I planted my first climbers this year and so far I have been pleased. I planted a pink Don Juan, it is a deep pink and smells delicious, and I also planted 3 Cl. pinkies. The climbing pinkies bloom in a mass of medium pink and are supposed to be fragrant but they didn't smell for me, but I don't have a very good sniffer. I think all the climbers you have mentioned will be beautiful no matter what you choose. I forgot to mention that the cl pinkie is very bushy also which I love and once established is supposed to be covered in blooms spring thru fall. Here is a pic of my cl pinkie a few weeks after I planted it. It is now well over 5 feet and I planted it in March.

Crepuscle, hands down. Orangey-buff color, fragrant, nearly thornless, tolerates shade, repeats well, and even survived this year's horrid winter.

Crepuscule was my second choice for those reasons catsrose mentioned.

Buff Beauty was new for me last year, and Crepuscule new for me this year. Mine are still babies, but I love them both. I picked them up at Petals from the Past, which is not too far of a drive for me. Last time I was there (late May), they still had stock on 1 gallon Crepuscule, climbing SdlM, Reve dâÂÂOr, Jaune Desprez, and I think they still had Buff Beauty. If you want one of those and are having trouble locating a source, you may want to give PFTP a call. They have a website, but itâÂÂs out of date as to their selection, so calling would be best. IâÂÂve been very pleased with all the roses (and other plants) IâÂÂve purchased from them. I don't have any experience with them on shipping, but as far as I know, they would still ship now through fall. http://petalsfromthepast.com/

Thank you for all these suggestions, crepuscule sounds amazing, it was definitely one of my top choices I'll have to call that nursery to see if they have it, because the only size I can find anywhere is a band & I was hoping to start out with something a little larger. I also was seriously considering Reve D'Or but forgot to put it in here when I write the above post, does anyone have anything to say about how those two roses compare?

Thanks so much!

Jessica.

This post was edited by Dinglehopp3r on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 19:06

Reve d'Or is a lot thornier and much stiffer. Crepuscle is friendlier. Try Roses Unlimited in SC for a gallon size. Also, Rogue Valley is offering Crepuscle (band size) as a freebie with four.

I am less than enchanted with Crepuscule since it is utterly formless in both its growth habit and flower shapes. I know this is a favourite on the forum but I can only express dismay that it is neither amenable to shaping or training, throwing out a million canes in every direction, with nothing of the arched fountaining shape of multiflora ramblers say, and every single bloom is a muddled mess of (admittedly gorgeously coloured) blooms.....and mildew seems like an ever-present threat since ventilation is a major issue and that dark tender new growth is ripe for the same disfiguring mess which has finally done for Zepherine Drouhin.
On the other hand, it has certainly covered the entire side of my massive compost bins.........

Campanula, you perfectly describe the one thing that I don't like when I see photos of Crepuscule, the shape it takes seems to be overly bushy in areas & somewhat "lumpy" for lack of a better term, not as elegant as most climbers, it does tend to resemble a rambler. I am hoping that since it is a fairly aggressive grower, that it won't mind a fairly aggressive pruning every now and then to keep it in a more pleasant shape.

After doing more research on Crepuscle, I found gallon sizes of it for sale on a website for a small nursery in Chapel Hill, NC called Niche Gardens, so I ordered one from there since that is fairly close. I still really want to try both Reve D'Or and Cl. Lady Hillingdon, maybe I will try to shuffle my plans around a little and make room for one more. This Crepescule will be my first ever actual climbing rose (besides the Austins that double as climbers) so I am a little nervous and should probably not just dive in and buy them all.... not saying that I won't...

This post was edited by Dinglehopp3r on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 22:00

campanula's description of Crepuscule is spot on, except that I didn't experience any mildew on mine. In terms of beauty, subtle coloration and overall charm I would always pick Reve d'Or, which I strangely didn't find to be very thorny at all and not too recalcitrant about being shaped. Lady Hillingdon is another wonderful climber if you lean more toward old gold coloration fading to light yellow rather than apricot-pink.

Ingrid

I grow Crepuscule and Reve d'Or. They have such different growth habits I think you really should consider the habit you desire. Do you visit HMF?
I would say Reve is much more of a traditional "climber" and gorgeous flowersâ¦not too thornyâ¦canes are a bit lax.
Crepuscule grows more like a rambler. But it is like Camps saidâ¦rather formless..so you can make it do what you want. No mildew issues here with either rose. You can't go wrong with any of those you are considering!
Post photos!
Susan

I must have lost my mind because I just ordered Crepuscule, Reve D'or, AND Climbing Crimson Glory, due for delivery in September.

I have been evaluating my property and decided that I could find the space for few climbers, two of those listed above will hopefully find happiness growing up the side of my house, I am hoping to get an "invisible trellis" installed in one or maybe two places on the outside of my house for them. The remaining rose(s) will grow against an ugly chain link fence that divides mine and my neighbor's back yards. The one that goes in the back yard will probably have the most growing space, but will also have to deal with the most shade, I am thinking maybe crepuscule could go there?

Out of these 3 which one do you all think will grow the largest/smallest? I know ramblers get quite large and can really devour any structure in their path, but since crepescule isn't technically a rambler, I didn't know if it would have the same massive size, or if just the shape of the plant is similar to a rambler. I have read in various places that all three of these roses can get quite large.
I visit HMF often, but I still seem to have a hard time deciphering growing habits and sizes, it seems like they can vary widely based on climate and just the individual gardener because I am constantly reading conflicting statements of size of one plant as different based on what website I'm looking at. I am a little intimidated by the task I have put ahead of myself, I've never had a climber, ever, but if I never try it will never happen, so here goes nothing!

This post was edited by Dinglehopp3r on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 23:29