‘American Pillar’ Hybrid Wichurana/Rambler Rose

The honor of the last post for January’s Celebration of Roses goes to this distinguished beauty, ‘American Pillar’, a Hybrid Wichurana/Rambler which has graced many a garden for generations.

Like ‘Madame Hardy’, ‘American Pillar’ was a cultivar that sparked more than just a casual interest in roses for me so many years ago. If you ever see one in person, scrambling up a tree and festooned with vibrant pink blossoms, you might just fall in love with her, too.

In fact, I knew that when I finally got my paws on one of these, that would be just what I’d do: plant her so she could climb and at heights reaching upwards of 25′, it would have to be a sizable tree. It took a season or two for our ‘American Pillar’ to get established but in just one summer, she threw two long canes climbing straight to the canopy of a mature Crabapple. We’re guessing each cane was about 20′ in length. That’s a lot of growth for one short season! You can get a general idea of this from the two photos above, but manalive it was so much more awesome looking when you’re standing right there looking at it. Roses in trees! So cool.

I’ve read that ‘American Pillar’ can get mildewy, but honestly I didn’t see too much of a problem. Maybe someone has a different experience with this? No fragrance to speak of, but those bright pink petals with striking white centers more than made up for that. Plus, the blossoms turned into hips which have retained well into winter. This is one I’m sad to be leaving behind and I hope future tenants appreciate it and don’t try to cut it down (you never know how people will react to things like this.) I do have a rooted cutting to take with me to future home, though, and I plan on doing this again since it worked out so well!

So that’s a wrap for this month’s rose celebration and I hope you enjoyed it and that it brightened this bleak month a bit for you. This is a blog mainly about roses, so you know there will always be more to come, but I have a bunch of new annuals to talk about–including Dahlia heaven–so there is fun stuff ahead for February!