Absolute first question to ask is whether or not the climber is cane hardy where you are. That's also the second and third question. If it isn't cane hardy during a normal winter, but the canes die back, it will never really climb. It will stay as a bush. Sometimes a fairly large bush, but definitely a bush. This becomes tricky because almost all rose zone ratings reflect how *crown* hardy the rose is - whether or not it will survive at all.

I am not the most experienced and knowledgable rosarian, but will share my experience, since I live not far from CT.
The key to successful roses growing is to select the right rose for your zone and conditions and start with healthy roses from a reputable nursery. (I wouldn't bother with discounted roses from unknown sources if you are a beginner and need only 2 roses). Some nurseries describe their roses very poorly, making selection quite difficult. Use "help me find roses" for individual rose information.
I love climbers and have some which grew very nicely.
Yes, you can grow your roses against the wooden fence. Leave enough space for future growth depending on the specific rose and make sure they have enough sun. You can train the roses with time as they grow taller.
PM me if you have more questions.

Cane hardiness doesn't seem to be a big problem but it may depend on the rose. I just dug up 2 roses that were supposed to be New Dawn but were not and they had huge canes 12' or more. My Golden Showers isn't doing so well but it just appears weak as opposed to having the canes die back.

I used to live in Zone 5 and I remember reading that you needed to pull the canes down and cover them for the winter. I had some climbers but they were no-name old fashioned roses that came with the house. I miss the way my roses grew when I lived down in Mobile, AL.

I don't know whether to put in some sort of trellis or train the roses by attaching them directly to the fence. I want something that doesn't require me to fuss with it because I don't have time. But I suppose that is true of most of us. :)

'Rules change in the reaches'. In the northeast, that's pretty much anything off the coast. The way we grow roses is different. The roses are different. Our expectations are different. People who don't understand that end up as Future Former Rose Growers. There are an awful lot of them out there. They'll talk about how incredibly difficult roses are to grow. How they tried once, and everything died. How the amount of work involved is completely out of proportion to what they get out of the activity. This in an area where one of the worst horticultural pests is a rose. It's simply a matter of not understanding where they live, not understanding the conditions most roses want, and that bridging that gap isn't necessarily easy.

Most 'hardy' climbers much prefer winters that stay above zero. This past winter, we had a low of about -2F. So based on this past winter, I could grow a lot of things much better than I actually can. Every degree or two colder a place gets, translates into the loss of certain climbers. Since the normal winter temperature swings can lead to canker, burying the canes isn't a solution. A basketball coach (Wes Unseld???) once said 'you can't coach tall'. Here, you can't coach hardy. Either a rose is hardy, or it isn't, and there's very little the gardener can do to change that.

From a practical point of view, this means that once you get past the clump of normally hardy climbers around zero, most of the rose are going to come from a fairly small number of recognized breeding programs/bloodlines, with fairly well defined family characteristics. If, for whatever reason, somebody is looking for a rose with characteristics that don't fall into the normal range for those families, then the 'right' rose is going to be somewhere between difficult to impossible to find. For starters, most of them are once-bloomers. They are descendents of once blooming, climbing species like multiflora, setigera, and wichurana. However, the first hardy repeat bloomers were also wichurana hybrids, and it is still a common parentage for zone 6 climbers. These are not particularly well behaved roses, and tend towards wicked thorns. Like anything growable in this part of the world, they produce a big June flush with scattered flowers through the rest of the growing season. This tends to throw people since the photographs are always taken in June. The other two groups of hardier than normal repeaters are Kordesii climbers and, of course, the Explorers. They are distantly related, and some people tend to group them together. I don't since I can't grow Kordesiis as climbers. They can handle a fairly cold zone 6, but somewhere around the line get cranky. Explorers can handle absolutely anything my climate is going to dish out, and the best of them are as close to no-maintenance as anything I grow. Like the wichuranas, which is part of their background, they are generally awkward growers with vicious thorns. The exception is John Davis, which is mysteriously thornless.

One of the supposed virtues of gardening is that it teaches humility. The plants are going to do what they are going to do.

Take seriously what Mad Gallica says v- he nows the northeast best.

Assuming the in zone 6 certain roses are cane hardy, I would recommend Laguna, Compsassion, Ilse Krohn Superior that are very healthy and very beautiful climbers.

I recommend you to contact Palatine roses for as a source to buy roses from and discuss hardiness issues with them.

They have more climbers I listed only those that I have in my garden and have experience with. I hears very good things about Jasmina too, alas I don't have it.

Mad Gallica, what an amazing post! I bow before your obvious wisdom and knowledge. I'm pretty new to the NE and very new to gardening here. I'm lucky to be not far off the coast in New Haven with a southern exposure. But we can have wicked winters anyway and that just might take out my rose. If roses don't like my fence I will work with more clematis. Roses are special to me for several reasons so I want to try them out before throwing in the towel.

I do understand about plants doing what they are going to do -- that is true of all living things. I rescue dogs and have a houseful. They are what they are and none of them are Lassie or Rin Tin Tin. LOL The dogs are the reason I only have a garden along the fence and why roses are a big choice. The thorns discourage those happy digging sprees...

ceterum I took your advice and called Palatine. I ordered an Alchemist, an Amaretto and a Souvenir de la Malmaison CL . She assured me that if I put the graft 2" down they will do fine in zone 6. :) I've never even heard of the Souvenier before, but it is lovely. I really did want a Compassion but Palatine doesn't carry them. Maybe another year.

I am also going to order a Dream Weaver from J&P and see how it goes. They will do what they will do and hopefully that will be to bloom and be happy.

Thank you ALL so much for the advice. I deeply appreciate it!