Quadra is a Red Canadian climber, and Ramblin' Red is also supposed to be hardy. Outer petals are magenta, inner petals are clear red.

My Quadra was an own root and is still sulking. I hope this is the leap year. I've seen photos of it looking stunning.

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Hope for Humanity is reported to get tall in some areas. Mine was a first year last season and it shot up a 4' cane and was a gorgeous blood red. Early season blooms are almost black in color.

Hope for Humanity:

My William Baffin does not rebloom, and the color is gaudy pink (same with Capn. Sam Holland).

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OH, and I tried grafted Altissimo (parent of FOJ) and it appears to have died over winter. Might be a good one to grow with FOJ, though. The reds are supposed to be a perfect match. Altissimo should be hardy, I may have gotten a bad copy.

Cheers,
Michelle

Thanks Michelle - Altissimo was also on my list and I love the single flower. The others you mention are new to me and I'll look into them... also, you live in a zone 5...do you think they'd "go for" zone 4??

What were your low temps this past winter, Yoda?

Reason I ask, often the micro-climate right beside a structure, particularly on the south side of a building, is a zone or two higher. I routinely grow Zone 6 climbing roses here, against a building, here in theoretical Zone 5.

Good question David - i have no idea what my low temps were on that side. I just know that few zone 5 plants make it in my yard, although some do in a sheltered southern courtyard.
Your experience with a higher zone on the south side of a building as a microclimate is exactly what i'm looking to hear and learn about. it's encouraging, as I worry about extreme fluctuations of temps in winter...but roses seem to be awfully hardy. I'm just hoping to spare myself a few years of experimentation! It's probably the clematis I want to plant next to it that I'll end up worrying about instead!

David is correct about microclimates. Any of the Canadians (Quadra or Hope for Humanity) should survive your location without trouble, but I can't say how much cane a mature rose will have after winter...

If FOJ does OK, I'd think Altissimo would do about as well. I don't grow Ramblin' Red, but have heard very good things about it's hardiness on the rose forum.

Cheers,
Michelle

It would seem that my two enormous Climbing Peace roses didn't do very well this past winter, although they've thrived for years. These things have (had) 3" dia stems and were shooting out 12' tall arches of flowers. It looks like I'll pretty much have to cut them off at the ground. With a chain saw or something. The America and Blaze survived pretty well.

I've got some miserable rose disease these days - I prune off the dead winter stuff, things look spiffy, and then about a week later, many of the remaining stems turn black and die. Once it hits the plant is dead in 3 years.

Wow David,
How disappointing - cold and disease.
Thanks for the tips on Blaze and America.
Best of luck with your Peace.

I used to belong to the Pikes Peak Rose Society. Micro climates is right!!! What works in one spot won't work in another. Canadian roses are always a good bet. I have a great climbing red rose, got it by the grafted rose dying and the roots living. :0) They use canadian rose roots to graft to. My William Baffin is barely surviving, but others have great success with it. Altissimo died(winter kill). Mr Lincoln, dead. Olympiad is doing well, it has a tea rose look, it's a rebloomer. John Cabot is flourishing, it's pink, more of a bush. Blaze hung on for several years, you might have luck with it?

Here are a few names for the Pikes Peak Rose Societys List:
Climbers: Dublin Bay, red, own-root,mulch heavily
Henry Kelsey, medium red, 12' Canadian shrub, yellow stamens, hips
Modern Shrubs: Linda Campbell, dark red, 6', each cane produces a whole boquet
Cuthbert Grant, dark red,Canadian, 5', hybrid tea-like blooms

Thanks Nicole! I'm thinking it will be trial and error after all, starting with some good Canadian stock or something.

I've been looking into climbers some more since posting, and am finding that i love the single and double petaled old rose-looking types such as Henry Kelsey, Altissimo, and Dortmund. HK seems to be the one Canadian among them. Dortmund is rated incredibly hardy, but apparently requires deadheading for repeat blooming. I think Altissimo and Dortmund, with the paler centers, are my favourites. Bummer to hear your Altissimo died, in zone 5.

I am trying a vintage rambler (1961) called ILLUSION this year. It is a lovely, vibrant red. Available thru Vintage Gardens.

I'm trying other old roses through them as well. Some like CECILE BRUNNER and the David Austin CONSTANCE SPRY are said to make nice climbers or you can prune them to keep them as shrubs.

I had horrible luck with hybrid tea climbers because they usually bloom on old wood and mine die back to the ground every year. Because of the Indian Summer last year I had flowers last fall on my climbing Peace. I think it has flowered 2 or 3 times in 12 yrs....it needs a new home.

I've had wonderful luck with old, own-root climbers. I have a DOROTHY PERKINS (small pink clusters) that has nearly eaten a porch it got so big. No fragrance and no rebloom on that one. Very little die back at all.

I also have one that was a cutting from my grandmother's. I think we've identified it as MARY LOVETT. This one is white with yellow buds, tea like, sweet fragrance and does rebloom. Moderate die back each year but it really does well on the bloom.

Another oldie that I received in a trade last year is New Dawn. It is a soft, pastel pink and occasional rebloomer. My very small cutting survived the winter with minimal mulch and not a bit of it died back.

You can look these and other roses up on the Rose HelpMeFind website.

Here is a link that might be useful: ARS HelpMeFind Rose database

Re: Altissimo - I had gone out to 86 it and there it was - a small basal coming up. It must have seen the shovel coming. There is hope for Altissimo yet.

Also wanted to mention Linda Campbell, a pretty red rugosa. It's supposed to get big in our area. Not exactly a climber, but it would be another nice choice for a tall redhead.

I have one of those and one of Dortmund (from High Country Roses last season) to plant this year. Dortmund is blooming in the coldframe and the flowers are very pretty.

Cheers,
Michelle

I have Linda Campbell on the south side of a building. It grows like a weed, and I'd recommend it to anyone. That one, so far, has been resistant to the black plague that's hitting everything else.