FOR good value in a climbing rose it would be hard to beat Aloha. The name put me off a bit at first, suggesting something strangely exotic from the Pacific Ocean - but this minor prejudice was soon overcome. It is an American rose raised in 1949 and one of the parents was New Dawn.
Aloha has quality and is usually classed as a climbing floribunda. Floribundas flower for a long time - mid-summer to autumn - so this rose will be a source of pleasure for months rather than weeks.
The nicest part is that it has much of the quality of an old rose. The blooms are big and full and there is a coppery hint to the buds and to the centre of the rose-pink flowers when fully open. It is an easy colouring which will enhance many schemes.
Then there is the scent: generally we do not expect modern roses to score very highly in this regard but Aloha comes with a real old-fashioned tea fragrance quite a bonus making this a very desirable plant which will climb to eight or 10 feet.
It is not enormous and while it will be shown off best trained on a wall, it is a rose which can do very well on a pillar.
Most climbers perform poorly when trained upwards only, as on a pillar. They prefer to be grown in a fan shape so that copious side-shoots can be encouraged from the horizontal or near horizontal stems. "Aloha" is not demanding in this regard and will suit either situation.
Another climber widely available and deserving of attention is Bantry Bay. This was raised by Sam McGredy in the 1960s and as so many feel nostalgia for the things of that era, whether they were around then or not Bantry Bay may appeal. Again, it is in the floribunda class, flowering recurrently summer through autumn. Unlike Aloha, the flowers are loose and semi-double and the colouring is a clear pink. The scent is of apples and the rose will reach 10 feet.
Also from McGredy is Galway Bay with large double flowers of salmon pink. There is only slight scent but the plant is generally vigorous and has nice glossy healthy foliage. Eventual height will be about 10 or 12 feet.
McGredy was fond of the Irish coast and named another climber after Dublin Bay. This was introduced in the 1970s and was bred from Bantry Bay. It has much of the habit of its parent but the colour is a rich velvety red and the flowers are larger than on Bantry Bay. Equally happy on a wall or on a pillar, it will flower almost continually from June to October.
The foliage is glossy and healthy but sadly there is a little scent beyond a distant whiff of apples.
For a yellow-flowered climber I would choose the American Golden Showers, which has been around for 40 years. The flowers are loose and quite large in a clear golden yellow which fades as the flowers age. Again, it makes a good wall plant to about 10 feet in height and will flower from June to October. Happily, it is scented and can be also grown as a large loose shrub or trained on a pillar.
A much older yellow rose of which I am immensely fond is Celine Forestier. This will not be as readily available as the others mentioned above and I went in search of it on the strength of the description alone. It sounded so tantalisingly delightful that I had to have it sight unseen. It likes a wand wall and in this situation will flower all summer. The foliage is not especially beautiful, nor are the prickly stems, but the flowers are a joy. The buds show pink on the reverse of the petals as they swell and open but then the flower unfolds to a perfect flat old rose shape, quartered and with a button eye. The colour is a pale creamy yellow and the petals have quite rightly been likened to silk. This treasure was introduced in France in 1842 and has a delicious tea scent. It is slow to build up but is well worth some effort and patience and the nicest spot that you can give it.