Altissimo Rose

rose

Climbing Red Roses

Altissimo rose, is an excellent climber and one of the best climbing roses that are red. Planting and training climbing roses on walls and fences or train up a pillar or on a pergola or arbor, is the most dramatic way to show off and display roses in a garden.

Climbing roses also take up very little ground space, so they are actually ideal for smaller gardens. Of course if your garden is small, it's best to choose a climbing rose variety that is smaller and more managable. Altissimo is actually very nice for a smaller garden as it is the right size and easy to keep in bounds and train on a trellises and and a small arbor.

altissimo rose

The picture of climbing rose Altissimo above, shows it being trained to grow on a wall. The picture was taken early in the season, so the flowering has just begun here. But this rose will turn this wall into one red rose riot of a show.

The flowers are large, up to 5 inches across, and they are shaped like saucers and lightly scented. The flower color is a rich and bright deep scarlet, becoming crimson. They repeat flower throughout summer and fall against a backdrop of large dark green leaves. Be sure to train it horizontally or it will tend to flower high.

It's a vigorous climber with stiff branching stems. The flowers appear most often in clusters, but not always.

Altissimo, Italian for "in the highest" is an appropriate name for this climber. Growing zones are 5-9, size 8-10 feet with support.

altissimo rose

I thought I add this great picture of 'Altissimo', to show other ways to use this rose in the landscape. Here it is simply used as a large shrub, even though it's classified as climbing rose. The fence in front gives it support along with the carefully clipped boxwoods. I think this is an beautiful front yard garden border.

Training Climbing Roses

More important than pruning climbing roses, which shouldn't be done for the first two years anyway, Climbers, such as Altissimo rose, and Ramblers must be properly trained.

On walls and fences, when the new growth is green and easily bendable (be careful), it can be bent and tied in. The main shoots should be trained as horizontally as possible. Where space is limited, between two windows, for example, the shoots should be criss-crossed to cover the available area.

Only use flexible ties made especially for climbing roses. Galvanized wires retained by 'vine eyes' (at garden centers) are the best for walls and flat surfaces.

Go to Top 10 Climbing Roses

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