I admit I had the same thought about egress from the house, especially considering the thorns. Would it be possible to put the roses on the other two columns you describe? It may be that in your climate the roses won't be the monsters that we're used to and I hope that someone from your region can give you more pertinent advice. The idea certainly sounds lovely if you can make it work.

Ingrid

I would plant the roses between the end pillars and the middle ones you show in the photo. What is the distance between them? You will have problems if you plant them on the pillars by the door, 5 feet is not enough space to accommodate both roses widths and still be able to walk between them without getting snagged.

You can use any kind of material to support the roses between the pillars, from horizontally strung wire to sturdy lath trellising.

All: Thank you and good advice. I could try it between the end pillars and middle pillars. They are all equidistant. 5 feet gaps between all 4. One problem is the pillar to the extreme left will be in dappled shade so if I plant a rose there it might have to be a hubrid musk type (not that that's a problem).

I guess I thought I'd be able to do this because most climbers I see around my neighborhood are runty little things, even the Blazes. Only the Chicago Botanic Garden has massive New Dawns and William Baffins... so I thought my climbers would be tall and skinny, not having much girth.

Would appreciate feedback from cold-zoners as well..

I would go with a thornless variety like Veilchenblau, Zephirine Druhin and Peggy Martin or a hybrid musk like Prosperity, Buff Beauty and Cornelia or a polyantha like climbing Clothilde Soupert, spray Cecile Brunner, and the Fairy. New Dawn is too aggressive for a home trellis.

Now I am even beginning to wonder if I should try Austins there since they suffer severe winterkill but make it and throw out long canes by summer...

An Austin might be the solution due to their droopy canes; they might be able to be trained better for that purpose.
i have seen Teasing Georgias that have been trained to climb in such a manner.

With Austins you probably will need to do a bit of pampering and covering for the winter. Generally it is possible, but personally I would rather start with the roses which are perfectly winter hardy for the climate, since some freak frost once in 10 years can possibly undo years of effort. Also you might consider trying some of the modern climbers which may look somewhat old-fashioned, for example Dortmund, Rosarium Uetersen, Laguna, John Cabot, Coral Dawn. Also Leopold Ritter is quite nice and can serve as a climber.

Also from once bloomers you may like Baltimore Belle - it is often unloved under stock, but in cold climate it is quite good choice. Or Himmelsauge, or Alchymist, as well as planting some albas can do a trick, since even in zone5 Maiden's Blush can get very high.

How about roses in the middle (between the two sets of pillars), and mannerly clematis closer to the door? Or not-really-climbing roses trimmed narrow near the door pillars?

It looks like your balcony overhangs the pillars by quite a bit--if this is so, are you sure roses would get enough sun?

Thank you all for suggestions. Actually, I used my Suncalc (highly recommend this tool) and figured what spots I'd have to plant roses in for them to have sufficient sun so I can accomodate at least one rose (on the right).

I think for this year, I'll go plant a clematis or some sort of mannerly climber (was originally thinking of morning glory but decided not to, having read post on invasive companions) on the pillar to the left and maybe plant Reine de Violettes on the rightmost. She doesn't have to climb (indeed, she grew shrubby ish for me) but if she throws out long canes I could trail them along the pillar....

Ideally, I still want a long, thin climber who can be trained up the pillar and (this is in my fantasies) throw up a pretty cane or two up on the balcony above. But I realise all such climbers would get very wide :-(

Hi sheltie, I too want climbers and have been told it is difficult in our zone, Ifyou truly have some zone 6 moderation then it may work. Constance Spry is supposed to be hardy and huge but only blooms once and can spread, Albas are supposed to tolerate more shade and be disease resistant. I personally grow Alba Semi-Plena and it is 8-9feet tall anddoesn't sucker, is diseasefree, is up near the house on arbor and has been for about 8 years.My cousin says ramblers are the answer, but they only bloom once also.( and many old onesare suseptible to mildew.

I can't speak to roses for your climate, but I think you could make this work. One choice would be to put an arbor in the lawn in front of the pillars - or a pergola - making its opening a few feet wider. Another choice would be to put a rose on one side, and a clematis or other smaller climber on the other. Or, you could simply choose more modest pillar roses, and keep them trained.

You could put two posts out in the yard, five feet apart, and build the pergola/archway using the porch posts and the new posts, putting trellis between them. If you planted the roses on the outside of the trellis, I don't think it would be hard to keep the opening free. I have two different five-foot wide archways in my garden, and the opening stays about four feet - with some diligent pruning and training on my part. I've always found that roses that are right outside my door get plenty of attention, from me as the gardener and from my guests, so it's easy to keep them in line.

When you say "climber," everybody is thinking "monster." Pillar roses are another issue. There are many roses which will send up longer canes if given something to support them, and which can be kept within boundaries. I don't see why you couldn't use Honorine de Brabant for such a purpose.

My archways have been in my garden for five years. You can't go through them two abreast, but single file, you can. In this photo, massive Phyllis Bide is on one side, and mannerly Narrow Water is on the other.
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I also have a seven-foot-wide side yard with roses espaliered on the fence - no problem walking down it. Sombreuil, Climbing Dainty Bess, Dublin Bay grow there.
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Anita

Sort of by definition, zone 5 'climbers' are going to be a different subset from what can be grown in milder climates. Repeat blooming hardy climbers come from a very small number of breeding lines. They are all very heavily armed, and tending towards octopi. I can't imagine training them up a pillar like on that porch. They could be grown on a trellis structure between the posts, but it should probably be fairly substantial.

When I've seen those Bourbons around here, they are usually grown on ornamental pillars, but don't get more than 5 or 6 ft tall. They are also very prone to blackspot, which is often painfully obvious since they are in no-spray gardens where they were deliberately selectioned as disease resistant OGRs. From a use standpoint, they are similar to the larger Austins.

If the idea is for something manageable that will get up to the second story, ramblers are a good idea. They are about the only hardy roses with long canes that I stand a chance of truly training to do anything.

I think Anita's suggestion of a pergola is fantastic. Did you use the suncalc at the top of the pillars? I think the part of the rose on the ground will be in the sun, but once you start training the roses on the pillars, they will be shaded by the balcony.

Oh my gosh Anita, you give my hope! To have skinny tall climbers along a 7 feet wide side yard in a zone as warm as your's, wow! Yes, I think when I said climbers everybody automatically assumed monsters but as I mentioned, I have never seen a tall climbing rose in my area. Everything stays 7 ft tops, (and rather narrow at the base too) probably due to our brutal winters.

While I love the pergola idea, it sounds a little ambitious to me, given my limited skills. I would be worried about making it work. So as delectable as the idea sounds, I will stick to growing a rose along the rightmost pillar.

If anyone can suggest pillar (not monster climber) roses, that would be helpful. Otherwise I am going to try and see if I can get my Honorine or a Reine de Violettes to work. Reine also has the advantage of having proven herself a very good grower even with some shade.

How far from the patio should I plant? Is 2 feet ok?

Oh, and where are my manners? Thank you for suggestions :-D

Mortimer Sackler might work. When grown as a climber, its longest canes can reach 10-12 feet, according to the David Austin website.

The David Austin website says only that it's "hardy" without giving a zone number. Unfortunately the Help Me Find site lists only default information, so that doesn't help. One thing to consider is that the cement in the porch, as well as the nearness of the house itself in keeping that cement somewhat warmer during the night, might make for a slightly warmer winter microclimate in that spot too than in the rest of your yard.

Mortimer Sackler does have some shade tolerance as well as being very low in thorns. It tends to grow rather narrowly upright, also sending out some long, fairly flexible canes that would be good to wind around your pillars. Plant the two roses near the porch and maybe 24-30" to the sides of the posts away from the center, and pull over the canes that want to grow long and help them go up the pillars, probably allowing whatever canes that want to stay shorter remain on the bush to look nice on a lower level.

If you are concerned about how you'd paint the posts later, then put up a large-holed decorative metal chain in front of (or slightly to the outside edge of) each pillar. Use a large hook eye to hang it from at the top so you could unhook it and gently lean it out from the pillar to get the paint on the wood when you paint. Use the chain to anchor tie spots you can use to attach the rose to loosely, zigzagging it with as much horizontal action to the outer sides as possible. You might want to get a very long large hook eye to anchor this chain on the ground end too, to keep the rose reasonably steady, especially during periods of high winds. It might be possible to make this work more easily by using two chains for each rose instead of one, and that probably would work just as well in terms of appearance during the winter (or probably would look better). If you didn't like the way it looked or worked, then just take down the chains, and trim the rose's longest canes back slightly into a bush form.

The limited amount of time I've had with Mortimer Sackler here in zone 7 doesn't make me an authority on this for your area... but it might be a decent guess that Mortimer Sackler would work out pretty well for you. I do like Mortimer and it stays healthy without needing to use chemical sprays.

Assuming you decide that you like Mortimer Sackler after investigating it, you might consider buying four of them, not just two. Use the other two in front of the posts at the two ends, and you'll end up with blooming all along overhead and a sort of open hedging at the base across the entire front. Mortimer Sackler for sure does want to bloom, and for sure it will repeat bloom well in zone 7.

If I ever buy another Mortimer Sackler, I'd buy it from Roses Unlimited, where it is available as an ownroot plant (within the "English Roses" group there). Ownroot is also a good idea considering your hardiness concerns; in the worst winter some year, you might have to cut out some dead wood all the way to the ground. With an ownroot, what comes back will still definitely be Mortimer Sackler.

If you do go with the 4-Mortimer Sackler scheme, you might also consider planting a small line of low-growing hardy polyantha roses with contrasting color just in front of the Mortimer Sacklers. Some ideas: White Pet (Little White Pet), Baby Faurax, Marie Pavie, Margo Koster.

Best wishes,
Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Mortimer Sackler information (shrub use size given)

I just purchased "SUPER JANE", a medium pink thornless hybrid perpetual bred by Kim Rupert from Burling. I intend to pillar it as it grows. Since it hasn't been through a Zone 5 winter, I can't speak as to its' winter cane hardiness, but the lack of thorns speaks to me..especially when wrapping long canes around a pillar.

Here is a link that might be useful: SUPER JANE