You have a very nice list of roses there. Abraham Darby - I grew a couple of bushes of him in North Carolina (hot and humid, z 7b, and he was a splendid and very vigorous performer, a reliable and very good repeater, got quickly huge (6+ft x 4/5ft) but well behaved, rounded shrub, big, lovely and perfumed flowers. While not a terrible BS magnet, he did a lot better with spray, even if only a occasional one. Lovely fruity perfume. In your dry and climate (Crete, right?), disease, especially BS, should not be much of an issue though. Make sure that he and the other Austins get enough water and food, they're greedy for both, and this will make a big difference in their looks (incl. flower size), health, and and performance. Buff Beauty - I grew her also in NC. She produced pretty flowers, but not as regularly as I wished, two or at most three times per season, mainly in spring/early summer and then again in the fall. She will get big and is very sprawly (sideways if not trained otherwise), and very thorny with stiff stems. However, I've seen big upright shrubs of her, also in public spaces, here in England, which stayed healthy without spray. For some reason though, I didn't fall in love with her in NC, perhaps because of her sprawling habit and thorniness, and thus didn't get her again. But it's a good rose. Scent is moderate, sweet musk/tea. Golding Celebration - I love this one. It's been a superbly performing and repeating rose for me both in America and here in England, perhaps best grafted. I wouldn't be without it. The flowers have a wonderful golden color and a terrific scent which starts out as sweet tea and acquires more complex fruity notes and of white wine as the bloom ages. It needed some BS protection in NC, but fares quite well here without any spray it gets some BS but recovers quickly. It's vigorous and will get big quickly (but don't forget the water and the fertilizer!), but never sprawls. Heritage - another favorite of mine with its many many soft pink blooms. The rose is very floriferous and repeats very well if grown well (good soil, food and water), is extremely healthy (no spray, practically no disease here in wet England), and has a nice medium scent. My shrub got very tall in the US, over 6 ft after 3 years, but only a bit over half of that here so far (2 seasons). Nicely uproght and vaseshaped wiut any stiff appearance. I noticed that the rose does not like strong pruning, especially not after the flushes, so keep that to a minimum. Main caveat: the blooms shatter quickly in the heat, but their mass and quick repeat (esp. if not harshly pruned) make up for this. Mme Alfred Carriere - a house eater and once (or once and a half) bloomer from spring into early summer in North Carolina. Very beautiful and sweetly perfumed (medium strength) losely shaped blooms, and quite prone to BS and also powdery mildew, but this may not matter in your climate. But you'll need A LOT of real estate for her, and I don't know if she'll repeat any better where you live. She also seems to be a once bloomer here in England and in Germany from what I've seen so far. I don't grow her anymore. Just too big, not much repeat. Felicia - superbly perfumed and a good repeater, and quite healthy too. I grew her in a very large pot in NC which she quickly detested, vigorous as she was. She'll get very big! I put her in the ground just a few months before I left for the UK. She quickly stopped sulking and looked and bloomed better again. A beautiful and big shrubby rose, worth growing for her perfume alone. Duchesse de Brabant - very pretty light pink flowers with a pleasant perfume, very quick repeat, may be prone to mildew in crowded stuffy conditions, but perhaps not where you live. Mine stayed quite small, 2 ft or so. I wasn't crazy about her but liked her quite a bit. I don't grow her here in England, perhaps because I thought that she lacks just a tad of character. But she's definitely a very good and pretty rose. Francis Dubreuil - what a beauty. He needs afternoon shade, but may be crisping anyway. Very short, wide and open, shrubby habit, mine stayed under 2 ft in NC, very quick repeater, superbly colored and perfumed blooms - a deep smoky damask, a perfect fit for his dark red flowers. But he was a martyr to blackspot, even with spray, in NC. Defoliated quickly, but also rebounded quickly. That being said, I really loved him, and have him now on order from Peter Beales! Sombreuil - a climber with decent but not quick repeat, 2-3 flushes a year in NC. It has an open but somewhat scrawny, edgy habit with fairly thin and thorny canes, and not very many leaves, if I remember correctly. While the flowers were very beautiful, the plant looked a little, well, scrawny. Moderate vigor. Got also BS if not very regularly sprayed, but may behave and look better in a drier climate. The flowers are moderately perfumed, sweet tea, if I remember correctly. I don't grow it here in England. New Dawn - got space? I loved this one when I grew it in NC, the color and shape of its flowers, the sweet wafting scent, its small and shiny leaves that stayed perfectly healthy in hot and humid NC even without spray. Repeat was only so-so, mostly spring/early summer and fall, with some blooms in between, but when it was in full bloom it was just superb. While it's not as much a monster as Mme Alfred Carriere, it will also get very big, so take that into account. Only caveat: it's very thorny (at least the canes are very pliable), and it once took a good bite off my partner's scalp when he forgot to duck on the way out of our front porch. So maybe don't plant it along entrances and walk ways. But other than that, it's a great rose and true classic, my top pick for beauty and scent among the climbers you listed. Sombreuil comes second. Hope this helps, Andrea

Not to disrespect the Madame in any way, but from experience she is a MONSTER! She wants to be a large, tall plant, no matter how horizontally you train her. She will express her long canes even more vigorously in an indirect, filtered light, partial shade situation, attempting to throw herself into the good sunlight. Your stated height for the railing of 3.5' is no where near sufficient for a plant of her vigor and demanded size. She's sometimes described as having a "lower prickle count", which perhaps could be said depending upon your definition of "lower", but from experience, her smaller prickles are SHARP and mean. I've lost MUCH blood to too-close, intimate contact with her. I realize your zone could be anything from 6b to 8a in Arkansas, and where I grew her was zone 9b, but relative vigor compared to relative vigor holds true. I definitely feel the Madame is going to be too vigorous, too large and too prickly for that short a support, and her mean prickles are going to be the type you really don't want on a balcony railing. You'll probably have to keep too much of her pruned off to get much bloom and what you do receive is very likely to be thrown out toward the sun. I couldn't keep her contained to a 5' block wall. She continually took to the neighbors' trees and threw herself over the wall into the neighbor's back yard where the sun was more direct. Most of the flowering was in their back yard, too, even though she received a whole lot more direct sun where she was than you describe as available where you wish to grow her. Renae, on the other hand, has NO prickles. She is MUCH more limber, more easily manipulated and trained to smaller spaces. She flowers in clusters rather than many one to three flowers per long flowering stems, and often flowers on very short laterals along the canes. She is much less prone to mildew in difficult situations. Not that she won't mildew, she resists it much better than the Madame. Her smaller, less double flowers, occur in many clusters along the canes in much lower light, which should permit you more color and scent along your railing. Renae should be every bit as hardy (perhaps slightly more hardy) than the Madame. Trying to manipulate stiffer, more brittle, sharply prickled canes to a short railing as you describe is not a task I would desire. Manipulating Renae's much more limber, flexible and totally smooth canes will be heaven on earth in comparison. The potential for you to actually enjoy flowers ON the railing is significantly higher because of her habit, too. The Madame is significantly more vigorous a plant than Renae, particularly initially, but that extreme vigor is what will make her quickly unsuitable for such a short support. Renae is going to take her time building into the size plant you desire there, but in the long run she will be one you enjoy and not dread dealing with, nor will she require as much "dealing with" to contain her where you want her. Renae's repeat and explosion of bloom can be remarkable. Again, in a different zone than yours, so perhaps a bit faster development, but in zone 9b, in Visalia, CA at the Ralph Moore Memorial Garden on April 7 of this year, this is what Renae looked like. Imagine that on your balcony railing! These plants are ten years old, own root plants which have been trained by the Master Gardeners there to cover the pergola. Compare the shots to those available for the Madame and consider which you'd rather shove your hands and arms into! Kim

I did, but I don't have much experience to offer because it was accidentally broken at the beginning of the 2nd summer. It was such a tiny plant that it never recovered. I was finally able to replace it this summer, so trying again and we shall see. Both were bands from Rogue Valley Roses, small and fragile. They grew to about 18" in the first summer. I did let the first one bloom and the buds and blooms are as you say, enchanting. The first one did survive the winter with no damage at all; of course it was quite low to the ground so it was protected by snow and not disturbed much by wind.

oh, white roses - my favourites. How to choose though. Would have to start with the fabulous Nevada - like a stately galleon, sailing across the grass/weed patch. Like Mariannese, i must put in a vote for the charming double white. As a rule, single roses have always stole my heart but these dainty cupped blossoms, alomg with the delicious ferny leaves, fit brilliantly amongst the untidy vegetable profusion of the allotment. Because I have many timber supports in the raised beds (there are currently 23 of these beds) I grow more climbers and ramblers than shrubs or bushes. Much as I would like great swathes of Wedding Day, Seagull et al, I have to be content with just a couple of large white roses so have chosen R.soulieana, R.helenae and the gorgeously fragrant, if a tad touchy in the famously nippy easterly winds, Nastarana. Finally, another vote for a Pemberton classic, Moonlight. One of his earliest and imo, one of his best hybrid musks. It is still throwing out bloom clusters, arching out and up, entangling with an unruly Snowgoose (a surprise Austin addition to the list) Red......hmmm, not my fave colour although a 10 year old moyesii is truly fabulous, underplanted with stooled purple filberts and an equally vivid tanacetum - yay. I do not have Souv.de Dr.Jamain although I have planted several for customers. A lovely rose but Etoile d'Hollande is still my favourite velvet red. Lastly, a simple 'cottagey' rose I do have is Paul's Scarlet climber - always fresh, bright and easier to site in a rambling allotment, than most reds (which always seem more formal and 'grown up' for my garden style).