ROSARIUM UETERSEN® – pink climbing rose – Kordes
This classic German-bred climber gives your garden immediate impact with large, deeply double rosette blooms in a rich, luminous pink that fade to a romantic silvery tone on sunlit days. Bred for robust health, it offers strong disease resistance and copes reliably with exposed British sites, even where wind and rain call for sturdy, weather-tolerant planting. Its medium, traditional rose fragrance makes it an inviting choice for entrances, paths and seating areas, while the dense, glossy foliage builds a permanent green screen on fences, rose arches and house walls. As an own-root plant it settles in securely and regenerates well, forming a stable climber with a long garden lifespan. Low routine care and good heat tolerance keep everyday maintenance simple, and remontant flowering ensures strong summer colour with further flushes into late season. In a typical family garden you can enjoy its vertical structure developing steadily as roots establish, shoots strengthen and by the third year it shows its full ornamental value.
Usage options
| Target area |
Reasoning |
| Front garden arch or porch entrance |
Large, fully double pink clusters give a generous first impression, while the repeat-flowering habit keeps the arch in bloom through the main season. Its medium perfume enriches the approach to the house without being overpowering – ideal for the style-focused beginner. |
| Family seating area or patio backdrop |
The medium, classic rose scent and dense foliage create an intimate, sheltered feel around terraces and benches. Once tied into supports, the plant forms a stable green wall that softens hard landscaping and enhances evening use of the space – perfect for the relaxed homeowner. |
| Boundary fence or screening run |
Strong, creeping growth and glossy, close-packed leaves build an effective vertical screen that matures into a long-lived structure, reducing the need for frequent replacements. This works especially well along side fences in town gardens – reassuring for the privacy-minded family. |
| Cottage-style mixed border with perennials |
The vivid deep-pink rosettes combine beautifully with lavender, sweet alyssum and other traditional companions, adding height without demanding complex pruning. Reliable repeat flowering keeps the border lively from early summer onwards – a strength for the cottage-garden enthusiast. |
| Low-intervention rose feature for busy gardeners |
High resistance to black spot, powdery mildew and rust keeps treatment needs low, so routine care focuses mainly on training and occasional deadheading. This suits those who want handsome roses without regular spraying – a practical benefit for the time-pressed gardener. |
| Small garden pergola or walkway |
With its manageable 2–3 m height and moderate spread, it clothes smaller pergolas and walkways without overwhelming the structure. Over a few seasons it forms a durable, woody framework that responds well to light annual pruning – ideal for compact-plot owners. |
| Partially shaded house wall or north-east aspect |
Good performance in partial shade allows planting where many other climbers underperform, extending rose use into side passages and cooler walls. This flexibility helps make the most of limited light in urban plots where sheltered, weather-tolerant positions are valuable – supporting the space-conscious urbanite. |
| Large container on balcony or roof terrace |
In a substantial 40–50 litre pot with firm support, this own-root climber offers long-term vertical interest and colour, its resilient framework standing up well to exposed conditions with wind and rain on higher sites. This is well suited to the design-aware balcony-owner. |
Styling ideas
- Cottage Arch – Train over a metal or wooden arch, underplant with lavender and sweet alyssum to echo the pink blooms and fragrance – for lovers of romantic front-garden entrances.
- Rosy Screen – Run along a panel fence with bupleurum and airy grasses at the base to create a soft, semi-formal privacy screen – for families wanting gentle enclosure.
- Patio Fragrance – Place in a large container by a seating area, combined with scented herbs to enhance evening perfume – for those who dine or relax outdoors.
- Wall Cascade – Tie shoots horizontally along wires on a house wall to create generous curtains of blossom with minimal pruning complexity – for busy homeowners seeking impact.
- Classic Walkway – Clothe a short pergola, repeating plants at intervals for a continuous tunnel of pink, paired with traditional perennials – for admirers of formal garden structure.
Technical cultivar profile
| Property |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Climbing rose, large-flowered; registered as KORtersen, marketed as Rosarium Uetersen® Climbing rose KORtersen, exhibition name Rosarium Uetersen in the ARS register. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Reimer Kordes (W. Kordes’ Söhne) in Germany from ‘Karlsruhe’ × unknown seedling; introduced and registered in 1977 as a robust, garden-suitable climbing rose. |
| Awards and recognition |
Holder of the Gold Star of the South Pacific from New Zealand Rose Trials (1980), alongside additional international honours, confirming its reliable garden and exhibition performance. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Creeping climber reaching about 200–320 cm in height and 80–160 cm spread; dense, glossy mid-green foliage, moderately thorny stems, slow self-cleaning so old blooms may need removal. |
| Flower morphology |
Very double rosette flowers in clustered inflorescences, each medium-sized at around 1.5–2.75 inches across, with 40+ petals; remontant, with a main flush and lighter repeat later in the season. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Rich deep-pink blooms (RHS 62B outer, 62C inner) with a silvery sheen; colour lightens over time to soft, silvery pink, especially in strong sunlight, giving layered tonal effects through flowering. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Medium-strength, clearly perceptible scent with a pleasant, classic rose character, most noticeable near paths, doors and seating; dense double form makes it primarily an ornamental fragrance rose. |
| Hip characteristics |
Rose hip set is generally sparse because of the heavy petal count; where present, hips are ovoid, orange-red, about 12–18 mm in diameter, adding modest late-season interest on mature plants. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Excellent winter hardiness to around –29 to –32 °C (RHS H7, comparable to USDA 4b); good heat tolerance with watering in drought; strong resistance to black spot, powdery mildew and rust. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suited to arches, pergolas, walls, fences and specimens; plant 140–250 cm apart depending on use; tolerates partial shade; best in well-drained soil with support and occasional formative pruning. |
ROSARIUM UETERSEN® Climbing rose KORtersen offers richly coloured, fragrant, disease-resistant flowering on a long-lived own-root framework, making it a dependable choice for relaxed, characterful vertical structure in the family garden.
