Awakening is a beautiful rose, but I've heard it is very thorny, so you may wish to select something else if the place you're planning to place it gets heavy traffic. There's a tea rose called E.Veyrat Hermanos (not too sure about the spelling) that I have been lusting about for a long time. You may have a look to see if it fits your bill.

I have Zéphirine and I'm not overly impressed with it, but bourbons in general do not like my garden, so it may be a thing with me. You may wish to look into Kathleen Harrop, the lighter pink sport of Zéphirine, which I also have, is less vigorous and a much prettier rose, IMO. Smells very good too.

For the white (or near white) climbers, you may wish to have a look at Blush Noisette and Sombreuil. I have neither, but I keep lusting about them (no room). Another white that should do well for you is Madame Alfred Carrière, but it's probably larger than what you are looking for.

All these roses can be seen at the www.helpmefind.com/roses database, in case you are not familiar with it yet.

Hope this helps
Eduarda

Living in South Carolina and not having a noisette rose would perhaps be a sin. This antique class of rose originated in your state.

I'd recommend seeing what noisette roses are available to you. There is a white noisette, 'Lamarque', growing at a public garden in my town. I think it looks great, and I've posted a picture below that I took of its blooms last summer. It's wrapped around a post and hangs down from over head on a arch-like structure along a path. Just perfect, and it has few thorns. It's a large climber however, and I know you said you want a short one for your white. Maybe the above suggestion of 'Blush Noisette' would work for you. That public garden here has one of those too, and it's much, much shorter than 'Lamarque'. Kind of looks like a spreading shrub, rather than a climber though ... could be just the way they have it pruned.

Randy

Lamarque, noisette rose, large climber:
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Randy, I had forgotten about Lamarque, she's a beauty too, but probably too large as well for the requirements (same as MAC, which I mentioned above). I thought about the noisettes too, hence my suggestion for Blush Noisette as fitting her bill.

Eduarda

Hi, I agree with Randy, you have to have noisettes in your garden! They are wonderful. I also think you should consider for a white, Sally Holmes, smells great, blooms like crazy and is a real doer! It would look really nice on your fence. I have Z.D. and she is nice, thornless which I love, but she is not the best bloomer. Maybe it takes years to build up, I have seen so many that are gorgeous, but if you want lots of flowers, this might not be right for you, but on the other hand, she is thornless, not too bad for bs, (I don't spray). You can always try!
I think Madame Alfred Carrière would be nice, thornless, and no bs for me, Celine Forestier (sp), Alister Stella Gray, are other tea-noisette choices, the flowers are so pretty but they are more like light yellow! You can find images at Help me find. Good luck deciding!
Jenn

I know I have been looking at them because I really did want one or two or three! It is sooo hard to decide and I want a repeat bloomer as much as possible. I did look at that Blush Noisette, very pretty. I kinda wanted something a bit more pink though. I don't know. I guess I can make a change I have a lot of fence so therefor I need lots of roses!! The Lamarque is really pretty and my house is yellow with white trim. I just love pink! I think the Z.D does take a few years but I read good things about it which is why I wanted it. What about the climbing Pinkie? So hard!

Hi again!
I just planted climbing Pinkie last fall, I can not speak to it, but I have high hopes. I planted it next to my little gir's playhouse. It is supposedly nearly thornless. I would try Zeffy if it is what appeals to you, go for it! It smells so good! Maybe you can try the sport Kathleen Harrop and have them blend together. I have heard it blooms much better, but have no personal experience with that rose. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: climbing pinkie from Vintage Nursery

I planted a Sombreuil on my wooden swing last spring. So far, so good. I have very high hopes. It's a lovely, old fashioned rose - THORNY!! - very fragrant and charming. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.roseinfo.com/images/403.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.roseinfo.com/sombreuil.html&h=358&w=238&sz=27&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=Tw4TVJYhFovf8M:&tbnh=121&tbnw=80&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drose%2Bsombreuil%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGGGL,GGGL:2006-23,GGGL:en%26sa%3DN

Since I'm in SC I really should have a noisette. Yep. I'll probably get one as soon as I can think of a place to put it.

I grow Jean Lajoi, a small climbing rose, perhaps to 8' tall with delicate little tea rose shaped roses. Nice if you need a shorter climber.

GGG

Ok, I will definatly go with 'Lamarque' as one of the roses, done more research on it and I am now in love! Infact I saw a picture of one in a book that is spilling over a wall of a church in Charleston and it's just gorgous to say the least. I have also decided that I will go with Pinkie and either Madame Alfred Carrière or Sally Holmes probably. They both seem to be what I'm looking for but leaning more torwards M A C. Thanks for all your help. I am new to roses as you can see, I only have one which I love but gets BS really bad but never effects the abundance of flowers it puts out every spring. So I have kinda stayed away from them plus where I lived before was almost in complete shade so now I get lots of sun and want to try some more. Wish me luck!

Momof2,
Good luck! Let me offer a little hope, I have found in my 3-4 years of growing old, antique roses that they are in a league of their own, honestly! They for some reason seem to be really strong and healthy. What I mean is that given time they will more than likely knock your socks off. Be patient however, if you grow ownroot roses as opposed to grafted roses, they might take a bit longer to get going. Rule of thumb is give them 3 years. Each year they should get better and better. The older and more established they become the heathier they will be. If you feed your soil, and provide water they should just do great. I am located in Memphis, TN and I am zone 7 to 7b.
This is my experience, I feel like your zone should be somewhat similiar. I can't say my roses are complete perfection, they have issues sometimes, but overall they are really healthy. I do not spray for I have children, dogs, and I don't want to hurt the birds, bees, etc etc.
Have fun and good luck. I think your going to be happy!
Jenn (it really is an addiction!)

Good to know about it taking them a while, Jennbenn. I have a cream climber (I actually have no idea what it is; I picked it up at a garden center when I first started gardening)three years ago and it doesn't do a whole lot. I also don't want to spray, so I figured maybe that was my problem. Maybe I just haven't given it time??

Sombreuil, at least here, is a moderately short climber compared with MAC who gets much larger. Lamarque is a larger climber too. Sombreuil is less hardy which shouldn't be a problem for you, and it has better BS resistance here. MAC defoliates pretty badly in our summers.

For pink climbers, Rhonda is a little-known one that is healthy and repeat blooms quite well and has a light fragrance. Zepherine or its lighter pink sport Kathleen Harrop do not repeat much for me if you care about that. There is a climbing version of Souvenir de la Malmaison (killer fragrance) that does repeat for me and the flowers with the many petals would look really beautiful with Sombreil (I have seen this combo at Heritage Rosarium near me).