If you give me a year I'll let you know about 'Moonlight'. It went in this past spring and it is already eating the arbor over the french doors. It's a beautiful, creamy soft yellow tinged with pink, but it is mainly a spring bloomer. Rene told me if I kept it deadheaded it might repeat, but it's been just a couple blooms here and there. I'm rather pleased with it, tho. Very healthy without much spraying.
-terry

That one is pretty, Terry. Did Rene say it was hardy when you ordered it? I don't care at all about repeat as long as it makes it through the winter with canes intact.

I can't find my original e-mail and I thought I saved it. I really hate to rely on my memory :)...I think I was mainly concerned at the time about the repeat rather than the cane hardiness. I just went out and looked at it and it now has some canes almost reaching the second story bedroom window. It sure would be a shame if it wasn't cane hardy and it had to start over, wouldn't it?

It's neighbor on the other side of the arbor is 'Autumn Sunset', and it definitely died back to the snowline last winter but has regrown to almost 8' tall again.
-terry

I used to have Westerland, which would start from nothing and get big over the summer. I couldn't figure out what to do with it so I didn't replace it when it died of canker. I much prefer my explorers who are easier to attach just once and have almost no dieback. I'm waiting for Rene to get back to me but if they don't have anything then I'll get Quadra from Pickering and maybe get Munstead Wood too.

I have had New Dawn for 7 years. I do not recommend it.

It reverted back to a once blooming rose; never has bloomed more than once. I have kept it because it was plant patent #1; a conversation piece.

It died back last winter and is just starting to grow over the trellis.

So, I am looking for a replacement. I am leaning toward the Canadian roses.

Palatine puts the roses they have lots of on their website but you can phone and see if they have what you want in their nursery. If they do have it they will send you one.

I don't know quite what to think of Munstead Wood yet...the flowers are soooo small; not what I expected from an Austin. And the bush itself has remained quite small itself; I almost e-mailed Donna asking if they sent me a mini by mistake. The colors, bloom, and habit seem all off, and then the second flush were more wine color. I dunno, I'm still not convinced I have the right rose. It's still only about 18" tall and I've only had about 5 blossoms total. If you get it, we'll have to compare notes. I'm waiting one more year before I rush to judgement....

I've grown a number of climbers in Zone 5a and still have many. My best one is Illusion. Hardy, healthy, bright red flowers with good form and blooms regularly. I've had some Explorers that were OK but not that exciting and are now dead. Cabot, Kelsey are ones I remember.

A good once bloomer is, gad I'm at work so don't have any rose reference books and I've forgotten the name. It is a large perfectly formed old rose shape that changes color as it opens. I'll check it out when I get home and send the name. Fairly popular on GW.

I don't know if they have it at Palatine, but Lillian Gibson is a cane hardy beautiful pink once blooming rambler/climber that could cover your arbor. Cane hardy here in Minnesota zone 4a.

All of the roses mentioned will suffer some winter dieback in your growing area and many will require severe pruning. New Dawn does well for me but still requires tip pruning.
illinijt's problem with it is the graft died and it reverted to the root stock, not the rose's fault.
Mine is a four year old own root. It's recycled four time this summer and has had some blooms on it all the time. I keep it cut back to a reasonable size by choice but it still requires some pruning each spring to remove a little dieback.
E-mail me for info about Quadra. I have a number of rooted cuttings. Mine is five years old and has bloomed well for the last two. Before that it bloomed only in the spring followed by a few sporadic blooms throughout the summer.
What's your problem with doing a little tip pruning. You'll have to move to a warmer growing zone to avoid doing any of it.
I really like Dublin Bay but it dies back to a couple of feet. Quadra likes to bloom in large clusters. Dublin Bay will too but often blooms singley. To me the blooms stand out better than Quadra. All my climbers are listed as hardy, but hardy may mean it survives, not necessarily the entire bush stays viable.
That's just a problem with climbers in cold winter zones like ours. I like Viking Queen, Clair Matin, Compassion, Berlin, Fourth of July, and Autumn Sunset but they'ed not qualify under your criteria of green to the tips.
They all will have to be pruned back to about two feet depending on the severity of the winter.

Ah yes the name is Alchymist. It has large, fragrant flowers and a long bloom period. A big rose supposedly can get to 16' and 7' wide. MIne two are much smaller featuring a couple of thick canes but my experience with climbers is that here they take a long time to get going. It was 7 years for Illusion to reach its' full size.

I also would not recommend New Dawn. Several years I have thought my New Dawn was completely dead, even after a mild winter. The only time I had rebloom was when I seriously pruned it one summer, then I got a 2nd flush in fall.

I bought Alchymist from Pickering last year and surprisingly it was winterkilled to about 6" this year. Many on GW said this is just a fluke, possibly due to it being its first winter. I have yet to see a flower but am anxiously awaiting next year.

If Palatine has Austins, a most excellent climber is Constance Spry. Also Chianti. Both once-bloomers but much more gorgeous and fragrant than any Canadian Explorer.

I have Chianti already but it hasn't done much yet. It's only two years old though. My problem with getting a rose that dies back is that I have Quadra and John Cabot and neither of those has much of any die back and they're big and beautiful. The only reason I wouldn't get another Quadra was to minimize the amount of rose orders I am making.

Palatine carries a # of once bloomers by geshwind, I almost ordered a couple a year ago,(mine wouldve been more free standing big shrubs though) but then ashdown stopped selling and I got baltimore Belle instead. I might add one or two in the coming years. I already am playing around with a rambler Madame Sancy de Parabere which has thrown out 10 foot canes this year, Will see in a couple years if it can be grown as a big shrub here or not, got a smattering of bloom this year.

You can get QUADRA from pickering however, you can order now =). I put two on either side of an arbor, in a year or two I should have some nice pics, it threw up a couple of long canes this year. It has nasty thorns as well. I dont mind taming beasts though or trimming tip damage.

Quadra isnt as hardy as some of the other explorers though, I got some tip damage last year. I think henry kelsey is supposed to be hardier. I prefer Quadras bloom though.

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Ive seen William Baffin as a climber on a long pergola, however this was at the New Ulm August Shell Garden, with a couple of staff gardeners hacking at it every year. They did a very nice job though it would be alot of work!.. IT wants to take over the world at times!

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They also planted alot of them!

Here's a pic of a 'KORDES MOONLIGHT' blossom...
-terry

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