I think that Muriel which is a hybrid bracteata like Mermaid would look realy nice with Mermaid. I would love to see a picture of your Monster it sounds wonderful. Many of the Old Garden Roses will get really large you might want to post on the Antique rose forum as well. I know that Madame Alfred Carriere get to be a Monster too, but Im not sure how it would look with the Mermaid. Lamarque is another climber that gets large.
Diana

Fortune's Double Yellow is really special-- it's a once-bloomer, but you won't regret giving it a try. I grew it alongside Mermaid and the two had a who-can-cover-the-most-fence contest. Mermaid won, but not by much!

Lamarque is on my short list. Madame Alfred Carriere too although I know Patricia43 has had trouble with it not blooming. And I have coveted Fortune's Double Yellow after seeing pictures of it in the ARE catalog.

Here is a picture of my Mermaid 5 years ago, when it was 2 years old. The rose now covers all 3 8-foot sections of the fence. This is a scanned-in snapshot, I must be the only person without a digital camera yet. The trees in the background have been removed, even the house has been moved! Up the hill, to higher ground.

Alicia,
Your mermaid is beautiful! I can only imagine what it looks like today! I thought of one more choice that might cover your fence nicely; Peggy Martin the rose that survived Catrina. The story of the Peggy Martin rose is quite amazing and I would love the rose just for the history, and of course the beauty & toughness of this rose.
Diana

"Alba Odorata" is my favorite Hybrid bracteata,
It blooms non-stop all summer with cupped white roses that have a good substance, and a heavenly fragrance when weather is humid. It's the most disease resistant rose in our neighborhood, which is close to the San Francisco Bay, where other roses get fungal disease easily, but this one has leaves nearly as glossy and healthy as holly.
The 'California' form of "Lamarque" is nearly as healthy in a local no-spray garden, and is also very beautiful, it is much healthier in our warm and moist climate (during spring and fall) than
"Mme. Alfred Carriere" which mildews quite badly here, and requires spraying 1-2 times a month.

Luxrosa

Luxrosa,
What is the 'California' form of Lamarque? Alba Odorata is a new rose to me but sounds like a good one.

I recently found this picture of our Mermaid -- well, being a Mermaid! This was after tropical storm Alberto went through our area in 2006 and dumped 8-10" of rain upstream of us.

{{gwi:328527}}

Each fence segment is 8' long, so as you can see she is 24' wide in this picture.

I have always wanted to see Ramona and Nevada with Mermaid. I also think Madame Gregorie Stachelin would be an interesting choice.

My friend "richmondrosarian" from Richmond, VA (also 7B/8A) absolutely LOVES Super Dorothy, which is a repeat-blooming and reportedly more disease-resistant version of beloved old rambler Dorothy Perkins. In addition to noisettes Lamarque and MAC, you might take a look at Jaune Desprez. Oh how I envy you that fence!

These are the strongest contenders in my mind so far:

Muriel
Fortune's Double Yellow
Peggy Martin
Alba Odorata
Madame Gregoire Staechelin
Jaune Desprez
Lamarque

Uh-oh, I have Fortune's Double Yellow in a pot. I have less self-control - and less fence - than you, Alicia. Thought of doing a few sections of make-shift fence on the property line with my neighbor who keeps wanting me to plant roses on her side. Maybe I will. lol

If you're going to get Muriel, better hurry. Sequoia is the only one on HMF who has it, and they're closing in April. BTW, they won't ship to Florida. What's with that?

I guess Mermaid has no problem with wet feet. Think of Peggy Martin UNDER salt water for a couple of weeks. Wow! I want THAT rose.

Sherry

Thanks for the heads up Sherry. :) I think I will go ahead and place that order...

A lot of things don't mind being underwater for 1-3 days. Thankfully roses don't. I want Peggy Martin too, she looks like a good find.

Paul's Himalayan Musk rambler is another rose that gets very large with cute little lilac pink flowers. A repeat blooming form of Cecile Brunner would also get huge, if that's not to cliche a choice.

Ingrid

Fortune's Double Yellow is huge and thorny. I'm not sure if you could train it down on that fence, and training it won't be fun. The link below gives you the idea. It is one of the most beautiful roses in bloom.

"Juan" Desprez, as they call it in Texas, is huge, lots and lots of leaves, and a sweet spring flush.
{{gwi:328528}}

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:328526}}

Berndoodle, would Fortune's Double Yellow be difficult to train because it grows straight up?

I did not train Mermaid, she just grew that way. But then again, does anybody? ;)

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