Hi Mila Welcome to the fun of rose gardening and we all understand, since we're in LOOOOVVVE with roses too. One way to keep the love going both directions is to pick roses that will easily love you back. I would question the rating of Dortmund as zone 4, since it died like a dog in my zone 5 Nebraska winters, and Kate reports that hers just barely squeaked by in zone 6. I'd guess it's more like a zone 6 rose at best, and it wouldn't be the easiest rose to grow as a climber in zone 5. The most important thing about climbers isn't just getting them to survive the winters at their roots, but to have surviving cane to climb and bloom from. That means choosing roses that are hardy at least a zone colder than yours (as you were trying to do with Dortmund as it was reported to you). Otherwise, you're likely to end up with a "climber" that's no more than knee- to waist-high, with skimpy blooms on the ends because it doesn't have enough strength regrowing from the ground each spring to put out the laterals that are the good blooming canes. Doing this means you don't have to mess with any winter protection at all, which is not only a heck of a lot less work and more fun, it makes for nicer blooming roses (because they're already hardy and healthy in your zone) and it makes your neighbors happy. My husband has requested that I keep the front yard "neat", but he's fine with several hundred roses with bare canes, since the trees are bare anyway and no one expects leaves. The untidiness came from my old winter protection methods with bags of leaves chopped all over the front rose beds (now I have a low fence and just dump leaves around the edges of the beds a bit). All of the winter tip methods and other ways of winter protecting roses are likely to be unsightly, and might not even work for a climber that's not suited to your zone. I do absolutely nothing for any of my 30 or so climbers, and most of the time they're the only roses in the spring that have live cane left on them. So, if Dortmund is a risky choice, you have 100's of other options that will be more fun and less work, some of which folks have already mentioned. Madgallica listed some Explorer roses that she grows, and most of those roses are rated to zone 3 or even 2. I agree that Quadra is indestructible and even in a bad year it covers my arch comfortably. It does need an arch or something very substantial to grow on, as it gets big and is very thorny. Here's mine on a better than average year. On the north and east side of my house, it's effectively a zone 4, so this and other Explorers are great choices for me, and they mostly seem to repeat pretty well. If you're on the south side of your house, you may be flirting with zone 5b or even 6 effectively. Here's a shot with Alexander MacKenzie and John Cabot joining forces (very similar hot pink flowers) to try to climb the wall on their own. They really need some support - the canes are well over 7' tall - but I've been kinda lazy. If you're intrigued by Dortmund, you may want something further on the red end of the garden "red" (often a hot pink). Two options are The Prince's Trust and Florentina, both of which are nicely hardy and healthy in my zone, and are already getting big in their second years. I don't have full bush shots, but here's a flower from Florentina. The Prince's Trust has been intriguing me more and more lately. It absolutely was DESPERATE to grow right out of the pot - my band from Rogue Valley was easily 3' tall when it arrived, and it has put on nice growth ever since. Again, I don't have a full bush shot but it's easily 8' in each direction from the base by now in its second year. There are climbers that would work for you in almost any color scheme you would want in zone 5 (OK, purple would be a tough stretch), so let us know what you're thinking and we can help you and your rose come to a lasting and meaningful relationship (smile) Cynthia

Thank you, @jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)! I also prefer soft colors and my style is a bit informal, romantic, and cottage-gardeny, though I'm trying to be mindful of my natural surroundings (that is, I don't live in a thatched-roof cottage). Do you mean you would mass plant your favorite rose all around the front garden or as a row next to the new boxwoods? I like Olivia Rose Austin because of the light pink color, old rose look, repeat blooming, reputation for disease resistance, and bushy growth. Other contenders are Princess Alexandra of Kent and Gertrude Jekyll. I know the best way to choose a rose is to plant top contenders and see how they perform for a year or two, but I cannot exercise such restraint. The rose that grows the best for me is David Austin's Munstead Wood, but the color is too dark for what I want up front. My second favorite is Sophy's Rose, which again is too dark. Secret (Hybrid Tea) and Le Petit Prince (Floribunda) are my best light-colored roses, but not the style I want for the front area. Roald Dahl performed poorly the first year, small and few buds, but I'm giving it more time.

A look at the rose garden in my circle drive, year 2. The anise hyssop shot up and almost completely obscure my fountain, so I've begun transplanting them elsewhere. On the left is a new bare root Apricot Candy rose that's still small. Le Petit Prince on the right is fabulous, so I'm considering buying a second and relocating the Apricot. Earth Angel Margaret Merril Celestial Night These knock-outs were the only roses when I bought the place and they looked awful. I pruned down to three canes almost to the ground in March and they are doing amazingly now.

I've found walkways bordered by plants to be attractive. The Brits like Lavender, which is deer-resistant, evergreen and fragrant. But you could do pink Muhly grass. Muhlenbergia Capillaris is native to Maryland, very pretty and deer resistant. The trick to making it look nice is having the wider edge of the fully grown plant just brushing the edge of the path. It may be that you plant them one year and have a border of mulch between your plant and the path for a few years before you get your final look. Planting too close to the path will look good in year one and be problematic by year 3. The pinky purple is Pink Muhly