Rose Parade

‘Parade’ is a vigorous, repeat-flowering Climbing rose whose saturated carmine-pink flowers possess both the colour impact of a mid-century Floribunda and the generous, cupped fullness associated with romantic garden roses. Large blooms are carried singly or, more characteristically, in heavy clusters that bend their stems and display the flowers at an inviting, slightly nodding angle. Glossy, dark green foliage gives the plant an attractive presence even between flushes. Although introduced in 1953, it remains valuable where a gardener wants emphatic colour, fragrance and recurrent flowering on a pillar, wall, arch or substantial trellis. Its combination of large flowers, repeat flowering and moderate tolerance of partial shade has allowed it to survive long after many climbers of its period disappeared from commerce.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

What makes ‘Parade’ distinctive within its class is the union of a brilliant, almost theatrical colour with a full, cupped flower and unusually effective cluster presentation. The flowers are less formal than those of a classic Hybrid Tea climber. They open into rounded cups or loose rosettes, and the substantial flower heads often hang slightly forward under their own weight. This allows the inner petal arrangement to be seen from below, making the cultivar especially successful on arches, pergolas, doorways and tall pillars.

Its continued relevance rests less on novelty than on proven ornamental character. Many modern climbers exceed it in uniform disease resistance, but relatively few combine such vivid colour, glossy foliage, substantial fragrance and a long-established capacity to repeat. It also occupies a useful intermediate scale: mature plants are large enough to cover architectural features, yet generally less overwhelming than the most rampant Ramblers.

FLOWERING

Rose ‘Parade’ is a repeat flowering variety. Established plants normally begin with a strong early-summer display, followed by further cycles through summer and into autumn. The first flush is generally the most imposing because flowers are produced both from laterals on retained older canes and toward the ends of vigorous younger growth. Later flushes may be somewhat scarcer in cold climates or where the plant is allowed to form hips, but well-fed, regularly watered plants can remain significantly floriferous for much of the season.

Deadheading is important. Spent clusters do not always fall cleanly, and developing hips divert energy from the next flowering cycle. Removing the faded clusters above a strong outward-facing leaf, while preserving as much productive lateral growth as possible, improves neatness and encourages renewed flowering. Excessively severe summer cutting should be avoided because the plant requires mature leaf area and long canes to sustain its recurrent display.

Flower bud:

The flower buds are large, oval to conical and well formed. Before the petals loosen, they show a concentrated deep rose, cyclamen-pink or carmine colouring, sometimes with a darker, faintly purplish cast at the tip. The initial outline can appear more formal than the mature flower suggests: the bud begins comparatively pointed, then rapidly broadens as the numerous petals unfold.

The sepals have lanceolate shape, medium green colour with gray-red shades; there are 3 lightly appendaged sepals and 2 unappendaged sepals with gray hirsute edges. The receptacle is chalice shaped, medium sized, has smooth surface and medium green colour with gray red shades. The peduncles are sufficiently long to give the blooms freedom of movement, but they may bend beneath large clusters, especially after rain. This nodding tendency is characteristic of the cultivar’s presentation rather than necessarily a sign of weak growth. The transition from bud to open flower is gradual, moving from a tightly enclosed carmine form to a deep cup and finally to a broader, rosette-like bloom.

Bloom:

The flowers of ‘Parade’ are medium to large, commonly measuring about 8 - 10 cm (3 - 4 in) in diameter, although blooms of 10 - 12 cm are able to form under favourable conditions. They are double to very double, with the number of petals varying typically from 35 to 40. The opening flower is cupped and substantial, later becoming broader and more rosette shaped as the inner petals relax. It does not usually flatten completely; a measure of depth remains, giving the bloom a rounded, luxuriant appearance.

Colour is the cultivar’s most immediate distinction. The colour of the flowers is cerise-pink, with tonal variations from deep carmine-pink, vivid rose-pink, cherry-pink and to deep pink. The centre may appear darker or carry a restrained violet undertone, while the outer petals and reverse are often slightly paler, sometimes with a silvery cast. Strong sunlight can soften the margins, but the flower generally retains enough pigment to remain stable throughout its life.

Blooms appear on the flowering canes singly on vigorous shoots, or in small clusters of three to five flowers per stem, while mature plants can form larger terminal clusters of 7 to 15 blooms, containing several open blooms and additional buds. Because the individual flowers are large and full, a complete truss can become heavy. The stems consequently arch or bow, and the flowers often face outward or downward. On a tall structure this is highly ornamental, as the observer looks into the cupped centres rather than seeing only the backs of upward-facing blooms.

Flower durability is generally good, but weather performance requires qualification. Moderate rain is often tolerated, and the downward angle can help shed water. During prolonged, heavy rainfall, however, the densely packed petals may fail to open properly, become spotted or decay within the bud. Good air circulation and prompt removal of damaged flowers are therefore advisable in cool, wet districts. The heat tolerance of the flowers is rather weak, under scorching sun the soft petals tend to burn easily and shatter rather quickly.

Petals:

The petals are moderately broad, overlapping and sufficiently substantial to give the flowers good visual weight. Outer petals are larger and establish the cup, while the inner petals are smaller, more closely folded and arranged in an informal rosette. Their margins are usually smooth and gently waved. As the flower expands, the outer petals may reflex slightly, while the centre remains crowded and incurved.

In moderate temperatures the carmine or cherry-pink tone is notably persistent. Under intense sunlight, the edges may lighten, producing a subtle tonal graduation from the deeper centre to the paler outer edges. The reverse can look cooler and more silvery than the upper surface. Aging blooms eventually become looser and may take on a faint mauve cast tone before the petals dropp off.

The petals have reasonable substance and generally hold their form for several days, but their softness creates a vulnerability to flower balling in long periods of rain or to extreme heat. The spent flower is not consistently self-cleaning, and entire faded heads may remain attached. Regular deadheading therefore improves both the appearance of the plant and the speed of repeat flowering.

Fragrance:

The fragrance of the rose variety ‘Parade’ is rather moderate to strong, with a strong Old rose character. The variability in strength of its perfume depends on climate, time of day, flower age, soil moisture and individual perception. Gardeners selecting ‘Parade’ solely for powerful fragrance should therefore expect some variability, but it is generally more scented than many cluster-flowered Climbers of its period.

Reproductive parts:

The reproductive parts are largely concealed by the incurved inner petals during the flower’s ornamental prime. This rose can form hips when faded flowers are retained, but these fruits are not considered a major ornamental feature: they are large, rounded and have orange red colour and smooth surface with some rough patches.

PLANT

Variety ‘Parade’ is a modern climbing rose bred in the United States by Eugene S. “Gene” Boerner and introduced by Jackson & Perkins in 1953. The American Rose Society places it among the Large-Flowered Climbers, while the RHS uses the broader Climbing rose designation, while some catalogues describe it as a Floribunda Climber. The latter term is understandable because its flowers are often carried in clusters and because Floribunda ancestry is present on the pollen-parent side. It originated as a seedling from a deliberate cross and is most accurately treated as a Large-Flowered Climber due to combinations of its characteristics.

‘Parade’ forms a deciduous, repeatedly flowering climbing shrub. Mature height varies depending on climate and pruning. The mature and well-established plants of this rose can reach about 300 - 500 cm (10 - 16 ft) in height and can spread to about 150 - 250 cm (5 - 8 ft). In climates where canes are repeatedly damaged by winter cold, plants may remain closer to 200 cm (6.5 ft) in height and behave as large arching shrubs rather than traditional climbers.

The growth habit is upright, vigorous and well branched. The cultivar does not climb by tendrils, twining stems or adhesive roots, so all its main canes must be tied to a durable support. The best structures are strong trellises, horizontal wire systems, pillars, broad arches, pergolas and walls with adequate stand-off space for ventilation. Supports should be installed before or at planting because the mature canes and rain-laden flower clusters become heavy.

For a wall planting, the root system should be positioned away from the driest part of the rain shadow, usually at least 40–50 cm from the masonry, with the canes angled back toward the support. Fertile, humus-rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil gives the best results. The cultivar accepts clay, loam, sand or chalk-derived soils where drainage and nutrition are corrected, and this rose tolerates partial shade and even north-facing sites. Nevertheless, the most abundant flowering and strongest growth will occur with at least four to six hours of direct sunlight.

Young plants should be allowed to establish a framework before substantial pruning. During the first seasons, retain vigorous basal shoots and tie them in at progressively wider angles. Once the framework is mature, remove dead or damaged wood and shorten flowered side shoots during dormancy, generally by about one-half to two-thirds according to their strength. One old main cane can occasionally be removed near the base to stimulate replacement growth, but cutting all established canes hard in a single season sacrifices height and flowering.

In colder continental climates, final pruning is best delayed until the risk of severe frost has diminished and winter injury can be assessed. The base may be earthed up or mulched deeply, and long canes can be detached, lowered and protected where winter temperatures regularly fall below the cultivar’s reliable range. In temperate climates, routine climbing-rose pruning can be carried out from late autumn through winter.

Foliage:

The foliage of ‘Parade’ is abundant, deciduous and notably ornamental. Leaves are generally large, deep to medium-dark green and glossy or semi glossy, forming a dense background to the saturated flowers, although such colour readings inevitably vary with nutrition, climate and leaf age. The surface of the foliage is firm and comparatively smooth, with enough substance to give the plant a healthy, polished appearance when free of disease. New foliage may be lighter and softer before maturing to the dark green. The combination of the dark leaves and deep carmine flowers is important to the cultivar’s visual effect; the foliage prevents the bright bloom colour from appearing unsupported or thin on a large structure.

Leaflets:

The compound leaves appear to follow the usual pattern of modern Large-Flowered Climbers, most often with five leaflets, with occasionally seven on vigorous shoots, including the terminal leaflet. The individual leaflets are broadly ovate to elliptic, tapering toward an acute base and tip; the edges are traditionally serrated; the type of serration is medium sized and varies from double to single. The terminal leaflet is generally larger than the lateral pairs. Venation is pinnate and visible without being heavily impressed, while the upper surface is smoother and glossier than the underside. Petioles and rachises are green, sometimes with reddish intonations on the young growth, and may carry small glandular hairs or minor prickles typical of hybrid roses. The foliage is robust enough to contribute substantial screening when the plant is trained across wires or a trellis.

Wood:

The main canes are thick, strong and initially dark green with purple tones, becoming browner and more woody with age. Young basal shoots rise vigorously and may be rather upright, a framework of this rose commonly built from three to five major canes, which branch progressively and produce numerous shorter flowering laterals toward their upper portions.

Although the young growth is sufficiently pliable for training, mature canes should not be forced sharply around narrow supports because they can split or break. Gradual bending while the shoot is still young is preferable. Once tied in, the framework becomes durable and can carry a considerable mass of foliage and flowers. Some stems arch naturally under the weight of the inflorescences, creating a slightly cascading effect despite the fundamentally upright structure.

The plant can also be maintained as a very large free-standing shrub where space permits. In that form the long canes arch outward, but staking or discreet support is still desirable because mature trusses can pull stems toward the ground and flowers on them lose part of their charm.

Prickles:

There is a moderate to normal quantity of the prickles present on the main canes of this rose with fewer numbers on the laterals. The major prickles are reddish when young, becoming darker or brown with age. They appear principally along the substantial main and secondary canes, and on the flowering stems their number is small. The prickles are medium to large sized, broad based and have a pyramidal shape. Placement immediately beside narrow paths or frequently used seating areas is unwise unless the growth is kept carefully trained.

Small prickles:

There are a few smaller prickles present on the main canes of this rose and a bit more on the laterals from the main canes, young shoots, petioles and rachises. They have the same colour and shape as larger prickles, but are considerably smaller in size.

Disease resistance and stress tolerance:

The variate ‘Parade’ has been praised for its healthy, glossy foliage and good general disease resistance. Its survival in commerce for more than seven decades also confirms its resilience in gardens. Nevertheless, the claim should not be interpreted as immunity. By the modern standards this rose variety is considered somewhat susceptible to black spot, powdery mildew, rust, dieback and flower balling. An open to air circulation position with rich soil, regular watering and adequate spacing, can reasonably improve health for a rose introduced in the early 1950s. In humid climates with intense black spot pressure, it may lose lower leaves and will not necessarily equal the cleanest recent no-spray climbers. Fallen infected foliage should be removed, overhead irrigation avoided late in the day, and old congested growth thinned to improve air movement. Powdery mildew may appear under alternating drought and cool, humid nights; rust is less frequently singled out in cultivar accounts but remains possible.

The flowers tolerate ordinary changeable weather reasonably well, yet prolonged rain can prevent the dense buds from opening and may cause petal decay. This is a physical consequence of flower fullness rather than foliar disease. Removing affected blooms promptly reduces secondary Botrytis infection and keeps the plant presentable.

Cold hardiness is comparatively good. The RHS assigns H6, corresponding to approximately −20 to −15°C (−4 to 5°F), while it is also recommended for growing in climates similar to USDA zones 6 through 9. In USDA zone 5, survival is possible in favourable sites, particularly with good winter protection of the crown, but exposed canes may die back. The plant is reported to regenerate well after freezing, though severe loss of older canes reduces the following season’s first main flush.

Heat tolerance appears satisfactory when the root zone remains cool and moist. The flowers generally retain their strong colour, and established plants can grow in warm-summer climates, but under scorching sun and heat the petals tend to scorch and shatter quickly. This should not be confused with drought tolerance. Like most climbers, ‘Parade’ needs deep watering during extended dry periods, particularly beside walls where rainfall is intercepted. Drought reduces flowering, encourages mildew and can cause premature leaf fall.

No surviving breeder statement confirming the precise reason for the name ‘Parade’ is known.

The name can cause confusion in modern commerce. Poulsen’s Parade® Collection consists of compact miniature or florist roses bred many decades later, including cultivars such as ‘Andrea Parade’ and ‘Alto Parade’. These are unrelated to Boerner’s climbing ‘Parade’.

Despite obtaining vast popularity for many decades, ‘Parade’ to this date has not received any major international or national trial award like ADR, RHS or any other. It only received first prize in the Climber class at a Kansas City Rose Society show in 2001.

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

Rose variety ‘Parade’ was bred by Eugene S. “Gene” Boerner in the United States and introduced by Jackson & Perkins Co. in 1953. Boerner was one of the most important American rose breeders of the mid-twentieth century and is particularly associated with the development and popularization of Floribunda roses. ‘Parade’ demonstrates that his work also extended successfully into modern climbers. This rose originated by crossing the seed parent Climbing rose variety ’New Dawn’ with the pollen parent Floribunda rose variety ’World’s Fair’.

BACKGROUND OF THE VARIETY

The Large-Flowered Climber class developed as breeders sought roses that combined the architectural reach of ramblers with larger flowers and more dependable remontancy. ‘Parade’ belongs to the generation in which the Large-Flowered Climber became a practical modern-garden class. Its ’New Dawn’-derived seed parent appears to have contributed climbing architecture, foliage quality and the capacity to repeat, while ‘World’s Fair’ supplied a connection to Boerner’s Floribunda breeding. ‘Parade’ became a bridge between two important American rose traditions: the hardy, repeat flowering climber descended from Wichurana roses and the brightly coloured Floribunda designed for mass display.

The cultivar appeared one year before ‘Queen Elizabeth’ prompted formal recognition of the Grandiflora class. It therefore belongs to a period when breeders were actively dissolving old boundaries between Hybrid Tea flower size, Floribunda clustering and shrub or climbing growth character. Its flowers are too large and individually imposing to resemble a traditional small-flowered Floribunda, yet their production in substantial clusters gives the whole plant a Floribunda-like abundance.

SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

Rose ‘Parade’ is a substantial, repeat flowering Large-Flowered Climber distinguished by vivid carmine-pink, very double flowers, glossy foliage and an architectural habit suited to pillars, arches, walls and large trellises. Its heavy clusters create a rich, slightly cascading display, while the flowers combine cupped depth with a looser rosette character as they mature incorporated the following unique combination of characteristics:   large, very double, cupped to rosette shaped flowers in vivid cerise or deep carmine-pink;

  conspicuous clusters that bend the flowering stems and display the blooms effectively from below;

  recurrent flowering from early summer into autumn, with a particularly strong first flush;

  vigorous climbing growth character accompanied by dense, glossy, dark green foliage.

The propagation methods suitable for the rose cultivar ‘Parade’ include: vegetatively by softwood cuttings in early to mid-spring, by semi-ripe or hardwood cuttings from late summer into autumn, or by chip budding onto an appropriate rose rootstock in summer. Own-root plants are commercially produced and can recover true to type if killed back above ground, although they may establish more slowly than vigorous grafted plants. Budded plants often make faster initial growth, but the graft union requires protection in severe continental winters.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

The seed parent ‘New Dawn’ bears pale blush-pink, semi-double flowers approximately 8 cm in diameter on vigorous arching growth. Its floral effect is lighter, airier and more informal than that of ‘Parade’. By contrast ‘Parade’ intensifies the colour dramatically to deep carmine or cerise-pink, increases the visual density of the bloom and presents its flowers in heavier clusters. ‘New Dawn’ is generally more flexible in colour schemes, more delicate in individual flower form and exceptionally hardy, with an RHS H7 rating. ‘Parade’ is one hardiness category less severe at H6, but its flower substance and saturated colour make a stronger architectural statement.

The pollen parent ‘World’s Fair’ has a deep-crimson, cluster-flowered Floribunda. Compared with that lineage, ‘Parade’ has much longer canes and larger, fuller, more cupped shaped. Its abundant clusters and bright colour, however, appear consistent with Floribunda influence.

COMPARISON WITH THE CLOSEST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CULTIVAR

A useful modern commercial comparison is ‘Rosarium Uetersen’, the deep-pink Large-Flowered Climber introduced by Kordes in 1977. Both roses reach approximately 3 - 4 m, carry large, glossy foliage and produce full pink flowers in clusters over a long season. Each can cover a wall, fence or broad arch, and both can also be grown as very large arching shrubs.

The principal difference lies in flower character. ‘Parade’ has approximately 35 -40 petals and usually opens as a deep cup before relaxing into an informal rosette. Its colour is a clear cerise, cherry or deep carmine-pink, sometimes with a cooler violet suggestion in the centre. ‘Rosarium Uetersen’ is generally warmer, with glowing pink that may incline toward coral or salmon, and its flowers are more densely packed and strongly rosette shaped. They often appear heavier, more ruffled and more old-fashioned than those of ‘Parade’.

‘Parade’ tends to display its flowers on longer stems in conspicuous, sometimes nodding trusses. This makes it particularly effective overhead or on a pillar where the flower faces can be viewed from below. ‘Rosarium Uetersen’ usually produces a broader, more densely furnished mass and is often chosen for substantial walls, screens or a large free-standing shrub form. ‘Parade’ gives the sharper, clearer colour statement; ‘Rosarium Uetersen’ gives the richer, warmer and more heavily petalled effect.

‘Rosarium Uetersen’ is lightly scented, whereas ‘Parade’ ranges from moderate to strong in favourable conditions. Gardeners wanting a cooler, more brilliant pink and a slightly more open, nodding bloom may prefer ‘Parade’. Those seeking a full rosetted, warm-pink climber with a broad, opulent habit may find ‘Rosarium Uetersen’ the closer match to contemporary romantic planting schemes.

USDA 6

USDA Zone 6 - hardiness guide