Forgive me if there's already been a thread discussing this.

I was curious if anyone plants climbers (either on arbors or other structures) of different colors and let's them "merge" so to speak.
When I got heavily into roses I just randomly planted ones I liked...based on photo's. This was in pre-internet days.
After much trial and error, as well as planting ones that either got too big or stayed too small for what I had them growing on, I planted different ones in the same area to fill in gaps and to make up for ones that weren't real heavy bloomers.
"Some" of my combinations worked very well and some were complete disasters, color-wise.

Anyone care to share what they've paired and whether or not you like what you did ?

I don't really do this on purpose. It just happens because I have so many roses packed into my garden. I think the most successful pairing has been Scorcher and Colette. Scorcher's in heavy bloom during periods when Colette is resting. You can see them "merging" in this photo.



The great big thing behind them is a climbing Cecile Brunner. It isn't as close to them as it looks in the photo. so it's not part of the "merge."

Great ! That's exactly what I'm talking about.

I "used to have" a purple ivy geranium merging with a Cl. Colette rose and they looked really nice together...as does your photo.
This was a classic example of my NOT knowing that Colette only grows to about 10' max. in height...hence the geranium.
The geranium froze about 4 years ago so I replaced it with a Cl. Sky's the Limit (yellow) rose. The 2 look "ok" together...but nothing noteworthy. Besides, they both rarely bloom at the same time anyway.

On another arbor I have a Cl. White Iceberg which I planted oppositely with an orange ivy geranium.
The 2 merged very nicely until this summer when the geranium completely FRIED in the heat we had for months on end.

In both cases the geraniums were only there until the roses filled in.

Holy Moly !!! I forgot how HUGE that Cl. Cecile Brunner of yours is !

Cecile Brunner's amazing! It roots so well. That one started out as a piece of pruning debris. The one in this picture also started as a stick in the ground, and now it camouflages the neighbor's ugly oak tree.

That really IS amazing...and beautiful to boot !
I'm thinking of getting a NON-climbing CB rose. Are they as floriferous as the climber ???

I can't find a picture but I loved the combination of New Dawn and Red Fountain - until the former swallowed up the latter.

New Dawn is voracious and has to be watched.

She is getting her comeuppance -Mermaid is taking over.

There's always a hungrier one. Dorothy Perkins probably could overwhelm Mermaid.

Tag Team Rose Wrestling...coming soon to a garden arena near you !
Tickets on sale now. Limited engagements.

WATCH in awe as stalwart rose mavens battle it out for dominance and superiority.
SEE the vicious thorns rip ruthlessly through flimsy arbors and gazebos.
HEAR the canes snap and splinter.
FEEL the ground shake as root stocks are ripped from their foundations.

Starting lineup:

New Dawn vs. Dorothy Perkins (YES ! She's still alive and kickin' )
The Mermaid vs. The Red Fountain
Climbing BLAZE takes on The Talisman

Brought to you by none other than the reigning behemoth Cecile Brunner herself.
Referee'd by David Austin.
Roller Derby aint got nothin' on this band of horticultural hussies.

www.rosesmackdown.com

Funny how climate, soil or culture can affect plant's vigor..I've grown 'New Dawn' at two houses, and both times it's been well-behaved. However, 'Mermaid' scared the heck out of me with it's vigor. I replaced it with 'Happenstance', which was also armed and dangerous.

At my last house, I had New Dawn paired with Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violet' and really liked the combination. I've got it paired with 'Jackmanii' now, and preferred the former combination. One of my favorite combinations that I saw in another garden was 'Altissimo' with grape. The lime green foliage with the red roses was spectacular. I find grapes to be far to vigorous to pair well with roses.. I have one that I'm constantly fighting with.
I've never co-mingled roses I suppose, because I like things somewhat tidy and not out of control. I wish I had some pictures from when I worked in Barbara Worl's garden. She had a beautiful zig-zag arbor in front with lots of rose blending going on.

Out of control is the norm here.

Oh Mike that's too funny.
New Dawn and Cecile Brunner have heard some salty language around here. Both were mysteriously pruned by 12' tall deer one weekend while I was away. Innocent Zephirine was forcibly moved from her choice location by the front door as a result of the wicked ways of New Dawn and Cecile over on the arbor.
One combination I made deliberately was a white Tranquility next to a Burgundy Iceberg, Night Owl, and Twilight Zone. TZ died, Night Owl is a weird color, and Burgundy Iceberg is growing sideways instead of up. Tranquility is taking forever to get established, and is barely hanging on with one good cane. I would like to move Ebb Tide into the spot TZ had. Dublin Bay and Red Eden are near these and I think if Tranquility doesn't make it through the winter, I'll switch to a red/purple combination. I have white, red and purple clematis in that area too. Dublin Bay is a thorny stubborn monster that doesn't want to cooperate in growing over the arbor, so it may get moved. It blooms constantly so I'll find a suitable, safe place for it to spread out. It is the purest, most beautiful red, so I think it needs a clean deep purple rose with it. I just hate moving the clematis that is planted with it, though.

I love Dublin Bay. It's one I've always meant to get. I had Altissimo at my last house espaliered on a fence, which it is probably better suited to than an arbor. I remember thick, spiny canes. I had Altissimo before I'd seen a friend's Dublin Bay. I just need to find a vacant piece of fence, or wall....Sigh.

Cindi, does Dublin Bay bloom on new wood? Sounds like one I should consider... Love the red purple combos you've got going, that sounds gorgeous!

Mike, the "Tag team rose wrestling" was hysterical!

Thanks, Neal !

The only Mermaid I've seen in real life was at ARE in Brenham TX. It was being grown as a tree, with a four or five inch diameter trunk. It must have been 20 ft high and nearly 20 ft across. No supports. I can only hope my several apple trees approach that size. Lovely dark, glossy foliage. Like a magnolia. As much as I admired it, I think I'd rather have a magnolia.

I'm trying to grow clematis among my roses right now. I cannot yet claim any victories. Clematis Josephine is in the vicinity of rose Chevy Chase and grew about half as high last year. Not quite the effect I was going for... Still, if it works, there will be a touch of irony to it, as roses are expected to be the 'big' flowers.

I've been contemplating moving a very young Hurdy Gurdy near a very young Don Juan so they grow together. And maybe create a touch of confusion.

In the spot were I've tried Dublin Bay, every plant is nibbled to the ground instantly except lavender. Even iris and euphorbia disappear quickly. Plants in pots survive. And, occasionally, those more than waist high when planted. Perhaps we shall try again. Yellow Lady Banks has survived almost a whole season, and will probably win the space for itself in a few more seasons. Then I will have to interplant it with some other climber for flowers later in the season. Suggestions welcome...

Steve812. Do you have deer in AZ? The only critter that could chew rose bushes to the ground, unless you have groundhogs or "whistlers"? Cl. "Dublin Bay" is a sensational rose up north here. For best results, if you ever get it to the long cane point, try and spread the canes out horizontally, then every nub will flower. If up against a house or shed, just build a frame to support the canes. I personally intertwine Clematis with as many climbing roses as I can.

I have deer. I have rabbits, but they are not very interested in rose canes, I think. They do seek and destroy new rose foliage that is within a foot of the ground. I have pocket gophers which mostly chew on rose roots, but they might also eat certain rose canes. I have coati which definitely eat the tips of apple trees, and so may eat rose canes. Not sure whether their cousins, the raccoons, are interested in rose foliage. And I have some other unidentified animal, perhaps squirrels, ground squirrels, or desert rats that eat rose canes less than 18 inches tall down to the ground. I have javelina which, I think, are responsible for eating a 2 ft tall rugosa rose to the ground and many other roses as well. Sometimes a rose will grow fast enough to escape damage. A few rare roses are not found to be delicious by any local fauna: Pink Pet, Mme Alfred Carriere, and Desiree Parmentier.

I will plant Dublin Bay, again. Last year's Don Juan was nibblied to the ground. The one planted in the ground was eaten by one animal and the one in the pot by deer. It will be an annual project well into the future. Red Eden has been a rather monumental disappointment, though it is the only red flowered climber that has not been nibbled to the ground here. Altissimo in three years, I think, got knee high. Florentina is on the long list. It just seems silly to grow roses and have no tall red ones. Chevy Chase is the closest I have to that right now.