This has been very helpful information. Thank you, everybody. A fence is available in the wider spot, so I guess that is the spot for Ghislaine. I don't mind if she wants to do some self-supporting stuff, but the fence is there is she needs some support. Putting her there was my original plan, but I started second-guessing myself as I waited through the winter months. Get in trouble every time I do that--think I'd learn! LOL Felicia was intended to be a self-supporting rose--I have Buff Beauty back there as a self-supporter also, plus a couple non-rose shrubs. They are kind of a backdrop to the rest of the garden. I'm feeling reassured now. However, I will have one hole out there -- Hortico just informed me that Boule de Neige is not available--as it was not available at the few places who listed it last fall. And I really want that one. Seems to be easily available to the English--why not to us here in the USA? Don't know what I will do about that--I'm sitting here sulking over it! Thanks again, folks. So helpful! Kate

I think Ghislaine de Feligonde would work fairly well and look fairly good, though a climber a bit less bushy might be better. Madame Plantier is more upright than Ghislaine and it's as healthy as can be, but it tends to want to be an upright bush more than a climber too, and it doesn't rebloom. The main reason to want less of a bush would be to be able to keep the lines of the Redbud tree intact. It's the focal point of your front yard, and its form is a part of the reason for its use as a focal point. The climber idea would make the most of that focal point if the rose chosen is more of a weeping rambler, in my opinion. It could be a little bit like a northern version of Spanish moss in the south; its form doesn't change the form of the tree it climbs, it merely accentuates the tree's form with a weeping addition to it. The rambling rose I thought of that's hardy in your zone would be Red Cascade. There are probably others too. I don't know whether thornless Renae might be hardy in your zone or not, but the thorns on Red Cascade aren't so bad that you couldn't mow around it. And its tiny foliage would contrast nicely with the huge leaves of the Redbud tree, even when the rose wasn't in its heaviest spring flush. I think it would be gorgeous. Plant it maybe 2-3 feet from the tree and train it up the tree starting not too far from the ground; you don't want to emphasize the form of the distance between the two. I don't know how fast Redbud trees grow there, but in North Carolina, they grow fast. You could probably get started with a Red Cascade this fall or next spring. Best wishes, Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Red Cascade rose

You might find the wichurana roses are good for such a position - certainly, as a group they are more mannerly than the multifloras. I grow Leontine Gervaise which, while not as elastic as some, is still amenable to training (it is prickly though). I have not grown Phyllis Bide but that might be another contender and finally, a rose I have grown on a pergola is Francois Juranville - a very good doer. If thorns are an issue, have you considered the late(ish) flowering noisette Aimee Vibert - this does that gentle nodding thing. In truth, there are many better roses than GdF for growing on a structure...which does not take anything away from the many virtues of GdF in a happy situation.

You might like 'Buff Beauty' or 'Calisto' or 'Danae' or 'Jeri Jennings' next to 'Lavender Lassie', if you want a yellow-ish Hybrid Musk. Or, if you wanted a similar idea in something a bit different, look at 'Lemon Zen' or 'Gold Blush' -- both hybrids of R. moschata with David Austin roses. Or, if you wanted a larger plant, perhaps look at 'Malvern Hills', an actual David Austin rose. :-) ~Christopher