Sports are genetic “oops” that are created when something goes wrong and produces something different than the original plant. A perfect example is when a rose, such as the hybrid tea Double Delight, sports a new cane that is a climbing rose. The blooms are typical of the bush, just in a climbing form. Most of the more common modern roses have sported a climbing version at one time or another, such as Cl. Double Delight, Cl. Mister Lincoln, Cl. Queen Elizabeth, Cl. Playgirl, Cl. Iceberg, etc.

A sport is a genetic mutation. There are several types of sports, which are also known as chimeras. The most common is the periclinal chimera. The mutated cell is near the beginning and the growth of cells behind it forms a new set of cells. The sport is usually stable and can be propagated. A common sport found in roses is an albino cane. This is a freak of nature and not stable. Often you cut the cane off and it will not come back white. Even if you want to propagate the cane, it will be a white rose bush incapable of producing enough chlorophyll to survive.

Bloom color sports are very common. Some are capable of producing dozens of color sports, such as the old hybrid teas Ophelia and Columbia, the polyanthas Orleans Rose and Miss Edith Cavell, the floribunda Playgirl, the tea rose Catherine Mermet, and the rambler Tausendschon.

Many of the sports are stable, others not, often reverting back to the parent. The most famous of the sports and reversion is seen in Apothecary’s Rose, the red gallica, which often sports to the striped gallica Rosa Mundi, and often reverts back. It is not unusual to see both roses on the same plant. Another is Crystalline, which is a recent hybrid tea that has several sports, such as Natasha Monet and Pink Crystal. The latter is not very stable and the whole plant will often revert back to Crystalline.

It has been said that most sports are not as good or healthy as the parent. Generally this is true. The parent rose is usually the better rose, thus many sports have disappeared over time. There are a few sports that are better than the parent, but they are pretty rare.

For old garden roses, few if any of the once blooming European Roses have produced a climbing sport, such as the gallicas, damasks, portlands, albas, centifolias, etc. The climbing sports are more often seen in the chinas, teas, bourbons, hybrid perpetuals, and polyanthas. It appears the ability to produce climbing sports came through the Oriental roses.

Modern Roses 10 lists 2 climbing bourbons, 8 climbing chinas, 1 climbing hybrid bracteata, 9 climbing hybrid perpetuals, 32 climbing teas, 2 climbing mosses, and 30 climbing polyanthas. Of these 85 roses, only 57 are listed as climbing sports.

There are other old garden roses that have the name climbing associated with them, but there is no bush counterpart. Examples would be the climbing tea roses Sombreuil (1851), Mme Driout (1902), and Gloire de Dijon (1853). There is a lot of controversy over the true identity of the rose that is sold as Sombreuil; however, we do know that it is not the real Sombreuil.

Here are some of the climbing sports of old garden roses and polyanthas.

Cl. Mlle Cecile Brunner (1904) – A very popular rose in America in the early 1900s. Commonly used for arbors and gate arches leading into the yard. Grows over 20 feet. Unlike its bush counterpart, it is not as free blooming; often producing one or two flushes of blooms a year. Small full pink blooms.

Cl. Souvenir de la Malmaison (1893) – The only climbing bourbon sport, and one of the few that is as good as the parent. Grows to 12 feet, rarely out of bloom. Very full, light pink blooms.

Cl. Lady Hillingdon (1917) – One of the few climbing sports that are better than the bush. The bush is often weak and poor blooming. The climbing tea sport is stronger and has better bloom. Grows to about 10 feet, with butter yellow blooms.

Cl. Perle des Jardins (1890) – A good growing tea rose to 12 feet. Produces plenty of light yellow, full blooms.

Cl. Devoniensis (1858) – A large growing climbing tea to 20 feet. Produces full white blooms.

Cl. Old Blush (unknown) – A good climbing china rose to 10 feet. Not as prolific blooming as the plant, which is one of the best blooming roses known.

Setina (1879) – The climbing sport of the popular china Hermosa. Hermosa was once a top florist rose in the United States as it forced well in the wintertime. Pink blend.

Cl. Maman Cochet (1909) – This rose has a sport that also produced a climbing sport. A full pink blend tea rose, grows to 12 feet. Its sport, White Maman Cochet, produced a climbing sport.

Cl. Pinkie (1952) – This climber sported from the only polyanthas to win All American Rose Selections (AARS) honors. The pink blooms are produced on a strong plant to 10 feet. This climber is as good as the bush.

Other climbing sports include Louis Philippe, Cramoisi Superier, Pompom de Paris, Red Moss, Marie von Houtte, Karl Frau Druschki, Captain Hayward, China Doll, Clothilde Soupert, Margo Koster, and Perle d’Or.

Steve Jones is the current Vice President and President-elect of the American Rose Society. He will become the President in the fall 2006. He lives in Valencia, California and grows about 400 roses of all types, although he is best know for old garden roses, shrubs, and polyanthas. He is an arrangement and horticulture judge, Consulting Rosarian, an amateur hybridizer, photographer, lecturer, writer, and has one of the largest libraries on rose related books.