A climbing rose is only as beautiful as the support upon which it climbs.
In my humble opinion anyway.
And this remarkable wrought iron trellis at a home down the street doesn't disappoint. My friend Sunshine and her husband Mr. S have exquisite taste,
covering and breaking up an otherwise less-than-spectacular feature, the side of their garage.
It was designed as a grid of 26" squares with a central circle and diagonal lines radiating from the circle to all four corners. This design referenced architectural features of the house and is extremely handsome....with or without the roses...rendering it a marvelous feature in the winter (when canes are devoid of foliage and flowers) as well.
In total, the trellis measures an impressive 156" wide by about 76" tall...the scale of the trellis determined by the amount of space we wanted to cover on the wall.
They selected the rose to enhance and coordinate with their blonde brick home...a color that also pairs magnificently with the color of the pool....not coincidentally the same color of the Oklahoma summer sky...
an intense blue that can break your heart and ALMOST make up for the heat of our torrid summers.
Sadly, we have both forgotten the name of this apricot rose, a vigorous, tough variety that performs in a stellar fashion. It took four of them to cover the expanse...
four roses that the owners keep fastidiously pruned, both for beauty and health of the canes. (Again, a topic for another post!)
For a huge selection of brilliant and beautiful climbing roses, look no further than DAVID AUSTEN ROSES (here). I am especially fond of EDEN (pink) , GRAHAM THOMAS (yellow), and CONSTANCE SPRY (pink)...all of which I grow in my own garden.
If this post has not sated your rose appetite, do visit the rose post on the blog PATINA FARM, an absolutely swoon worthy blog that will both inspire and depress you...in the best way :)