Oh THANK YOU for posting this! I was just thinking that a pillar trained rose is just what a bed needs and I wanted to know if there are some found roses that would work well on pillars.

As long as you don't have heavy snow and extreme freezes to deal with, no, pillar roses are not difficult at all. We've used the shorter, "climbing" English roses as pillars (Cymbaline, English Elegance, Lucetta, Belle Story and others), either growing them up formal structures or simple tripods. The main "secret" is, unless you have a massive structure with someone to climb up there and take care of the thing for you, select a rose which doesn't massively outgrow your fixture. An eight foot structure with a twenty foot plant on it is a nightmare, no matter how beautiful it may be when in full flower.

Shorter climbers, such as Golden Showers and Social Climber; the previously mentioned Austins as well as other bushier ones which can be permitted to develop into larger plants, but not massive monsters like Graham Thomas and its like, can very easily be trained like you would a climber, but on a smaller post, obelisk, pillar, etc. You do exactly the same thing as you would for a climber.

Grandmother's Hat is a marvelous rose for that purpose here in the warmer areas. Many of the later HPs (Mrs. John Laing, Mrs. F. W. Sanford, and others which grow similarly, can easily be wrapped around a post, pillar or obelisk to produce gorgeous results.

You basically want a plant which grows like a larger, floppier bush, instead of a house eating climber, so it's easier to handle and not overpower the structure. Kim

Training a rose to a pillar is a cinch! I have a structure in my garden that I call The Arcade, and it has a rose trained to each of the ten posts. The trick is to limit the rose to no more than 3 or 4 main canes. Roses that produce profuse basals can work, but they're more work to keep them narrow and on the pillar than roses that don't. I wrap the long canes around the post in a spiral, all the same direction, and I tie them in place with jute twine.

The best of the roses on my Arcade, as far as their pillar performance goes, are Compassion, White Cap, Pink Pillar, Pink Perpetue, Parade, Rhode Island Red, Henry Kelsey, and Sombruiel. Isabella Skinner is there, but she isn't really suited for a pillar (because she's shrubby and doesn't want to climb.) I plan to replace her as soon as I decide which rose to put in her place. Swan Lake has beautiful flowers, but she is SO prone to blackspot and she is completely naked during most of the growing season.

Below is a link to a blog post with photos of a couple of my pillar roses ... It was from last year, but at least you can see what I'm talking about.

Connie

P.S. Search online for Paul Zimmerman's videos. He has a really good one with step by step instructions on how to pillar a rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pillar rose photos

Thanks for the link and info Connie. And I am in lust for your green house! I was just showing Mom where I want our tiny green house to go. Salvage windows that match the house too.

Thanks everyone for the info. I am glad to know that it is something I can handle. Guess I'll be getting those posts.
Connie--that greenhouse is exquisite! Your page looks like an excellent source and I subscribed to your newsletter.
Susan

And a video I did a while back.

Here is a link that might be useful: Video. How to pillar a rose.

Thanks! I woke up at 2 am and this was a great break from housecleaning. Your videos are VERY helpful.
Susan

You are more than welcome.
Paul

Thanks for the video link!