Rose question

[flyin-lowe]

My grandmother (named Rose) passed away at the age of 97 recently. Over the winter I thought about some type of tribute and thought about some type of roses. I know zero about them. I have a spot up against my house in the front and thought about some type of trellis with some type of climbing rose (assuming there is such a thing). I live in Indiana and the place I would put them is on the east side of my house so would get sun from sun up until after noon when it gets over the roof. Also this spot currently has river rock down and is not mulch. Would love to hear some input as far as how hard they are to grow, if there are a type that do climb etc. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

[MorpheusPA]

I am sorry to hear that! It's a good idea.

Roses can be a bit touchy; the most simple ones are the Knockout variety (which do not climb and are of the bush variety). They're practically indestructible.

I don't know much about climbing roses myself, so did a bit of spot research. Most agree that "Lady of Shallott" is one of the easiest. It's an interesting apricot color, not really something I'd particularly care for, being more partial to the colors of the "Don Juan."

https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-a ... 08'%20tall.

[flyin-lowe]

Might look into the knockouts. With my busy schedule a little more hands off is better for me.

[MorpheusPA]

If it's a sales point, I have two Knockouts; red and yellow. They're coming up on 20, or about the maximum age, but I still don't see signs of senescence. I don't do much to them except cane out the dead stuff and occasionally cut them back in spring.

And feed, of course. You gotta feed a rose in spring. These reliably blossom like little troopers in May to June (more recently, May), then rebloom July through November. Most years, I do actually have rose blossoms on November first.

[flyin-lowe]

Do they continue to grow (the footprint) every year or does the overall bush stay a certain size after all those years?

[MorpheusPA]

The footprint's remained approximately the same on one, grown slightly on the other. I just moved the one that stayed the same because it was staying the same due to heavy competition from a Thuja. I'm hoping it does a lot better this year.

[flyin-lowe]

Thats good to know, I didn't want to get into this and 2 years from now have something taking over my entire front porch area.

[ruth_mi]

The Explorer series of roses include climbers and are very hardy. I've William Baffin and John Davis for years. William Baffin would eat your house given the chance, but John Davis has been very well behaved for me.