It will go in part shade but could be slow to flower or not give you as many flowers as full sun would give you. In full sun the bush will get nice & big & flower really quickly. In the part shade it will take longer for the bush to reach full size & with have fewer flowers. Mine is in full sun & huge from the sun. I have another one in 4 hours of sun & it has taken it longer to mature & I don't get as many flowers but it still flowers enough to please me.

We live in the Mohawk Valley of Upstate NY. Our soil is clay. We have had two back-to-back, extremely cold winters in a row. We had a lot of temps in the negatives (like -15 and lower) and single digits this year. The average temperature this past winter in the month of February was 9 degrees (the temp never rose above freezing the whole month), and we had over 20 days below zero over the winter! Not to mention all the snow we received (which still hasn't melted). March felt like "normal" January weather with highs in the 20s and 30s, but today (April 2) it is supposed to finally get up past 50 to maybe even 60! I am on the fence about creating a hedge, but my wife doesn't want to put up a fence. We have a couple yews and hollies on our property that recently suffered winter burn. From what I have read online, they will likely recover. We are trying to figure out what would be the best cold hardy shrubs that we could use to create a hedge. We would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

Wonderful photo of John Davis, Twros, and thanks for the tips about getting it to climb. Like Mad said, mine has struggled to survive and grow beyond knee height for some time now, but it hasn't hit the magic 4 years mark yet for a climber. Good to know that it appreciates feeding. In my yard, mbrad, I've found that John Cabot is the more reliable and enthusiastic climber, and it's rock solid hardy to the tips in a zone 4 pocket of my yard. For the first 3-4 years, it was mostly a once-bloomer with a few scattered blooms here and there, but now that it's mature it's starting to get some repeat flush blooms on and off in the year. I'd definitely recommend that one as the best climber of the four you list. Among the others, I agree with Mad that Cecile Brunner is a long shot to survive in zone 5 (I've never overwintered one with several tries), but if it does survive it's likely to be a shrub rather than climber. Give it a protected spot and hope for the best. Laguna will climb well and is mostly cane hardy for me, and it's a dark pink color that will highlight the other colors. All of your roses are in the pink family (Laguna & John Cabot are dark pink, the rest are light pink) so I think any combination of them would look fine. Next to John Cabot, Colette is the other most reliable climber in zone 5. It takes a while to get established and climb well - give any climber 4 years to get settled in before you judge its characteristics - but it has repeat bloom on and off throughout the summer. I think JC, Colette & Laguna will climb well, and JC is the one most likely to cover your arbor. For companion plants, I'd be very cautious about a grape vine. You'll notice that on your honeymoon (congratulations by the way) the pergola had only a grape vine on it. My experience has been that grapes don't share real estate well. My neighbors have some inherited vines along a shared fence line, and the grapes TOTALLY invade my vegetable garden and have mostly shaded out my tomatoes. Wouldn't take much, as it's only a part shade situation, but grapes don't play well with others. I'm happy to rein in the grapes and I love those neighbors, so we're discussing strategy for this year. Instead of grapes, I'd plant a clematis on each end of the pergola. Clematis bloom in the heat of summer when the roses are taking a rest, so it means extending your bloom season. There are some lovely clematis and they tend to be easy and LOVE our midwestern soils. Jackmanii is a common one that's around most places and it's a dark purple that would set off the other colors nicely. Clematis are totally easy care in our zone, and they're more of an instant gratification of something to cover the pergola (but give it a year or two to settle in still), while you're waiting for the roses to mature. Syri - my experiences with Japanese Beetles is that they'll eat whatever is convenient (like deer do), but they prefer flowers. There are other things that will eat the grapes themselves, including birds, but I haven't found that the grapes are all that interesting to the Japanese beetles if there's something else they like better (like all my roses). We'll look forward to seeing pictures, mbrad! Good job doing your homework on your roses. Cynthia

Great preliminary report, Vicky. I only have a few of these and two are new. First I want to say, I'm sorry that you lost your Dad. I know you are greatly comforted in knowing where he is now:) I don't really do red roses, but I have investigated Rouge Royale because my sons seem to like red roses, and those Romantica Roses by Meilland do so well for me. I'll add what I've observed so far in the roses that I have from your list. Earth Angel: Impulse buy at Lowe's. Potted, big healthy looking bush. Fell in love with the pictures someone posted over on the regular Rose forum. It is still in it's purple Kordes pot.(I know, bad rose lady!) The blooms did bleach out too much in full sun, but once I moved the pot to afternoon shade, I got the blooms I bought it for. They are absolutely perfect! The scent is amazing, too. I did get some funny colored leaves, that looked exactly like iron deficiency. I gave it a bit of ironite, and it cleared up. Others told me later that Earth Angel sometimes does this in response to a sudden overwatering, too. I'm not getting many blooms, but right now I've moved EA into even more shade, just because it's so hot. I'm more concerned with keeping my potted roses alive right now, than bloom production. Once it cools off and I settle this rose in, I believe I'm going to be crazy about it. I cut every bloom it gave me, and kept it by my bedside. Fabulous! Cream Veranda: I have two of them. They are in large baskets with a water reservoir, hanging at the front entrance to my home. I've had them about 2ish years, purchased as quart sized, own root, from Wayside Gardens end of season sale. They have stayed a nice size for the baskets, and are fairly healthy. They just get the usual spring powdery mildew, like many other roses do around here. They don't really seem to bloom in big flushes for me, rather 2-6 blooms on each most of the time. That's fine with me, always some color by the front entrance arches that way. Princess Charlene de Monaco: I only purchased this one in January or February this year, potted from a local nursery. I already love it! You are absolutely right about PCdM wanting to grow straight up and bloom up high on top of those long canes. I decided I'd had enough of that, and I wanted more blooms for cutting and arrangements. This IS a florists rose after all, and I want enough blooms to do something with. She's planted in a raised bed, in full hot sun. She had the usual spring bout of powdery mildew, but shook it off on her own. I tied her canes to trellises about 4 weeks ago. I now have something like 15-20 laterals, each with at least one bud. All that happened in just 4 weeks! There is a post with the details and photos on the regular Roses forum titled, "I'm liking my Princess Charlene de Monaco". This is a great rose for cutting. I would suggest training/tying the canes sideways to produce lots of laterals. Then cut the buds early in the morning when they show color. They will last a long time in the vase, and have beautiful color and fragrance. I'm considering purchasing a second one. I don't have two of many roses, actually only two. I have the two Cream Veranda's for the matching baskets, and I have two Violets Pride roses. They only reason I have two Violets Prides, is because the second one came as part of $13 surprise rainbow of roses collection. Me buying a second Princess Charlene de Monaco is saying a lot about how much I like this one. Try some in a vase! The Pilgrim: I can third the stinginess of The Pilgrim, here in So CA. Mine was also purchased bare root from Wayside Gardens. I think it was bought 5 or 6 years ago. Yes, it is in a difficult spot with blazing afternoon sun. I saw its first bloom last year, and I've gotten a handful of them this year. I'm hoping things will improve shortly, as the adjacent park removed a huge eucalyptus tree that was nearby, and I had Queen Palms and a Texas Privet hedge removed this past spring. I am finally seeing more growth in the past 6 months, than I've seen in the past 5 years, so I'm not giving up yet. Kate, how long are you willing to give your Pilgrim? I'm willing to give mine another year, due to the improved conditions, but that's it. If it doesn't wow me next spring or summer/fall, it's out of here. I don't shovel prune anything in haste, but 7 or 8 years is plenty time to show me what he can do. Vicky, count yourself lucky. At least you've seen some of the Pilgrims blooms already. I didn't see a single one until it was almost 5 years old. And then, it really was a single ONE:) I've seen great pictures of The Pilgrim loaded with blooms, so surely it must bloom well somewhere, for someone? Well, those are the ones I have here in S CA. Please keep us updated on how they are doing, Vicky. And please do check out the Princess Charlene de Monaco thread. I think you could get more roses out of her, and they are best appreciated up close in a vase:) Lisa