The common sight of roses growing high on walls and arches leads many to believe they are a type of vine, but this is a botanical misunderstanding. Roses lack the specialized structures that define a true climbing plant. They achieve vertical growth through scrambling, which requires human assistance to maintain a vertical posture. Understanding this difference is important for successfully growing these spectacular flowering plants.
The Botanical Distinction Between Vines and Climbing Roses
The term “vine” is often used loosely for any plant that grows upward on a support structure. Botanically, a true vine, or liana, is defined by its ability to self-support using specialized climbing organs. Plants such as grapes, ivy, and clematis employ mechanisms like adhesive pads, aerial roots, or prehensile tendrils that actively wrap around a support. This allows them to climb autonomously, investing less energy into developing a thick, self-supporting trunk.
Roses, belonging to the genus Rosa, are technically classified as woody perennial shrubs. They do not possess any of the specialized organs that enable a plant to climb on its own. Instead of tendrils or twining stems, roses produce long, rigid or flexible stems known as canes. These canes naturally grow outward or sprawl, which places roses in the horticultural category of “scramblers” or “leaning plants.”
How Climbing Roses Gain Vertical Support
The upward trajectory of a climbing rose is achieved by physically leaning and holding on, not by active climbing. The long, arching canes are equipped with sharp outgrowths commonly called thorns, which are botanically known as prickles. These prickles are modifications of the plant’s outer layer and are not structurally connected to the wood inside the cane.
These curved, hook-like prickles function as anchors, allowing the rose to catch and grip onto rough surfaces or trellises. While effective for holding the plant in place once positioned, this mechanism does not provide the active, autonomous support needed to pull itself upward. Without intervention, a climbing rose would simply sprawl horizontally or form a massive mound on the ground.
The vertical presentation of a climbing rose is heavily dependent on human training and tying. Gardeners must manually secure the canes to a support system like a trellis or pergola using flexible ties. By guiding the canes horizontally or diagonally, the gardener encourages the rose to produce more lateral flower-bearing shoots, maximizing its visual display. This process is necessary because the rose cannot wrap, stick, or twine its way up a structure on its own.
Understanding Climber and Rambler Categories
When selecting roses for vertical growth, gardeners encounter two main horticultural categories: Climbers and Ramblers. These terms differentiate roses based on their growth habit, cane flexibility, and blooming patterns, which dictates how they should be managed.
Climbers
Climbing roses are typically the result of genetic mutations or hybrids of modern roses, exhibiting a generally less vigorous growth habit. Their canes are relatively stiff and can be easily trained to follow a specific line on a support structure. Climbers are often repeat-bloomers, meaning they flower in flushes throughout the growing season. Their flowers are usually larger and more refined, similar to the blooms found on hybrid tea roses. Climbers require regular pruning and deadheading to encourage continuous flower production.
Ramblers
Rambler roses are more closely related to wild or species roses and possess a far more vigorous, sprawling growth habit. Their canes are long, whippy, and highly flexible, allowing them to scramble over large areas, even into trees, with incredible speed. Most ramblers are once-blooming, producing a single, spectacular flush of smaller flowers in dense clusters, usually in late spring or early summer. Since ramblers bloom on old wood, they are pruned differently than climbers, often only needing to be cut back immediately after their flowering period. Their immense size and vigor make them suitable for covering sheds, large arches, or extensive fences.