Rebecca, I've had Felix LeClerc for about 9 years and I echo the fantastic comments of everyone about him. He's among the first roses to bloom in late May here in zone 5, and he's totally cane hardy and pretty indestructible. It took about 4-5 years before he rebloomed very well, but now I get blooms pretty steadily into July, and scattered blooms off and on even into November. As for height, I think we'd be in the same boat being in close zones. Felix is hardy to zone 3 at least so I think you're still looking at cane hardiness. Mine is about 8' tall and he puts out laterals pretty well, so if you pull the main canes horizontally along your 8X4' trellis you should be able to get it fairly well covered after a while. Like all climbers, he takes a good 4 years to come into his own so be patient. Also, I find his canes to be pretty stiff so I wouldn't expect to do the zigzag canes you can do with more flexible climbers like Crown Princess Margaretha. You also want to make sure your trellis is pretty strong, given that those sturdy canes can pull down an average wood trellis in the wind. You didn't ask for pictures, but here's one of Felix trying (and not succeeding) to pull down a 6' fake iron (aluminum) fence. You can see that even 4' or so away from the fence he can easily reach the top. For years I didn't realize he was supposed to be a climber so I kept pruning him lower to keep him in line. Fortunately it made him bush out and he's forgiven me since. Mine was from HCR too and he's absolutely fine on his own roots. Have fun Cynthia

Those are pretty roses... None of the Canadian roses have big HT blooms like that, unfortunately. High Country Roses sells most of the Canadian Explorer and Morden roses, granted they are own root. If you can grow roses grafted on multiflora, Pickering or Hortico might be a good place to find them. I am trying Awakening, Leverkusen, Dortmond, Autumn Sunset, and Antike 89, which are said to be cold hardy climbers. They are only a couple years old, and own root, so I don't know yet how they will fare as climbers. Illusion and Ramblin' Red are supposed to be cold hardy reds (I don't grow them). Shropshire Lad (or is it Generous Gardener??) is planted in an exposed location and seems to want to climb. Here is a link that might be useful: HCR

Hi Heather, I can send you cuttings of roses. I need to prune. I have: Hansa(a rugosa) Prairie Harvest(a buck) Hawkeye Belle(a buck) Rose glauca Darlow's Enigma(shrub) Belle de Crecy(gallica) Belle Isis(gallica) The Fairy(polyantha) a very hardy climber w/very full old fashion white flowers probably 'Long John Silver' I that is all of my hardiest roses. Check my member page in case I forgot something: ) Let me know which you are interested in. I can mail them to you and you can send me the postage money. Remy

Hi Kelly I have two zone 4 pockets in my zone 5 yard, both of which are only part sun, and I can comment on some climbers that do reasonably well there. Alexander Mackenzie and John Cabot are very similar hot pink roses that rebloom fairly well in this spot and blend together in the photo below. Alex is a year older at 3 or 4 so he's reaching up at right on sturdier canes screaming for me to give him something to climb on; John is flopping over all the place on the left still a little bemused at his fate, but he'll probably look like Alex this year. Both have canes at least 6 feet long here, and I'm presuming they'll grow much bigger as they age. Heaven on Earth is the blush apricot to the left and Folksinger and JP Connell are off to the right, also creamy. Ramblin' Red and Teasing Georgia are both in the same bed further to the left, and they have been mostly cane hardy for me. Teasing Georgia (creamy yellow top left of center) is a more reliable bloomer and rebloomer most years. She can get to about 6-7 feet as a free standing rose and would probably climb better with support. Ramblin' Red I think doesn't like the shade that much, and prefers to bloom on substantial surviving cane. He's the red rose up at top left, and again I've been too lazy to provide any of these guys something to climb on (this year's rose resolution...). I probably only have 3 or 4 pictures of his blooms, and nothing much from last year. That's also a younger Alexander MacKenzie at top right, and some Eutin and Mystic Fairy pink blooms down in the foreground. A thoroughly reliable and tip hardy option would be Darlow's Enigma, who's as happy as I could picture him being in mostly shade under some limbed up pine trees. He's the tallest white bush at center back, and he blooms all season. He doesn't exactly climb for me, and he really seems happiest as a freestanding bush, but he tops out at 8 or even 9 feet for me, certainly higher than I can reach without a step stool and I'm 5' 9". The rest of the photo has assorted hybrid musk bushes which are probably my happiest roses in part shade, but they are only rated to zone 6 and I'm lucky they survive in my zone 5 yard. I've grown several of the other climbers mentioned in this thread, and for what it's worth here are some I don't think will work for you in zone 4. Penny Lane has died on me twice over the winter and I really think it's best at least a zone warmer. Lyda rose has survived but it's not cane hardy, and mine is quite a small rose in this zone with winter kill - I think it's probably only marginally hardy in zone 5. New Dawn has also died twice on me in zone 5, one of the plants surviving a couple of years only to die in an average winter. I can probably keep it alive, but I've never seen a bloom even from the one that survived several years. I can't explain why, but the hmf rankings are only approximations built from whoever logs in from various zones. I'm thrilled that Rebecca's CPM has done so well for her in zone 4! Mine has been oh-so-frustrating for me in my zone 5. It survives without problems and is probably 5 or 6 years old, but it refuses to bloom without surviving cane even though it regrows cane rapidly after being pruned to the ground and has long highly flexible canes. Here's the one and only year I got any bloom from CPM (lots of other company of roses in this shot, as it was a good year). CPM is at center behind the coral toned Meilland Decor Arlequin, and she's wrapped around a 3' pillar many times. Like most Austins I suspect it likes a lot of sun - I'm surprised Teasing Georgia does as well as it does for me in part shade. I think the other climbers on this arch (Mme. Caroline Testout, Harlequin, White Cap, Senegal) are all either zone 5 only hardy or they really want more sun. Hope this helps! Cynthia