I'm not a huge fan of singles, but I saw Altissimo in a private, no-spray garden and the petals glowed in the sun. I also saw this rose at the Huntington Gardens and it was stunning next to its companion plant.
Some would say 'Altissimo' has as much personality as shredded lettuce. But no one would dream of saying such a thing about its distinguished advocates.
Actually, I'm a bit miffed that it wins most of the time. I put roses in the Rose Socy shows as a means of showing old roses to the public, where there's enough space for them to be labelled properly (unlike the table given to non-competing heritage roses in the entrance hall), and I'd rather the winner of the Singles class wasn't Altissimo followed by Sally Holmes - both relatively modern.
Very stiff and upright on my trellis. You need to keep on top of things to keep it in bounds. Would recommend you sprawl it out laterally along a tall fence than trying to bend the stiff canes on a narrower trellis. Awesome in bloom. Very disease resistant.
Agreed, but that stifness is also beneficial is you grow it as a free standing shrub. I grew an own root plant of Altissimo that way for nearly eighteen years. It stood upright perfectly all by itself. It made a very attractive "pillar" of dark green leaves, brilliant red blooms and bright orange hips.
How tall and wide did it get? Or did you keep the size in check? The canes that are not yet attached to my trellis shot up to over eight feet from the base without any support.
Mine was own root and in full, all day sun so it didn't have the extra vigor of a root stock, nor did it have to climb for light. It remained about six feet at its highest with many other shoots shorter. It was more than satisfactory grown that way.
We saw this climber reaching the top of the Barn in Petaluma, CA at CottageGardensOfPet.com; it was truly magnificent in its stunning red color & height (18 ft), that could be seen from quite a distance at the Nursery!
