GARDEN: Alchymist Climbing Rose will Cast a Spell in Your Cottage Garden

This large flowered climbing rose was developed in Germany in 1956 by Kordes rose breeders, and is hardy to zone 4. Ours is an own-root stock plant from High Country Roses, and has been a vigorous grower with attractive deep green foliage and aggressive thorns. It is large and fast growing, and matures with 10-15 foot canes and a 7-8 foot spread that need a sturdy trellis to contain them.

We made a sturdy wire pillar from concrete reinforcing mesh wire to support the canes initially and give them structure, anchored to a sturdy 6 foot tall fence with 8 foot posts and a 2×4 trellis above to tie back the upper canes. 

True to its alchemist namesake, this rose will transform a boring board fence into a bewitching portal in your landscape that is also a powerful barrier. It would have given Sleeping Beauty’s suitors a formidable challenge- it’s a great choice where you need a sturdy living fence that takes no prisoners while still displaying storybook charm and romance. 

It’s an early summer single bloomer, but given a good show after only one year in our garden, and a dramatic one after several, it’s definitely worth the space. In our zone 6a, it was absolutely covered in buds in late May, which open into intensely fragrant, old-style quartered full double blooms in early June.

The buds and petals dry acceptably, with a pale pink/apricot/dusty rose hue when dried, and keep their scent well, so is useful for making potpourri, herbal tea blends, and infusions for culinary and cosmetic use. I’ve used it for brewing a rhodamel (a lightly rose scented mead) as well as making rose sugar and including the petals in salads and tarts. 

If you have room for this mammoth rose to shine, and the patience to wait for her yearly show, you will absolutely not regret adding an Alchymist to your landscape.