I know all about the first come, first served policy! To my cost! Some trees were taken out before I moved in, so shade is not really a factor. The lot lies on an East/West axis, with a fence and cedar hedge along the long north edge. The house sits at the east end of the lot, so the back yard is actually something of a u-shaped suntrap, with the empty part of the u facing south. The most difficult part of the yard for roses is along the west, which is where the trees used to be. I have the albas there. Some roses are wrapped in burlap, two are tipped and covered with dirt and compost, and all but the albas, rugosas, and a hybrid setigira are mounded with dirt and straw. This last winter has been quite mild, with only one night of lows near 0, and the ground not staying frozen--I am glad I mounded, even if I do get some canker.

Congratulations on the new house! The easy answer to your question is, there is no such thing as a 'pest free' rose of any type. There are insects in every climate which feast on roses. Generally, no climbing rose is significantly more resistant to insects than any other. When a situation is encountered where it appears the rose 'resists' bugs better, it is usually because of some other condition or situation, not the inherent bug resistance of the particular rose. Some are more cold hardy than others. Some are more disease resistant than others. What would serve you best is research with people local to you, perhaps your local rose society, which climbers are cold hardy for Boston and of them, which are the most disease resistant. But for "bugs", you either let Nature take her course and live with the results, or you choose to spray chemicals to take care of whatever bug issue you encounter. Kim

Take a look at Lavender Lassie. Hybrid Musks do pretty well in shade and I've seen LL climbing a tree in a very shady garden.

Hello there. All the recommendations that have been poste here are fantastic. You just need to choose what would work for you. How bare are the legs of your roses? If they are too bare you may want to choose some of the taller companions to covered them up, otherwise you can use the smaller ones. I’ll look through my pictures of companions and post some. I have just recently started getting good companions into my bed so they aren’t as full and nice as the other gardeners here. for the very front of the border some dianthus can be nice and evergreen. They come in many colors. My all time favorite companion is Salvia. All kinds of salvia. May night and New dimensions rose salvias are everywhere in my garden. the purple blooms go well with everything to my eyes and it is easy to grow. Lavender dies here in the wet clay soil. Clematises will also scramble all over beds and add lots of color. Also don’t forget other roses. There are many polyanthas and hybrid musks or groundcover roses that can be added to the bed in front of your other roses. drift roses are great for bordering beds Here the hybrid musk Dr. Korms is covering the bare legs of Benjamin Britten. Hybrid musk Ballerina covering the legs of the climber orchid masterpiece Good luck!