Louise Odier's canes will flop sideways. No disease in Chicago. Still doesn't repeat after 3 years but I finally got a good spring flush.

If Ashdowns carries it again this year you may be interested in Catherine Guillot which had Louise Odier as a parent. Fragrant Bourboun at least 3 good flushes during the Summer. Globular blooms I've ketp it toa 5-6ftby about 3 wide I've had it 3 years now. I alwasy think of Louise as cascading sideways though I'm sure it could be trained otherwise.

IME LO's best bloom will come if you peg the canes to the sides - and that means she needs a lot of width. She is a lovely repeating and disease free rose in my garden, but narrow and upright she definitely is not on her own. You almost sound like you need roses that will do well on a pillar. Louise doesn't get long enough canes for that in my zone so I can't advise you there.

Anne

Here's a pic of Louise Odier at a local botanic garden. It might be able to be kept thinner by pruning.

My Louise Odier gets some blackspot late in the season. It's a beautiful rose, however, and tolerates a cold zone.

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In its first year my Louise Odier was sprawling all over with long lanky canes. I pegged them out of necessity. So she is much wider 3' now. 2nd year and only minimal repeat so far, very fragrant and pretty, and lots of blackspot.

Thank you everyone for your responses. Unfortunately, I'm feeling a bit discouraged. I would really like to distract attention from my neighbor's ugly garage by having several lovely roses to look at instead, but maybe Louise Odier is not the answer.

It never seems to work when I try to find an OGR for my garden. Wrong zone, wrong size, not healthy, etc. Maybe I'll just go for some tall, stiff grandifloras--or a row of non-virused Mr. Lincolns. I may have to rethink this whole idea.

Krista, I love that pic of LO. Thanks. I can't tell--is it growing on or around a pillar?

Labrea, I really liked the pics of Catherine Guillot, but I can't find a nursery selling it.

Does anyone else have some alternate suggestions?

Kate

Kate, it's growing inside the pillar, but some of the canes have fallen outside the pillar, as the base of the plant has widened. I don't think that any of the canes are attached to the pillar.

Mrs. John Laing might work in the spot you have in mind. It might be less spreading. It has good repeat bloom.

Which direction does your neighbor's garage wall face?
It could make a difference in hardiness issues? As well as providing some protection.
What color is the wall?
If the wall is gray or dark gray, I'd suggest considering the HMusk Nur Mahal. Ours grows in partial shade, under a hackberry tree (whose roots fight NM for water), and still is one of our best roses. Good healthy foliage and deeply saturated deep pink blooms that come all season long. Also stems that can be controlled (better than Louise's canes which demand their own space once they are established).
Because multiflora does well in your part of the world, I'd guess that HMusks have the ability to handle your winters as well.
Nur Mahal against a gray wall (in our case, old weathered gray barn board) is a color combo that will take my breath away every time I see them and I never tire of the glow of the blooms against the deep green foliage and the gray background.

Oooooh--I like these suggestions. Mrs. John Laing is lovely; Nur Mahal is too. I will be investigating these when I have more time.

My neighbor's ugly garage is to the east of me. That means whatever rose I get will get all afternoon sun. In July and August, that is very HOT--often 100+ degrees. My whole garden tends to go into a holding pattern by August, but it would probably be a good idea to select a rose that doesn't absolutely fry into a brown crisp.

As to color, my neighbor's garage is a shi##y orangish beige--just awful and the siding is falling off. For 5 years he has been saying he is going to expand his garage and re-side it. I'm assuming that is why he cleaned out the jungle that was growing there. If he re-sides it to match his house, it will be a nondescript pale beige. I plan to just ignore it, either way.

Winters here shouldn't be too much of a problem--I'm practically in Oklahoma (Zone 6). The northern half of Kansas is in Zone 5--they have more serious winter problems, obviously. Unfortunately, many OGRs I'd like to try are hardy only to Zone 7.

anntn6b--how wide does Nur Mahal get? My other HMs are very wide--much too wide for the space available between my neighbor's garage and my driveway. That's why I'm looking for a more narrow, upright rose about 3 ft wide.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I'll take any more anyone comes up with.

Kate

Paul Neyron? It grows straight up like a column.

Disease resistance and hardiness in your zone, I have no idea. I would think it would need regular spraying.

What about Lousie O. on a short, wide trellis or fence?

hoovb--Paul Neyron is beautiful. Thank you for the suggestion.

Does anyone else know about his disease-resistance, especially in the midwest? HMF doesn't comment on it.

I'm getting quite excited now--several great choices to mull over. Anyone else?

Kate

Nur Mahal wouldn't look good against orange beige. Or agaist a pale beige.
In my garden Paul Neyron is totally vertical, but also totally demanding of care. If there's anything fungal wrong with a cane, PN abandons that cane.
Against that background, to get dense enough to hide the hideousness year round, please forgive me for suggesting this, but Pyracantha would look good and is easily trained vertical and the colors would look good (esp in that time of the year when roses are leafless and you're really going to see the rampant uglies.)

Had you considered the HM Felicia? It's a very upright grower, doesn't get too wide and has beautiful, fragrant flowers. Peter Beales lists this one as his favorite hybrid musk and I concur.

Ingrid

i'd plant them anyway. how small is your driveway? can't you just drive a little on the grass when they get that big? ask the neighbor if he minds if they hang over on his property. if worse comes to worse what's a few scratches on the car? lol or else maybe get thornless roses!

I grow Louise Odier in a copper tuteur my DH Tom built for me. It sends out long ten foot canes. When I am paying attention I guide them back in and it is a tall, narrow column. My climate is quite different from yours, but my established plant blooms in several flushes, the spring one the fullest, but the repeat ones quite respectable. It is reasonably disease resistant but not bullet proof. If you check the other Bourbon thread, you will see that it does suffer from cane dieback. I generally prune out the older canes each year -- they turn yellow then die. I find it a rewarding but not maintenance free rose.

If you really want to screen the garage, I'd suggest you put up a sturdy, free-standing trellis and grow a vine of some kind over it. Wisteria would be too agressive. How about American table grapes? They ought to do well in your area and the American kinds are more disease resistant. Lon Roumbaugh's website lists all kinds of varieties. Or you could try clematis.

Rosefolly

Very few roses that are tall are as slender as 3 feet wide, the only one which comes to mind is "Cramoisi Superior" and it is too tender for your climate zone.
Our two most common foliage diseases are p.m. and blackspot and these are among the healthiest roses of their class.
I suggest "Grandmothers Hat" a Hybrid Perpetual, it is quite healthy in our organic garden where it only needs Neem spray a couple times a year, and thrives in a local public garden where its' never sprayed with anything. It's a pink rose that's very fragrant, and easy to grow. I prefer it grown as a 5 1/2 foot tall bush, but it can be grown as a 7' climber. You could grow it around a narrow tripod and keep it to c. 4 feet wide.
Other roses that are grown in a public no-spray garden in Oakland, California include
"Sydonie" from Pickerings or Hortico, sold on rootstock the canes can reach over 5 and 1/2 feet long. Its very fragrant pink roses are striking against the darker color of new foliage.
"Mrs. John Laing" Not a tall bush, but splendid.
"Arrilaga"

Luxrosa
Not reccomended -"Mme. Ernst Calvat" as it gets blackspot and rust.

Thank you for the additional information and suggestions.

Came home from work sick today, so haven't really started checking out the new ideas, but most definitely will.

Screening the neighbor's unsightly garage is not my main motive. It was just that with this space opening up after all these years, that means I can invest in a couple more roses (I had run out of space up til now). And a couple roses would give me something to look at rather than just an ugly blank wall. I would probably plant the roses 6-10 feet apart, so it's not going to be a continous hedge. In the future I might fill in the spaces between, but I am waiting for a "vision" of what that space should look like before I fill it with a lot of "mistakes." The 2 or 3 spaced roses (taller, narrow) will be kind of the backbones of that area for now.

Another reason I'm delaying making lots of final decisions is that if my neighbor ever does what he talks about, he will double the length of his garage--which means most of my east side will be one solid wall of garage. (My garage takes up the rest of the east side of the property.) That may pose a designing problem of greater magnitude--may have to mull that for awhile. I should know by spring if he is really going to do that or not.

So I'm still considering 4-6 ft tall (or maybe a bit taller) and 3-3.5 ft wide (maybe 4 ft might work--no wider, however). Some decent disease resistance. No real color preference since nothing is going to work with the garage color. Just something I like looking at when I glance over there.

Yes, I may consider a trellis, but the neighbor wants the 2 ft between his garage and the property line open so he can walk through there. A few rose branches hanging over there won't cause any real problem, however.

Thanks again--hope I haven't been rambling. My sick head feels like it is rambling right now.

Kate

Feeling a bit better and have been browsing google, looking at Mrs. John Laing and Paul Neyron in particular. I'm really taken with them. Know nothing about hybrid perpetuals other than what I've been reading the past 24 hours.

A number of the sources are very contradictory about the disease-resistance of Mrs. John Laing and Paul Neyron. What has been your experience? That might help me make a final choice--bs especially.

Thanks,
Kate

OH, Celeste--those pics are drop-dead gorgeous! I'm drooling--may have to flip a coin to decide which HP I like best. Will ponder this some more, but in the meantime, thank you so much for your info and pics.

Kate

Hmmm--maybe I am sicker than I thought--could have sworn I posted a response last night, but it seems to have evaporated. Oh well....

Celeste--I'm drooling over those pics--so gorgeous. Thanks you--and for the info. too. I still can't decide whether I like Mrs. John Laing or Paul Neyron best. Will keep on mulling--since it's so much fun anyway. LOL

Any thoughts on which one can best withstand the afternoon sun exposure?

Kate

To my nose, Mrs. John Laing is more fragrant, if that helps. Of course, perceiving fragrance is very subjective.

Sorry that I put you in this dilemna of having to choose!
I don't know if I could ever choose between the two....its kinda like choosing which of your children to keep!lol
But Krista is right....MJL is much more fragrant if that is a priority for you. My Paul has moderate scent but I've heard some claim he has very little fragrance. Paul's blooms are larger.
Other than that, I can't help you decide....because I adore them both...sorry.

Celeste

I'm wondering if Mrs. John Laing would give better repeat bloom in a situation of blackspot...

OK--I'm inclining to Mrs. JL. That fragrance would be nice. Hard choice, however.

Any other arguments for or against, given my Zone 6 garden?

Sure hope my neighbor goes for the neutral beige siding--though anything has to be better than its present siding.

Thank you again, everybody, for your suggestions. I'm in totally new territory with roses like HPs and Bourbons, so this has been a learning experience for me.

Kate

Louise is very fragrant ond mostly hardy for me, but as the others said, she has long, arching, new canes by July. Mine reblooms and she gets BS in late summer. I don't spray her.

A good upright HP that no one is mentioning is the mauve 'Reine des Violettes.' This one isn't just scented, shes perfumed. The flowers are an incredible color. Mine is fairly healthy without spraying. She also can get long canes, but these are fairly stiff. You can snip them to the size you want.

If you want to see a picture, just go to the Antique Roses gallery. Randy posts lots of pictures of this rose there.

REINE DES VIOLETTES would be a good choice but only if your committed to pruning. She likes to throw long canes but can be pruned into a tall upright shrub similar to a Grandiflora. In fact, I recommend training her as such because the repeat bloom is better than if you let her climb or sprawl. The color is unbelievable, rich cerise pink progressively turning soft purple. Against a beige wall she would be most striking. Every part of this plant is fragrant, especially the flowers AND the leaves. Black spot resistance is superior to any purple rose that I've grown to date. Here in black spot hell she spots but is one of the last roses to do so. An infrequent spray program is more than suffient for completely clean foliage. The canes are also thornness and the matt blue-green foliage is a perfect foil for the purple flowers.

If my description doesn't convince you then look at THIS!

Image of REINE DES VIOLETTES by Christian at Hortiplex.

Oh-oh--now I have to go look up another rose. So many beautiful choices--but Molineux the Enabler must be obeyed --or so harryshoe told me. LOL

Will check this one out this weekend. Off to bed now and have a busy day tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestion, John and Patrick.

Kate