My favorite yellow climber is The Pilgrim... It's not too early to apply Messenger... "Rosarians use a product called 'Messenger' to transplant their Roses and various other Rose related work. 'Messenger' is an invention of Cornell University's Agricultural School. They were researching plant proteins and dreamed this up as a way of healing certain plant injuries -- it's not an enzyme, it's not a fertilizer, it's a protein and it SPEEDS plant repair, among other things. It will MINIMIZE your transplant shock and get your Rose back to its normal self QUICKLY."

Rev d'Or did very well in Earthkind trials for Texas gardens, so may do well for you, too. I like a modern red climber in my garden - Dublin Bay. It reblooms well - no fragrance, though. It can definitely take the heat. Anita

Is there a way you can put it in a large container with a decorative trellis, or trained up an obelisk etc? And would you possibly have room to leave the canes up over the winter? Bare roses can look beautiful in winter, especially when they are trained on something attractive (like a copper obelisk or a bent willow tepee (both of which you can make yourself.) The thing is, I don't recommend cutting this completely down each season. Even though Golden Showers can bloom some on new wood, I think you're going to have a tough time of getting much bloom that way in Chicago, and maybe not even enough to justify calling it a climber. Have you thought about a Polyantha rose like The Fairy or Little White Pet? They're beautiful, they're literally covered with dozens or on a mature plant hundreds of blooms at once (much more floriferous than most other roses except maybe some of the once-blooming OGRs), even the foliage is dark and glossy, they're very very disease resistant, they thrive on neglect - and their size is perfect for balconies and containers. They're dwarf but not too dwarf, and they have a nice spreading habit - some, like the Fairy, are more prostrate/weeping, and some are mannerly mini-climbers. Not all of them are hardy in 5b, but some, like the Fairy, is hardy here with no protection. (The Fairy's only drawback is that it has no scent - but some of the other polyanthas are very fragrant also! ...In any case, they're likely to stay enough in bounds so that you don't have to chop 'em when you store your pots for the winter. :) that's my unsolicited $0.02 anyway.

I would love to see any pics of this structure, even without any plantings. I'm pondering the construction of my two arbors now that my best friend who is a master carpenter has opted out of the project. I'm also happy to hear that MH does well in our parts. Do you have your plants listed on HMF? I have a few more suggestions as I've been reading up on this myself, but I'll have to post them later.