I forgot to mention my zone is 5B/6. Toronto, ON.

You could ask over there on the OGR forum, too, there is a lot of discussion re: climbers, and DA roses.

I have New Dawn. It is a very long climber, nice pink bloom, reblooms very well, and is VERY thorny. And, after about 10 years or so, it declines. I cut mine back to the ground and before I got around to digging the roots out, it has come back, so maybe it will do well for another few years. I like it, except for the thorns.

My new dawn is a house eater that grows up to the power lines. Beautiful spring flush, followed by moderate rebloom. You will need a tall ladder to prune this monster. And gauntlet gloves and a blood transfusion. Does great in my zone 5 without protection. Generous Gardener is my nonstop bloomer, but paler than new dawn

Would you say Generous Gardener is a fairly fast grower? How large should I expect it to get after 1 year, 2 years? As for its scent, is it fairly noticeable?

Are the New Dawn's re-blooms still a pretty sight, or are there only a few at a time?

New Dawns reblooms are very pretty but nothing compared to her first flush
GG is in partial shade here. She blooms allllll summer for me. Blossoms are big and beautiful and she is low disease. First year about 6 ft, now at three years old I have to loop her canes so she fits on the trellis, about 18 ft. More narrow than ND.
Shropshire Lad looks really pretty. GG is more peach.
Fun, huh? Wish I could show pics....have not figured out the iPad yet.

I would love to see pictures!

I guess I should go for Generous Gardener if I want continuous blooms. Too bad I can't get everything in one rose. I'll hopefully have pictures in the summer of how the garden turns out.

Last year I started quite a few projects, not everything came together, and things grew a bit untidy. By the time I had things growing it was late in the season and not too much filled out. I am hoping things will grow in more full this spring/summer. Especially some of the other roses I have planted previously. Unfortunately I think the information card for each rose was tossed when my mom and sister were tidying up the house, so I am unsure of what is in the yard and what their characteristics should be when they are thriving. I may have to make a post for an ID check on the 4 roses we have if I can't find them. Those roses were bought before I understood that not all roses re-bloomed or bloom continuously, so I have yet to see if they re-bloom. They were on sale roses; small and barely visible in the pot two years ago, and last summer they had a poor start with me trying to amend poor soil conditions. They did alright near the end of the season, so I hope they do better this year along side the new additions.

I bet you will be pleasantly surprised this spring. With climbers, first year sleeps, second year creeps, third year leaps! Stay on this forum for lots of good advice . Roses are addictive!

That's some pretty exciting news! I think I may not even bother at all with a climber anymore since we have 3 already (that we have no clue what they are currently).

I was talking to my mom and I looked through some more roses on David Austins website and found a very tall repeat blooming hedge. It's called Hyde Hall, Hedging. This would be perfect for our far back chain fence where weeds behind the fence grow just as tall as it. It would also do fairly well in a shadier area.
For the side fence, since we figured it would be more money and time to install a trellis that would be strong enough to support a climbing rose without leaning on our neighbours fence, we thought of planting Wild Edric, also a hedge.

Both sound like reliable roses that fit my bill, aside from climbing. If I order now from DA website, I don't think they would be okay potted in a freezing garage until I can plant them in spring. Unless I am mistaken and I could easily buy them now, have them come in by Jan/Feb, and then pot them in the garage and wait until spring to plant?

Austin ships mature roses bare root, so order them for proper planting time in your zone. Follow protocol for soaking, etc. plant when your soil is workable, wait for them to break dormancy and then ZOOM! Austin's are very reliable in my zone 5 .

Wild Edric is very sensitive to soil ph - it displays its rugosa heritage by growing sparse and chlorotic in soil which does not provide an acid environment.
As for Zepherine Drouhin, grown well, it is still a beautiful rose, great fragrance and free with reblooming but, unless it has great drainage but still enough water and free ventilation (not grown against a wall), it is likely to get powdery mildew and (forme) late season blackspot. There are better roses and, as you are planning on buying in multiples, please try to find more local advice -ignore catalogues - they deal in hopeful generalities which may have no bearing on your circumstances. You might try posting this on the antique rose forum and you could also look on Helpmefind for more specific advice.

I'd call Pickering, and ask them what they recommend. I've found them helpful and honest in the past. They carry a fair number of Austin roses, and other things that may do better.

We planted Hyde Hall Hedging this year and couldn't be happier. See link below for my comments.

Di

Here is a link that might be useful: Hyde Hall

Uh....yum, and similar zones.

Palatine is good, too.

Thank you all for your suggestions!

The closest local nursery to my mom's house is Humber Nurseries. They carry quite a few roses from what I remember, and there were quite a few David Austins in their stock, although I can't seem to find Hyde Hall on their online list. Hopefully they will have more this season, and that the list is for last season.

I think I'll take my time to research their list and see which ones I would prefer, and then ask someone at the nursery for more info when the time comes. I totally forgot about this nursery. Maybe I won't have to pay shipping fees after all! =)

Here is a link that might be useful: Humber Nurseries Plant list. Just select

This post was edited by gardencarnation on Wed, Jan 2, 13 at 0:46

Humber has a very nice list. Presumably everything they carry does well in your area. I notice they have Sally Holmes, another one of my favorite roses. She isn't terribly fragrant, but she is lax caned, thornless, and a very pretty rose.

Generous Gardener....looped over the trellis

new dawn...trying to eat house

Awakening with Sweet Autumn and Morning glories

love the way it climbs thru the clematis, a true heliotrope

Omg! I am so jealous! Such beautiful pictures.

Yours will be even BETTER. Milder zone. Less winter die back.

My new dawns do not act like this at all! they tend to die back and only really bloom once and only on old wood. i have used them as a really big ground cover and will want to dig them out but i never do because its really hard for me to kill any plant. I think this has to do with my zone they say i am a 5 but i dont trust anything more then a 4 without alot of help.
If someone could help why is it every time i try to tie her to go up she doesn't bloom but when i leave her to crawl along the ground in the beds she blooms.
P.S. She is a bloody mess to trim.
Thanks Julia

A cane growing vertical doesn't produce many/any laterals. Climbers bloom from lateral canes and lateral grow from a main cane when the main cane is trending toward horizontal.

The main canes in my first photo are woven back and forth across the trellis to encourage the growth of laterals. Here's a picture of how the canes are trained on the trellis as it looked just a few months before the picture of the flush in my earlier post.

Here's a great Youtube video that will explain it better than I ever can:

Here is a link that might be useful: Training climbing roses

I would highly recommend 'Jasmina' by Kordes. Stunning rose, very healthy, with old-fashioned, highly perfumed blooms of unusual lavender-pink color.

{{gwi:350149}}

Wow thank you for the video! iNow i cant wait to get out there and play with this climber. Its the only true climber i have because of this zone. but i also found out from this forum and not from 100 books that in these lower zones they need to be buried deeper. Thank you subk3 and everyone else!
Julia

The video was very helpful. I don't think I will purchase New Dawn as the blooming pattern isn't what I am looking for. I am slowly going through the Humber Nursery rose list and have found a few roses that fit my needs. When I finish going through their list I will post which roses I am considering.

Dark Lady, we have the same taste. How are the dogs?

Ok.....now I want Jasmina

Julia, I know you probably know this, but roses are not true climbers. They must be anchored to a structure. Where do you live. I do nothing to Nd except cut what I can reach before the ambulance arrives.

I know but we up here use large shrubs as our climbers. Like williamBaffin and John Cabot. The ones they call climbers i guess i have three New Dawn, Blaze and Ramblin Red. Even these "climbers" dont grow as tall as my hardy shrubs there is just to much winter kill. I live in wisconsin hour south of Madison. They say i am a 5 but anything i plant that a 5 always dies way back if it lives and never really gets big enough before the next winter. Couple years of that and they are done. I do still have a Mary and a Thomas that try every year and they must be at least 5 years old. What really surprises me are Mr Lincoin and Queen Elizabeth those H Ts have been alive for 5 to 6 years or more but a long time. The part about the climber that i didnt know was that the main cain had to go up at an angle. I was tying him up straight to the top so thats why i was getting no flowers.He still dies back alot so most of the growth will go back into making the main cain but at least now i know how to do it right .Wish me and the plants luck next year.
Julia

This post was edited by julia034 on Thu, Jan 3, 13 at 16:24

I found two roses that I like very much and fit my bill. Carefree Beauty for the side fence and Dream Weaver for the back fence.

http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.1620&tab=1

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.974

This post was edited by gardencarnation on Thu, Jan 3, 13 at 18:22

Gawsh, so all of this wonderful helpful advice went out the window when none of the roses I wanted were available (or looked very unhealthy/tiny when I went to buy my roses). I decided to wing it, and bought a variety of different roses. I went against some of the advice and did end up buying a Zephirine Drouhin, as it looked very healthy at the nursery, and someone else rose-shopping there had bought it in previous years and said they had no problem with it. I am taking my chances here with it.

Btw, out of the 4 no-id roses I had in my yard the previous year, only 3 survived the strange winter we had, though I think the one that died was not a good plant to start with. :(

Here is a list of roses I have so far:

Portrait, Hybrid Tea Rose
Chuckles, Sub-zero Rose
Hansa, Hybride Rugosa
Zéphirine Drouhin, Climbing Rose
Climbing America, Climbing Rose
John Davis, Climbing Rose
Pink Supreme, Flower Carpet
Appleblossom, Flower Carpet
Mini Kordana Roses, Various
Unidentified, Red Climbing Rose (Blaze?)
Unidentified, Yellow Climbing Rose (Golden Showers?)
Unidentified, White Climbing Rose, sometimes soft pink (Iceberg?)

I'll post pictures soon.

Where did you purchase the roses and do you know from where they originate based on the tags? Many of the garden centers here in Ontario import their roses from the US and they are on Dr.Huey understock, which is the wrong understock for our soil and climate and tends to decline after 2-3 years.

This is why it is preferable to order bare-root roses on multiflora understock. We have 2 of the best roses specialist nurseries here in Ontario and they also sell potted roses in the summer months. Pickering Nurseries in Port Hope and Palatine Nurseries in the Niagara region. If you're serious about roses and succeeding with them, you should familiarize yourself with these nurseries and the varieties that will do well here.

The Zephirine Drouhin came from Humber Nurseries which is close to Toronto/Brampton, the others I will check their tags in a bit and see were they came from as they were purchased from a local walmart and lowes.

While it is upsetting to know that I may have roses dying in a short while, I have learned a good lesson. However, some of the unidentified roses which were purchased at Walmart are doing very well in my garden. Maybe l have gotten lucky. When I have my own place I will seek out the nurseries you have recommended. This is my mothers yard, and so I do hope the roses I planted will last. I just wanted to fill in her yard quickly since I am staying with her for a while and have the time to do so (new graduate that is job-hunting!).

Here is what I gathered. I hope this is helpful.

Portrait, Hybrid Tea Rose - AARS but grown in Canada
Chuckles, Sub-zero Rose - Own root, product of USA
Hansa, Hybrid Rugosa - Product of USA, potted in Canada (part of Pan American Nursery, Canada)
Zéphirine Drouhin, Climbing Rose - Humber Nurseries. Tag is missing.
Climbing America, Climbing Rose - AARS, product of USA
John Davis, Climbing Rose - Product of the USA, potted in Canada (part of Pan American Nursery, Canada)
Pink Supreme, Flower Carpet - Pan American Nursery (Canada)
Appleblossom, Flower Carpet - Pan American Nursery (Canada)

The following are of unknown origin and type, but all purchased at Walmart in the GTA.

Mini Kordana Roses, Various
Unidentified, Red Climbing Rose (Blaze, Don Juan?)
Unidentified, Yellow Climbing Rose (Golden Showers?)
Unidentified, White Climbing Rose, sometimes soft pink (Iceberg?)

My red rose, the one I believe is Blaze or possibly Don Juan is doing very well, it is pretty much to the top of my fence now, and this is its second year.

My white (iceberg?) rose has been around for 3-4 years now and is doing well, although it is a bit slow to grow.

The yellow was planted the same time as the red, but I have moved its location, so I think I may have hindered its growth, though it looks like it is about to bloom a good amount very shortly.

All roses, identified or not, look healthy. I hope everything will be alright. Most of the roses seem to be products of the USA but have been potted or grown in Canada. Maybe they'll last? They came in large black squarish pots or long green ones with lids..