I did an Advanced Search on HelpMeFind.com for climbers introduced before 1900 hardy in Zone 5b. There's a good many. Several are repeating. (I didn't know Noisettes survived up there.) Have fun!

Welcome!!

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: HMF search results

I'd be really doubtful about Noisettes surviving up there.

Jeri

Also doubtful noisettes survive up there. It does sound, however, that this person lives closer to zone 6 than zone 5.

Either you are buying a hardy Victorian era rambler, or you are buying a modern repeating climber. They are very different things. The ramblers are going to be larger and easier to train.

If HelpMeFind is listing a lot of hardy, 19th century, repeating climbers, I wonder what planet they are listing them for, since it isn't this one.

... what mae_gallica said. Even if a rose is listed as hardy in Michigan (ie., isn't killed outright by winter), I'm fairly certain that there would be considerable winter kill, so there may not be enough cane left on a repeater for it to climb and cover the porch.

I second the suggestion to consider once-bloomers. This will provide flowers in the spring, and green leaves as a background for the rest of the year. The wichuriana ramblers are hardy, and there are many wonderful ones to choose from. Alberic Barbier is a creamy white, Francois Juranville and Paul Transon are peachy pink, Aviateur Bleriot is pale yellow, and Climbing American Beauty (a particularly lovely one, BTW) is deep pink.

Many of the Explorer roses can be trained to climb. I only grow William Baffin, though it doesn't repeat for me.

Connie

There is a pretty once blooming peachy/apricot rose climber called Alchemist which is supposed to be hardy to zone 4, so your friend should have no problem with it. It looks very old fashioned and I think it's supposed to have a fragrance. You can find more information on climbers hardy in zone 4 and 5 at the Heirloom Roses website. I've seen many things listed as zone 4 that they will list as zone 5, so if anything, they err on the cautious side when it comes to zone limits. I bought a few Fantin Latours last year and they've done very well so far. They also have a repeat blooming climbing Cecile Brunner which might be very nice for your friend. Good luck with your search :)

Many of the Barbier bred Wichuranas are not dependably hardy in zone 5/6 as they are crosses with tea roses. 'Francois Juranville' has been very dependable for me in a warm zone 6. It has pretty double pink flowers and long flexible canes to at least 10'. If it survives in zone 5 it would be perfect for a porch pillar.

'Souvenir du Docteur Jamain' has grown OK for me in zone 4, but does not get large enough to climb up a porch pillar. It is cut down each winter and needs to re-grow.

'Variegata di Bologna' is a once blooming Bourbon that has gotten to about a 3' shrub in zone 4; beautiful flowers, the foliage doesn't last long after flowering.

'Mme. Alfred Carriere' survives in zone 6, I wouldn't expect it to do better in zone 5. It makes a 5' shrub with a few flowers; it does repeat in fall with a few more flowers. As with the other Noisettes, it is a spectacular rose in warmer climates, but is not really worth growing in colder climates.

'Excelsa' I have not yet tried in zone 4, but I would be cautiously optomistic that it would do well. It is a very tough rose and able to withstand most any kind of abuse, but I would think that a real zone 5 -20deg winter would probably kill it to the ground, but it would come back from the roots.

'Climbing Cecile Brunner' has done really well for me in zone 6 climbing straight up at least 8' - 10'. It was a complete surprise how hardy this rose is. It does take several years to really take off, but what a spectacular rose! I would definitely put it on a porch pillar or some place where it can be enjoyed up close as the flowers are tiny.

'Alchemist' has been in my zone 4 garden for a good 15 years. It has been cut back by the cold and had all the bark at the base chewed off by rabbits and keeps coming back for more. I thought I has lost this rose several times, but it has continued to return. The flowers are large, very double like an OGR and range from yellow to peachy pink. It can get very large with 8' stout canes, but is usually killed back by the cold, sometimes loosing entire canes to the roots.

I have to wonder if 'American Pillar' would survive in zone 5. I think it probably would do well, but would be killed back during cold winters. It has large pink flowers with a white eye that come in clusters on 8' - 10'
canes.

I know 'Dorothy Perkins' does survive in zone 4 and might be the best bet. It is very Victorian looking with the small double pink flowers most think of when describing a rambler rose.

'New Dawn' is boring but quite hardy in zone 4 most winters.

Palustris's advice sounds good to me. Hardiness tends not to go with climbing and reflowering and antiquity. I would further suggest that you go searching among roses bred by Rudolf Geschwind, an innovative nineteenth-century Hungarian breeder who bred for cold hardiness; and those of the Brownells, ditto; and among German-bred roses.

I must break a lance in favor of 'New Dawn'. Most of the time it's not one of my favorite roses, but my two plants of this variety, both of them growing in some of the worst ground in the garden, are currently in bloom, and fresh and lovely they are. One of them is planted on a hillside above 'Safrano', it too valiantly attempting to flower, and I see the family resemblance between them in the pale delicacy of their blooms. ('Safrano' went into the breeding of 'Dr. Van Fleet', the sport parent of 'New Dawn'.)

Melissa

Wow, I'm kinda sorry I posted that HMF link, but then again it has apparently revealed a glitch in the "system". And since I'm dumber than dirt about northern roses, I couldn't catch the error. I wonder why those noisettes say hardy to zone 5b. Weird.

Sherry

It is true about the unfortunate link between repeat blooming and non-hardy climbers. Beware climbing roses that will say "hardy to zone_" because it will be true that they will survive, but their upper canes in all likelihood may not. Always try to find a rose that says hardy to a zone lower than you're in. Starting a climber over and over in spring after pruning to the snow line or lower gets you nothing much more than a shrub rose, IME.
That said, there is a rose available through High Country Roses that they call "Victorian Memory." Some say it is the same rose as 'Isabella Skinner.' In any case it has pink nodding or hanging blooms, very few thorns, has a fairly good ability to re-bloom, has some fragrance, reaches 9 to 12' and is hardy - completely - to zone 5. I grew it for years **here in zone 4** and it made it through most winters just fine. Every now and then it would get winter damage that did not kill the canes, but reduced their production significantly and made it susceptible to blackspot (which it shrugged off when healthy.) And so I removed it just this past spring in favor of trying some of the Geschwind ramblers - but I would still highly recommend it for someone in zone 5 or 6.
For more information on roses that are great for Michigan, esp. southern lower peninsula, one can still visit the Great Lakes Roses website. Roger and Nancy Lindley retired and moved to Thailand, but have maintained their website as a source of rose information. On it you will find the list of roses that Nancy sold as suitable for Michigan and perhaps you will find something for your friend there. Good luck in your search, and how nice of you to want to do this for your friend. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Information from Great Lakes Roses