I have become convinced that ND is not suitable for an arbour unless you combine it with a swag and then diligently train the canes onto the swag. In late July we will be cutting our ND back completely, to the top of the arbour and starting over, swagging every cane of a suitable size from the begining. The consensus of rose folks seems to be that ND will survive the treatment. We didn't start swagging our ND until there was already a thick accumulation of canes on the top of the arbour and dangerous tentacles reaching out everywhere - those thorns are NASTY! Even with the swag, the volume on top of the arbour has grown, because it's not easy to work with the stuff up there because of the thick tangle of older canes - not to mention at least three different clematises... I am concerned at this point that ND will bring down the arbour/south alley gate if we don't do something about it! So it's time to clear the slate an start again. My advice is only go for it if you've got an appropriate set-up to control it and are willing to be diligent in controlling it (which we weren't for the first few years, and then it was too late...) Given our experience I really think the appropriate place for ND is trained along a relatively low fence (4' or so); tie it in to the fence as if the fence was a swag. A low fence would make it easy to work with it - as opposed to needing a stepladder in the case of an arbour. Good luck.

I'm finally able to access my pictures so I'll post a few here of the roses I mentioned. Quadra in my experience is at least as thorny as ND, but the flowers last much longer. Being a semi-double, you don't notice them fading as much and I've seen clusters last a good 2 weeks without getting ratty. I'd say mine that's maybe 7 or 8 years old blooms more or less all summer, taking a break in August as most of my roses do. Here's a shot after I finally wrestled him into an arch after a few years free standing: Here's my Colette after about 3 years, making her a young climber. She's survived both polar vortex winters, so I'd say she's fully hardy in my zone 5. Lunar Mist climbs quite well along the fence for a good 10 feet or more and is usually tip hardy for me. And even though my "not RdV" doesn't repeat, my Reine des Violettes is a great statement in spring and totally tip hardy every year. It would laugh off zone 4 winters too I suspect. The "real" RdV should repeat fairly well and it's apparently a little more of a purple cast than mine, which is a good thing in my world. Hope this helps - you have many good options. Cynthia

Cecily, thank you for sharing your experience! One of the reasons I chose New Dawn was because it would cover the trellis quickly. My thought was that at least I would be able to enjoy it for a few years even if I need to remove it in order to replace the a/c at some point in the future. However, I think I would be sad to see it go and since everyone seems in agreement with you that it is a bad idea to plant it in this spot, I am going to move it to the front of the house this weekend, where it can go wild over the roof of the porch. :) The question remains what to plant in it's place, though? I really would like something that will hide the a/c units from view, but I think whatever I plant I will run the same risk. I'll have to give it some thought, but if you have any suggestions, please do let me know! Thank you.

Do you have any more pics? I suspect the neem oil fried the leaves and they shriveled or dropped or maybe some herbicide drifted onto them? Excess fertilizer can also burn them. It's just hard for me to see. I'd also suggest some critter may be eating them, but seeing as how you have buds that probably isn't the case.