Sometime you may need a tall screen in the garden to add to add to the pleasure of the outdoor experience. There are many reasons for building a screen: they can keep people from watching you, block out undesirable objects or views, absorb street noises, and create shade. Roses grown on a trellis can make a beautiful screen that provides color and fragrance to the garden as well as give a sense of enclosure.
Here are five roses that are suitable for use as a living screen growing on a trellis. They are all climbing roses with a high American Rose Society Rating and available in nurseries or from on-line sources.
‘Altissimo’
This blood red climber is one of the most popular worldwide and is especially good in cool climates where it will produce the largest flowers with the deepest color. Each flower consists of seven petals around a mass of dark stamens, and is borne on long stems singly or in small clusters. They are cup shaped and give way to large orange hips. They also make good cut flowers. The bushes are vigorous and bear dark green leaves.
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Height/Length: 10’
Flower Size: 4”
Flowering: Repeats well
Fragrance: Little or none
Hardiness: Zone 6
ARS Rating: 8.5
‘America’
The coral-pink flowers have the form of a hybrid tea at first and are born in small clusters of 4 to 5. The bushes are moderately vigorous and bear healthy, semi-glossy, medium green leathery leaves.
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Height/Length: 10’
Flower Size: 4”
Flowering: Repeats
Fragrance: Strong and sweet; spicy, carnation-like
Hardiness: Zone 6
ARS Rating: 8.2
‘City of York’/’Direktor Benschop’
Buff colored buds open to semi-double creamy white flowers with conspicuous stamens and are borne in clusters of 7-15. The flowers are small but are produced in abundance and make an awe-inspiring sight when the bush is in full bloom. The leaves are dark green, gloosy, and leathery; the bush is vigorous and fairly prickly.
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Height/Length: 17′
Flower Size: 2”
Flowering: Blooms one in spring
Fragrance: Light and musky
Hardiness: Zone 5
ARS Rating: 8.5
‘Don Juan’
The flowers are dark red and have the hybrid tea form. They are produced profusely and last well on the bush as well as in the vase. They are borne on long stems either singly or in small clusters and are followed by orange hips. The bush is vigorous, prickly, and has dark green foliage that may suffer from blackspot.
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Height/Length: 13’
Flower Size: 4”
Flowering: Repeats
Fragrance: Strong, heavy, and sweet
Hardiness: Zone 6
ARS Rating: 8.2
‘New Dawn’
The pale pink flowers boast 35-40 petals and a pleasing shape. The bush is vigorous, disease resistant, and bears glossy, dark green leaves. ‘New Dawn’ is easy to grow, needs little care, and is an Earthkind Rose. It was the first rose to be patented.
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Height/Length: 12-20’
Flower Size: 3”
Flowering: Continuous
Fragrance: Medium and sweet
Hardiness: Zone 5
ARS Rating: 8.5
A trellis covered with roses can add enormously to the beauty of a garden as well as provide privacy. If you choose a fragrant rose be sure to put a bench near the rose so you can enjoy its perfume on a warm summer evening. Choose a color to harmonize with the other plants in the garden and you will have an extraordinary experience.
