Tropical Lightning Rose (Rosa ‘ORAlodsem’)

Dreaming of Hawaii, but living somewhere like Tulsa, Dallas, Marietta or Modesto? Maybe you crave bright, happy colors all day long. Perhaps you don’t take life too seriously? Are you an outgoing type who is a social butterfly? Then this is your Climbing Rose!

Earn curb appeal and major garden cred from visitors and everyone walking past your yard will strike up a conversation once they lay eyes on this Rose! Tropical Lightning™ Climbing Rose (Rosa ‘ORAlodsem’) will earn you all this and more! Even the name has a ton of pizzazz, doesn’t it? Even the textured, glossy green foliage looks incredible!

This is an improved Climber that flowers all season long! The fragrant blooms are deliciously large, high-centered and full. Each bloom has between 26 – 40 red-orange, sorbet orange and cream petals that are streaked with wonderful smoky blends and stripes. Your eyes will literally be drawn to this dynamic selection from late spring all the way through fall! Hardy throughout USDA growing zones 6 to 9, there’s little that bothers this modern Climbing Rose bush!

Planting and Application:

A suggestion? Put this stunning plant front and center and let it take center stage. It’s where it belongs, after all. Let it climb over your front steps or on a pergola over your front door! Dress up a dreary garage with a trellis over the top, filled to the brim with these smokey tropical striped blooms and lush foliage! No yard? No problem! Get a large planter with good drainage and train Tropical Ligtning™ up a trellis or arbor to shade your balcony and provide screening and scented bistro breakfasts and coffee nooks on a terrace container garden!

Train it on a sturdy trellis to shade a comfy cushioned couch and bring a small outdoor table. Have yourself a wonderful “stay-cation” with this year’s hottest beach read. We won’t tell if you mix up a batch of fruity Hurricanes. Shade, color, fragrance – you’ll turn any seating area outside into an entire garden room, complete with Rose covered wallpaper! Don’t forget to snip a few blooms to decorate your tablescapes indoors too!

• Incredible Striped Red & Orange & Cream Blooms
• Fragrant Climbing Rose!
• High-Impact Vigorous & Strong Canes
• Lush Foliage & Great Cut Flowers
• Snazzy Exotic Color, Screening, Shade & Vertical Interest

Tips for Care:

Climbing Rose with ample sunshine, and enriched, well-drained soil, and water it well while it’s first becoming established and any time when its soil begins to dry out. Apply an application of spring Rose fertilizer keeps the flowers coming. Mulch to keep the roots cool, moist and insulated, flowering best in consistently average soil moisture. There are few diseases, deer, or other issues on this easy-going Rose!

How to Train Climbing Roses
Pruning should not be done during the first two years, since Climbing Roses need time to build flowering Rose canes.

• Select several canes to become the structural foundation of your beautiful Climbing Rose. The structural canes will grow thick for several years before you replace them.
• Horizontal branches produce the most flowers, so tie the secondary canes at 90 to 45-degree angles. Use stretchy landscape ties or old pantyhose to loop around the cane and your support.
• Prune Roses in early spring to remove any dead or damaged branches. Cut your secondary canes down to 6 – 8 inches above a bud, but keep your structural support canes in place.
• Rejuvenate the structural canes every three years. Because Climbing Roses bloom on last year’s canes, you’ll wait until the first flush of flowers are finished.
• Trim the thick old structural canes out at ground level at that time. Then, select a new set of canes to become your structural support.

Read all you need about pruning Roses, winterizing, and un-wintering Roses in the spring

• Full Sun Lover
• Moist Enriched Well-Drained Soil
• Regular Fertility & Moderate Moisture Needs
• Prune Early Spring
• Appreciates Regular Fertilizer & Mulched Beds
• Easy Care & Low Maintenance – No Issues or Diseases!

Whether you are an extrovert or introvert, you might wind up sharing a conversation with that curious passersby, meeting a new friend, or having the neighbors drop by more often because the Tropical Lightning™ Climbing Rose can’t help but attract attention!