For an arbor, you can't go as horizontal as you can on a wall. But the goal is to bend the cane on the outside of the arbor. That action of bending the cane will have much the same effect as if it were horizontal. Lateral shoots will emerge along the cane, and those shoots will bear flowers, not the tip of the main cane. Some people also cut the main cane down to the first leaf bud to hopefully stop it from blooming and force all the 'flower power' back into the cane.

You would space climbers 8' to 20' apart depending on the vigor of the cultivar and whether or not it would be expected to suffer winter damage in your climate. For example, 'New Dawn' (a reliable light pink climber) could cover 20' in zone 6a, maybe not in 5a. You not only can, but should fan canes out at various horizontal levels on a 6' high fence. Bend the first strong cane nearly to the ground if possible and anchor it in a moderate arch. With most varieties, the best time to bend them is after they have grown out and become fibrous. Some varieties are more flexible than others. Climbers can be kept to a 3'-4' "depth" with regular policing. Climbers will make bushy growth the first year or two and then start producing climbing canes from the base, a few each year. These are 7'-15' long. Once the climber is as dense as you want, start removing a few of the oldest canes at the base each year, either in early spring or after the first flush is finished. A light pink climber that will be fully hardy in your area is 'John Davis.' It is a moderate grower--I'd space 8'-10' apart. 'Morning Magic' sounds interesting, but I'd want to hear reports of hardiness below actual -15 or whatever you commonly experience there.

Thank you for your responses - they are very helpful! This is where I've read about training in the second year: http://www.palmers.co.nz/index.cfm?componentID=334. I have no clue how reliable that information is - perhaps it is true for some geographical locations? I am glad I did the right thing training them now. I did get scratched - in fact I undressed to sunbathe while training roses. 30 mins later, when I saw blood, I got fully dressed and gloved ;-) These are my first roses ever so I want to make my mistakes with them rather than with the more expensive antique roses, which I also admire and will one day buy. There are not too many cane hardy to zone 5 but some are so I just have to do some more reading and first-hand rose growing. Regarding my worries about the leaves, I am double cautious around roses now because 2 years ago, while feeling brave, I pruned my mother's roses in what seemed to me a regular spring fashion, i.e. down to less than 1' - and it turned out they were climbers and shouldn't have been touched.. They have not recovered by today - the few new canes are perhaps only half as thick as the original ones I had cut off. So now I try to read and ask before I do anything. BTW, is there hope for those hard pruned climbers? Will they ever grow as strong as they initially did, or should we replace them with new ones? Diane - thank you for the links to GW posts - it didn't occur to me to do a search using any other word than "espalier" so I only found one result :-) I am not cutting anything off these roses in the foreseable future.

I've grown several roses up into mature, established trees. Generally, I've had more success with climbers that are vigorous, tough and able to survive on their own. It may be different and easier when both the tree and the rose are small. Most recently, last year I banished a Silver Moon to a spot where it could grow up a tree. Now, with 15 months in its new home, the rose appears to have settled in and is putting on new growth. Sometimes the soil around a tree is full of roots and low on organic matter. I put lots of compost in the planting hole and also a couple of gallons of old potting soil. This spring, I put some cotton burr compost around it and heavier mulch on top. One concern in planting a rose to grow up a mature tree is that of keeping the rose watered. Trees take their water first, which may leave the rose a bit dry. Be prepared to water your rose every day for a year or two. Silver Moon is a thorny beast with stiff canes -- not conducive to much tying and training. My helper and I arranged the canes against the tree trunk, threw a couple of canes up through a crotch of the tree and tied it all in place with stout nylon twine. The twine is the color of the tree trunk and is almost invisible. Some of the canes wrap around the tree, some form large arches that are supported by the tree. Good luck with Wm. Baffin!