such as pumpkins. Oh well - the chooks can eat the rose petals anyway.

    I'm still amazed at Jackie's pictures - how long has it taken for your roses to get that high?

    Thanks again
    needsweeding

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    needsweeding, to answer your question, as I recall when I planted both the Cl Cecile Brunner and the banksia lutea as baby plants from a nearby nursery, it took them maybe 5 years to get up to the roof of the house (and to get 20 feet wide).

    When they were mature, at about 10 or 15 years old, we had to cut both of them down to only 7 feet tall, so that the house could be painted. They were about 3 feet wide then, and we covered them with burlap, hoping they would survive the pruning and the 5 weeks of painting, construction, etc that was going on. My DH did convince the contractors to take pity on him by keeping away from them, because he told them that if they did not I would kill him. That worked. By the 3rd week both roses were putting out long canes THROUGH the burlap! When we took it off after everything was done, it only took these two roses about 2 years to regain their height all the way up to the roof again - roses are amazing.

    Jackie