(Also called the Katrina rose for surviving Hurricane Katrina)
Rosa 'Red Cascade' from Plants of the Southwest in summer 2018
Rosa 'Red Cascade' from Plants of the Southwest in summer 2018
Expectations:
'Peggy Martin' is promoted as "semi-thornless", but mine has lots of thorns. It is a multiflora rose, which means it is rampant, like the white flowered roses I battled in CT.
'Red Cascade' is supposed to do well with some shade. It will grow in poor soils. It will drape and cascade but is not a natural climber. Some say it gets only 9 feet tall, others say much bigger, to 15 feet. It has a lot of small thorns, and an explosion of tiny bright red flowers.
* Both roses bloom on old growth, prune minimally after flowering.
For reference, here are some photos of mature 'Peggy Martin' and 'Red Cascade' roses in full form.
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| This is what 'Peggy Martin' looked like growing on the arbor at Stanwood's in CT |
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| 'Red Cascade' loaded with miniature red flowers |
Experiences:
I'm really pleased with how these two climbing roses have grown.
Red Cascade is dense and flowery and the clear red pops in that corner by the kitchen door. It blooms densely in early summer and then produces more, not as prolifically, in September.
I'm really pleased with how these two climbing roses have grown.
Peggy Martin's multiflora canes are really, really long and I clip them to the fence horizontally. In June 2021 a new healthy looking stem rose up from the middle to fill out more of the empty bottom of this unruly rose. By 2023 the center had formed an arch on its own, framing a clematis I moved under it.
The pink flowers are a little shaggy, and bloom only briefly, then brown out. They actually look best from inside the guest room window. With the orange walls and in afternoon sun, the pink roses are eye catching.
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| 2023 |
In 2023 it had started to reach over to the fence top with a little help tying it to the posts.
I originally wanted to tie the canes up toward the door canopy roof and see if I can get Red Cascade to arch over it. But I'm not sure I could do that successfully.
Here's an article about growing Red Cascade -- it does say it's a scrambler not a climber, so if I want it to climb I'll have to aggressively tie it up while young to encourage upright climbing.
I think I have a solution for a structure to train the red rose on - Amazon has metal half arbors for a couple hundred dollars and the sizes offered seem to be what's needed here:
But I don't know. I think it will scramble better over the fence, and I like the idea of it mingling all tangled up with the Kintzley's Ghost honeysuckle.
Adding the metal arbor and trying to get it to climb seems too fussy.