I agree with Roseseek. THE PILGRIM is anything but thornless. If you want a yellow climbing rose with fewer thorns then try its parent GRAHAM THOMAS. REINE DES VIOLETTES is about as thornless as it gets for a rose. Truthfully I've never noticed any thorns on my plant. Both flowers and foliage are fragrant, which is an added bonus. The growth habit is graceful and mannerly so you won't have to worry about it growing out of bounds. Its one fault is a tendency for Chlorosis (caused by a nutrient deficiency). This cultivar is more susceptible to it than any other rose that I've grown so keep an eye out for yellowed leaves. Solutions include getting a grafted plant on Dr. Huey rootstock or amending your soil. Get your soil tested: pH should be neutral (6.5-7) with plenty of iron for the roots to feed on. Drainage should also be optimal so if you have red clay add some peat moss to fluff it up. I know this sounds like a lot but RdV is one of those roses who is worth the extra effort. A well grown plant in full bloom will stop traffic. CLOTILDE SOUPERT is a gorgeous climbing polyantha that does very well in USDA Zone 6. It has hardly any thorns and flowers are intensely fragrant. It is prone to balling and powdery mildew, which is really only ever a problem in places like California. With enough summer heat the flowers open just fine in spite of the humidity. Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Bad Guys - Chlorosis by Nanette Londeree, Consulting Rosarian

Hey Kim, I forgot to mention that I'm going to cut down my Miscanthus perennial grass after it dries out this fall and use to insulate the rose canes before I wrap them in burlap. If you don't have any perennial grasses, you could use straw, and I saw the long grasses at Farm & Fleet last night back in the duck blind section. I don't grow any red climbers, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge about their hardiness..just what I've gleaned about others' postings. I did grow New Dawn for several years until it contracted RRD last summer. The two New Dawns grew over a very large homemade trellis and stretched over French doors on the southern side of a walkout basement. They were about 10 years old, and during that time, I never winter protected them nor had to spray for BS. They had a great spring flush but just a very small flush again the fall, so if you are looking for continual bloomers, these would not be a good choice. The spring flush was magnificent, though. If you do choose New Dawn, you will need a very sound structure to grow it on; it is not a wimpy climber in my experience. It did get tall enough to reach the second story bedroom on a regular basis.

It looks a lot like Gruss an Teplitz. It will get at least 10' tall however, since it was before. It looks a lot like Dr. Huey. It has weathered -10 degrees and likely -15 degrees. While this was a mild winter, it has been around for at least 9 years. How much longer before that, I don't know since I just remember Mrs. Clarke pointing it out to me when she was still in her nineties. I can't think who would have planted it for her, though, so it may have been around for a lot longer before I noticed it.

Sharon: Thanks to your rose list, I remember how impressive that Easy Elegance which I bought at HomeDepot ... there was more blooms than leaves. The pot had large chunk composted pine-bark mixed with soil, well-drained. It also had Osmocote-like blue round tiny pellets mixed in. I suspect those blue-round-pellets have acid (sulfur) to neutralize alkaline tap. I once did a research on trace elements in chemical fertilizers, and Osmocote was the only one THAT DID NOT RESULT IN ANY NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY whatsoever. I didn't recommend Osmocote, since those brown granules didn't work on my herbs in pots. However, that type was discontinued, and there's improved formula in the Osmocote for flowers, NPK 14-14-14, it has a perfect rating on Amazon, can't find a negative review. I tested many chemicals vs. organics in pots. Organics work best for the ground, given microorganism and earthworms to break it down. Chemicals isn't best for clay soil, which retains salt well. Chemicals is instant-food, and work immediately in pots, or well-drained loamy soil. The danger of chemicals is salt-accumulation in pots, esp. with soluble fertilizer. After seeing those blue-round slow-released granules, and tons of blooms on Easy Elegance "Grandma's Blesisng" in a pot ... I'm sold on such, if I can find it. I'm going to test the perfect-rating Oscomote and compare that with organics for pots. I still remember how Sonia Rykiel gave me 15 blooms in a pot, fertilized with MG soluble, plus organics (alfalfa mixed in potting soil). The question is: Are oscomote pH-dependent? Does it require neutral tap, or acidic rain water to break down? The old brown Oscomote that was discontinued, it could not even dissolve in rain water !! I gave MG-soluble to Frederic Mistral in the ground, and he was still stingy. But when I brought the pH of my tap water down with sulfate of potash, plus trace elements in molasses, I got 40+ buds/blooms. My tap water is so alkaline, that MG soluble crystallized at the bottom ... It worked only when I put used lemon to help it dissolve. Below is Liv Tyler in my pH 7.7 clay, mulched with cocoa mulch at pH 5.4, plus horse manure (pH 8), and with rain water (pH 6):