Rosa Night Owl Climbing Rose

Rosa Night Owl is a striking Climbing Rose that brings drama and depth to the garden with its bold, claret-purple blooms and eye-catching golden stamens. A repeat-flowering variety with strong ornamental appeal, Rose Night Owl offers a long season of colour from early summer through to autumn. With its richly coloured flowers, distinctive perfume and architectural habit, it’s an ideal shrub for adding height, character and a touch of gothic elegance to outdoor spaces.

Rose Night Owl is a moderately vigorous climbing rose, forming upright, thorny stems that are ideal for training against walls, trellises, or obelisks. Its foliage is a handsome grey-green shade, providing a striking backdrop to the deep tones of its flowers. The blooms are semi-double in form, generous in size and borne in large, showy clusters throughout the flowering season. Their deep claret-purple petals contrast dramatically with the prominent golden-yellow stamens at the centre of each flower. The overall effect is rich, velvety, and theatrical – perfect for gardeners seeking something bold and distinctive.

As a repeat-flowering climbing rose, Rosa Night Owl delights with flushes of blooms from early summer into autumn. Its fragrance is sweet and pleasantly fruity, adding another layer of sensory appeal to its dramatic colour palette.

Height and Width of Rosa Night Owl
Rosa Night Owl typically reaches a height of around 2.5 to 3 metres (approximately 8–10 feet), with a spread of up to 2 metres (6–7 feet). Its growth is upright but flexible, making it suitable for a variety of vertical garden structures or confined spaces where a full-sized rambler may be too large.

How Hardy is Rosa Night Owl?
Rose Night Owl is a hardy variety well-suited to the UK climate. It will thrive in most gardens provided it is planted in well-drained soil and receives at least a few hours of sun each day. While it can tolerate light shade, the best flower colour and performance come with more sun. It shows good disease resistance, particularly against mildew and rust, though regular inspection and pruning will help to maintain its overall health.

Uses in Garden and/or Landscape
As a climber, the Night Owl Rose s perfect for adding vertical interest to walls, fences, pergolas, or rose arches. Its richly coloured flowers pair beautifully with paler roses, white clematis, or silver-foliaged plants, making it a superb feature in contemporary, romantic or even wildlife-friendly garden designs. Due to its long flowering season, Rosa Night Owl also makes a fantastic background rose for borders or as a dramatic focal point in a smaller courtyard garden.

Care Tips
Plant Rosa Night Owl in fertile, well-drained soil in a sunny or lightly shaded spot. Provide support for its climbing stems, and tie in new shoots regularly to encourage upward and outward growth. Feed in early spring and again after the first flush of flowers with a high-potash fertiliser. Prune lightly in late winter or early spring to shape the plant and remove dead or damaged growth, encouraging fresh flowering shoots.

Distinctive Features Compared to Other Climbing Roses
Unlike many traditional climbing roses, which tend toward reds or softer pinks, Rosa Night Owl offers a unique and moody colour palette of dark purple blooms. Compared to Rosa Santana, for example which produces vivid scarlet-red flowers, Rose Night Owl brings a more sultry, dramatic tone to the garden. While both are repeat-flowering, Night Owl stands out for its unusual colouring, enhanced by its contrasting golden stamens and attractive grey-green foliage. It’s a superb choice for gardeners seeking a climber that breaks from convention while delivering reliable performance and stunning visual impact.