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climbing icebergs and a 1.6m

18 years ago

Does anyone grow climbing icebergs - what have you trained them on? How much training do they need? I'm hoping someone will say they are fairly forgiving in spite of a lack of knowledge. I didn't know iceberg supremes were climbers and know I'm stuck with working it out. They look rather untidy left to their own devices. I'm thinking rows of wire hooked up to the fence perhaps? But I've no idea what to do. Help!

My other problem is that I've discovered Joy of Life grows to 1.6m ...if you have a largish rose like this can you just prune it down without making it too unhappy (at any time of the year)?

Happily, in spite of my rose mishaps Cathedral City has bloomed and they are lovely flowers with a rosy smell. While I love the armloads of icebergs there's something very special about those deep and frilly flowers. My DA went dormant on planting to the point of looking dead and leafless but has started to leaf out. I can't wait to see the William Shakespeare bloom. Now who would have thought I'd like fussy looking flowers?

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Comments (3)

frannyfrip
18 years ago
My daughter found clg Iceberg to be a slow starter - after 2 years it started to take off. She grows it on the standard curved arch you buy in Kmart. Placed it by a gate with a star jasmine on the other side. I think she got sick of seeing the bare arch and planted the jasmine to cover it! Now she may have to pull one out poor girl.

If you planted a climber without knowing it was one you may have to transplant where you can train it up something. Others more expert than I will know how you do that without damaging the plant. If you want to leave it there perhaps you could put a trellis up behind it - have a look in Bunnings for ideas or ask someone there. Or go for help to a handyman neighbour or rellie.

Tall roses are a problem in the garden aren't they, especially if they are thorny or have thick canes. I would love more info on how to train the blighters too after having had to hack at a few in my parent's garden. Mr Lincoln is one of the few HT's I love but I am put off growing it because of its growth habit. Perhaps someone could introduce a new thread on managing tall roses.

Have noticed that DA's don't put on a lot of new growth too. You don't see many watershoots on them - at least the ones I have grown but they are easy to strike from cuttings so you could try for more than one of those lovely W S's .
Sparaxis
18 years ago
There was a climbing iceberg here when we moved here. It was growing over a cheap K-mart type arch. I was rather fond of it and would have kept it (transplanted) but it's roots were mostly growing under the hot water service, and couldn't be got out intact.
My understanding is (and in my limited experienceI have found) that most roses transplant very easily and are very forgiving.
David Austins in my experience, don't put on a lot of growth in their first year, with some exceptions. If they are only pruned lightly in the first year, they will grow better the second year. Ny soil here must be very rich, because once the DA's put down good strong root growth, they seem to grow very strongly and put up lots of new growth.
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Originally, there were variants of Cl. Iceberg which only flowered on old wood. Reports from forty years ago when it was initially discovered stated it was. Over time, most of those in commerce here in the US have been replaced by the repeat flowering variant. Being a mutation, it can occur in as widely varying types as the standard bush and the variants of Mlle. Cecile Brunner can. If you have a once flowering Cl. Iceberg, you should be able to obtain a freely repeating one fairly easily. Shopping nurseries here in late summer and into fall, you can find many continuing to flower as reliably as any bush HT or floribunda. Kim
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Not much use without a trellis or arch, rros. If she hasn't got one might be and idea to build one, otherwise, well, the rose won't have snything to support it's rapidly growing upright stems and lovely white flowers. Once that's established, cutback and train shoots with the view to covering the frame. regards Bill
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Hi Bonnie, yes, you can. When you're out and about, notice the overly vigorous, large, stiffer growing, quite thorny Iceberg plants you'll see. Those are actually more toward the climbing end of the mutation as opposed to the more limber, arching, shorter (in relation) growing ones with many fewer prickles. Climbing Iceberg is studded with large, sharp prickles, much more so than the non climbing version. Wander through your neighborhood and even other mass plantings of Iceberg where you find large, thorny plants of it. Those are actually climbing and are being used as large shrubs by keeping them pruned.
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for those that have it, How has it done for you and how tall does it want to get?
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jeni27
18 years ago
i planted a climbing iceberb when we moved into our villa about 2 years ago. I trained it on the back fence of the courtyard on a fan shaped frame from bunnings. It is now well over the top of the fence and seldom without a bloom in a far from ideal position.

Here is a link that might be useful: our loop garden

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