Growth of Ivy With Climbing Roses

Question

We have ivy growing up on the side of our house. We recently purchased two varieties of potted climbing roses, hoping to add some color accent to our property.  My question is, if we plant the climbing roses alongside the ivy, will the roses thrive and intertwine with the ivy as a decorative element or will they be overpowered by them and ultimately be choked off?

Answer 1

Unfortunately the Ivy has a very strong tendancy to choke most anything else out. The only way that you may have some success is if you trim the ivy back and keep it separated as much as possible from the locations of the climbing roses. This can be extremely difficult to do though as the ivy will continually try to wind in and around the rose canes, which will choke the canes and their foliage eventually. The best mix with climbing roses I have seen is Clematis as the two seem to get along well together. Hardy climbers such as one named America and one named Awakening might give the ivy a run for its money. I fear they too would eventually lose out though.