Tall Shrub Roses That Can Be Used Both as Bush Roses and Climbing Roses (Part 1)

By Paul Smith, pemdasgarden.com

What if you didn't have to choose?

Climber or shrub. Vertical drama or rounded bush. Most roses make you pick a lane — but a special group of tall shrub roses refuses to be categorized. Prune them hard and they stay as handsome bushes. Give them support and let the canes run, and they'll climb like they were born for it.

Two plants in one. That's not a compromise — that's a superpower.

Here are four tall shrub roses that play both roles beautifully.

Free planning tools: put this guide to work with the When to Prune and Planting Calendar on our Gardening Tools hub.

Why Versatility Wins

Garden plans change. That sunny fence you wanted to cover? Maybe next year you'd rather have a standalone specimen. A rose that can do both means you never have to start over.

Tall shrubs in the 120–200 cm range are the sweet spot: substantial enough to make a statement as a bush, long-caned enough to train upward. The trick is knowing which varieties have the flexible habit — stiff, short growers won't climb no matter how nicely you ask.

These four will.

The Flexible Four

Vineyard Song

Romantic. Cascading. A waterfall of wine and pink.

Vineyard Song (Ralph S. Moore, USA, 1999) is the free spirit of this list. Small 2–3 cm blooms in shades of pink-purple, wine purple, and pink — but they come in enormous clusters that hang like grapes, each cluster lasting 7–10 days. The fragrance is fruit laced with herbs, unusual and lovely.

With a naturally trailing, climbing habit reaching 150–200 cm, she's happiest given something to drape over — a low wall, a railing, the edge of a raised bed. Very good disease resistance and a relentless rebloom every 3–4 weeks, nearly year-round.

This is for you if… you want cottage-garden abundance — the kind of rose that looks like it's been there forever, spilling over everything.

Sophie Rochas

Chic. Perfumed. Paris in flower form.

Sophie Rochas (Delbard, France, 2017) brings French perfumery into the garden — literally. Her fragrance is said to echo Femme by Rochas, the classic perfume: sweet, sophisticated, unforgettable. The blooms are large (8–12 cm) in pink and blush pink, lasting 4–6 days, on a tall bushy plant of 150–180 cm that takes beautifully to training.

Grow her as a stately background shrub, or tie those long stems to an obelisk and let her go vertical. Either way, she reblooms every 4–5 weeks with poise.

This is for you if… fragrance is your love language and you want a rose that smells like it costs a fortune.

Abraham Darby

Warm. Generous. The beloved classic.

David Austin's 1985 masterpiece Abraham Darby hardly needs an introduction — but he deserves one anyway. Apricot-pink to peach-pink blooms, 8–12 cm, with a fruity fragrance brushed with lemon and lemongrass. The color alone is worth the garden space: that glowing apricot that seems lit from within.

At 100–150 cm he's the most compact of the four, which makes him the easiest to manage as a bush — but those flexible canes train beautifully onto a short trellis or pillar. Very good disease resistance, blooms lasting 5–8 days, repeating every 4–5 weeks all season.

This is for you if… you want a proven, no-drama classic that looks expensive and behaves beautifully.

Masora

Vibrant. Sunlit. Pure joy.

Masora (Teizo Yoshiike, Japan, 2009) is the color explosion — orange melting into yellow-orange and red-orange, in large 8–12 cm blooms with a rich fruity scent. At 120–150 cm, she's a tall shrub with real presence, equally happy as a bold background plant or trained upward for vertical color.

Very good disease resistance, 4–6-day blooms, and a fast 3–4-week rebloom cycle mean the garden rarely sits empty. In a border of pinks and whites, Masora is the exclamation point.

This is for you if… your garden needs energy — a shot of sunset color that keeps coming back.

Bush or Climber? How to Decide

The beautiful part: you don't have to decide forever.

For the bush look: prune in late winter, cutting back by about a third and shaping for an open, vase-like form. The plant will respond with sturdy, self-supporting growth.

For the climber look: select the longest, most flexible canes and tie them to your support at a slight angle — not straight up. Angled canes produce flowering side-shoots along their whole length instead of just at the top. Fan them out like a hand, and you'll get blooms from bottom to top.

Either way, give them sun, good air circulation, and steady feeding — our complete rose care guide covers the seasonal rhythm, and these fertilizing mistakes are worth knowing before you feed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can any tall rose be trained as a climber?
Not really — true climbers and flexible tall shrubs have long, pliable canes. Stiff, upright varieties will just look awkward tied to a trellis. Stick with varieties known for the dual habit, like these four.

How do I switch a bush to a climber (or vice versa)?
It's just pruning. Let canes grow long and tie them up for climbing; cut back hard for a bush form. The plant doesn't care — it adapts within a season.

Do I need a special support?
Anything sturdy: trellis, arch, obelisk, fence, even a large tripod of bamboo. Just make sure it's strong — a mature rose in full bloom is heavier than it looks.

Which of these is best for a small garden?
Abraham Darby, at 100–150 cm, gives you the most flexibility in tight spaces. Vineyard Song's trailing habit also works beautifully spilling from a large container.

Will training affect blooming?
It improves it — horizontal or angled canes break apical dominance and push flowering shoots along their length, so you get more blooms, not fewer.

Training and pruning schedules shift with your USDA zone — in colder zones, do major structural pruning in late winter; in mild climates, you have a wider window. Adjust by a few weeks for your climate.

Wrapping Things up!

The best garden plants are the ones that grow with your plans instead of against them.

These four tall shrubs are that rare thing: a decision you can't get wrong. Bush today, climber tomorrow — either way, you get weeks of blooms, real fragrance, and a plant that earns its place twice over.

Browse the rose seed collection to start your own, and for more shape-shifting beauties, explore our Growing Guides.

And as always, if you ever need help choosing, planning, or growing… we're here!