I should add that I am in Southern NY (zone 6), and the wall that I seek to cover has a sturdy trellis about 6 feet wide by 8 feet high. The area is set at the back of a deeper bed, so I'm not especially concerned about thorns. I'm a relatively new gardener, but an enthusiastic one! Thanks again for any help you can give me.

I've heard great things about Viking Queen for cooler climates, and the pictures I've seen show it to be a gorgeous rose.

I second Viking Queen. It is a much easier climber to grow than Eden--though nothing can match the beauty of an Eden bloom. However, Viking Queen blooms about twice as much as Eden does.

I have both--but have very different expectations for each, needless to say. They both have their strong and weak points.

Kate

If you prefer a deep pink/cerise, while I haven't yet grown it myself, I know that there's a climbing rose named Parade that gets a strong endorsement from Roses Unlimited and Vintage Gardens, and also is supposed to be a good climbing rose for a beginner.

I'm about to order New Dawn, Viking Queen, and Parade from Roses Unlimited.

In your situation I wouldn't necessarily recommend New Dawn (or Awakening, or Dr. Van Fleet, which are all the same thing except for details in the flowers and in whether they repeat or not). I think they are all likely to outgrow your trellis. Furthermore they're notoriously thorny, so once they've outgrown the trellis you won't enjoy keeping any of them in bounds since the experience will be painful (annually or more often). The only good reason to grow them in a space smaller than what they want is because you find you can't live without their amazing palest pearl-pink flowers! They also have to-die for flower form, but New Dawn's been used so often in the breeding of climbing roses that you can find lots of New Dawn descendants (including Viking Queen, Parade, and another beauty named Inspiration) that also have flowers of beautiful form.

(You can tell I'm a big fan of New Dawn, can't you? ;) )

Here ya go!

Others here have heartily recommended this rose to me, so I'm very much looking forwards to trying it out!

from what I've read over at Vintage Gardens, since New Dawn was so often crossed with hybrid tea roses (so that the progeny were climbing roses with hybrid tea-style flowers to the greatest extent possible) quite a few of those climbing rose New Dawn progeny are relatively stiff, upright climbers (having inherited not only the beautiful hybrid tea flowers, but also a bit of the hybrid tea stiff stems). Inspiration is supposed to be a good example of that. (Viking Queen and Parade are New Dawn grandchildren and they both have canes that are much more lax. I chose them for that reason because where I want to grow them I need climbing roses with relaxed, floppy canes.)

I'm so bad at not knowing zones, I hesitate to suggest anything. But I do think my Eden blooms well only because of a lot of sun. It's a spectacular rose, but she could bloom more, for sure.

I adore New Dawn. Pictures are gorgeous and still never do her justice. She is a thorny, stiff (with age at least) monster, though.

Pictures of Parade are stunning! Mine's tiny, but I am very excited :)

Actually, I might have a suggestion: ask about Climbing Clothilde Soupert. Her blooms aren't as large as Eden's, and they ball in many climates, but she is shade-tolerant and gorgeous with an amazing fragrance. I believe I read that more northern folks can grow her. I have her here and adore her.

A climber I raised from a band and is now large and really putting on a show is Dixieland Linda. This is a healthy rose, stays very clean [as relates to blackspot] and is now just covered in light peachy pink blooms. Really like this one! Also love Dublin Bay.