I would suggest a thornless rose in case you have to evacuate through the window. This might sound stupid but imagine crawling through a big ole thorny rose bush in your pajamas.

Mme. Plantier is huge, shade tolerant, not too thorny, and would be beautiful against the dark brick. Does this area get any morning sun? The combination of close to wall and no morning sun could cause BS issues. Alchymist is so beautiful, maybe not as easy as Mme. Plantier but worth it. If you'd consider a tall shrub, r. rugosa alba would fit very nicely and I think be very happy there. Or if you wanted to be sure of staying below the window, another rugosa-- Fru Dagmar Hastrup.

Thanks for the warning Generator, I never even considered that safety fact. We may escape the fire, only to be done in by a rose!

And no, Barbarag, it only gets afternoon sun...but lots of it and the brick really keeps the heat. What did you mean by Alchymist being not as easy as Mme. Plantier? I haven't had either, so I don't know much. And Frau Dagmar Hastrup...that wouldn't be the same as Frau Karl Druschki, would it?

What about Alberic Barbier?

i'll second the suggestion for Mme. Plantier. i have this rose growing in the exact same aspect as your plan - north west corner of my house. She throws long canes that have very few thorns and are supple enough to train however you like with relative ease. Fragrance is great, but she flowers only once. i haven't had the BS problems others mention. Good luck.

Oh, Fru Dagmar Hastrup is quite different from Frau Karl Druschki.

Fru Dagmar Hastrup is a pink rugosa rose famous for its hips and overall lovely appearance as a flowering shrub for the garden while Frau Karl Druschki is a scentless pure white hybrid perpetual rose famous for the drop-dead beauty and purity of color of its individual flowers. In Graham Thomas's reference on old roses one of the things for which he specifically praised Fru Dagmar Hastrup was that, unlike most pink rugosa roses, the hip color of Fru Dagmar was sufficiently red (rather than orange-red) that its light pink autumn flowers didn't clash with the ripening red hips.

Frau Dagmar Hastrup is a pink rugosa, and Frau Karl Druschki is a white a HT, a cross between the HP Merveille de Lyon and the HT Madame Caroline Testout (which I have to happen on order). I don't grow FKD, but from what I know, it's a very beautiful tall shrub, about 6ft. It may be susceptible to mildew though, which can be a problem if it is grown against a wall.

If you don't mind once bloomers, may be look at some ramblers like the airy Paul's Himalayan Musk, although it may eat up your house! Or Goldfinch - nearly thornless (!), but I'm not sure if it's hardy enough for you zone. Or Felicite Perpetue. For a more pink-white repeat patio rambler check out Open Arms or Treasure Trove, or the most beautiful hybrid multiflora Ghislaine de Féligonde. Or Alberic Barbier. Or the hardy Venusta Pendula.

If you like Austins, I think the light yellow The Pilgrim would look terrific as a free flowering and well repeating, well scented, and quite healthy climber.

If you dare going for pink, which I think can indeed look very good against your red wall, check out Mme Caroline Testout, Cl. Or for a modern, the pink Compassion, or pink-buff-white Penny Lane, or its beautiful parent, the classic New Dawn whose most vicious thorns will keep all burglars out!

Andrea

New Dawn might be too big for you (& it is unpleasantly thorny), but it is the most stunning pearl pink you'll ever encounter. At first glance you think, "Oh, it's white.", and then you realize, "No, it's not!", followed by,

"?? Wow! What an intriguing, ethereal silvery pink/white! It's almost the color of mother of pearl!"

I'm not in your zone, but I might try White Cap. It's a perfect rose for me.

R

kinglemuelswife, Teasing Georgia or The Pilgrim would look beautiful there. They are both David Austin roses. They are both a lovely shade of yellow, and both have a gorgeous scent.
I think they would look better against red brick than a pink or red rose.
Daisy

Thanks everyone! I've been trying to look up all the suggestions on HMF to decide. So far Mme. Plantier is the front-runner. Where to buy her is the next challenge. I don't think Hortico lists her. I did look up both Teasing Georgia and The Pilgrim...I've had my eyes on them before...but the catalogue from Hortico says they are around 4 feet, which is too small for my site.

I have a New Dawn on an arbor, which I love. But it's definitely pink here for me and I don't think I'd like the pink on the red brick...just a personal hang-up.

Last question on this topic though, what about Fourth of July?

Ha!

All I have to say is that if you plant 4th of July there you'd better pray to God that you never, ever have to leave the house through that window in an emergency! If you ever do, you'll leave the scene in an ambulance from all the blood loss from its thorns! :-)

The flowers would work perfectly, but I can think of very few roses I've ever seen that had so many, really vicious thorns. It is incredibly thorny!

Thanks for the warning! I have New Dawn, and I think she's a pretty vicious thing...so I don't want to wrestle with FoJ while trying to escape through the window! Maybe I'll plant it somewhere else...since it looks like the kind of rose I want to have somewhere in the garden!

My house looks exactly like yours same brick color, windows etc, except for mine has brick all the way to the bottom. I mention this because I have tried all different colors next to my house and I think that the Apricots/ peaches and yellow/yellow blends are the prettiest. Reds are good too, but pinks are yuk IMO

The Pilgrim is a full fledged climber. One in town here (Cambridge, England) covers nearly the entre side of a 3 storey house. It's an incredible sight when in bloom, which is often the case!

The Teasing Georgia I had in NC was also about 8 ft and growing taller quickly in her 3rd year with me and is by natural inclination a climber, most definitely. I pruned her to keep her a bit in check, which was a challenge. Very vigorous plant. That's why DA sells these two roses also as climbers. You can can keep them a bit shorter when you prune them regularly. Most people don't want climbers, so some nurseries decide not to advertise them as such when these roses can be kept shorter (which was nearly impossible in NC).

As to Hortico, well, if you can get these plants elswhere, that may be best. I suggest David Austin in Tyler, Texas (best option for the biggest and most vigorous plants) or Pickering. I´ve received mostly duds from Hortico, small weak plants, some of them sent off without prior notice in JUNE (!!!) after they told me that they were out of stock and would be dispatched next spring. Of course these ones didn't make it. I really can't recommend Hortico.

Cheers,
Andrea