I was looking on this thread to get info on hardiness of Albertine. Sounds like it might be cane hardy for me in z 5b if sited carefully. By the way, I saw a few comments above on Viking Queen. In my old z5b garden (Ann Arbor, MI), it was reliably cane hardy in most years, and only showed mild dieback in others (and not necessarily the coldest either). Its disadvantage for me was that in our sometimes hot humid June weather its flowers balled badly. However, in the cooler weather of fall, it absolutely excelled in bloom. While the number of flowers at any time was smaller than in June, it commonly produced a decent display all the way from late August into late December. I personally think it is a great hardy climber for places with cool summers. In cooloer summers we had, it was an outstanding performer and one of my best climbers.

Wow - after dealing with one rambler, I can hardly imagine dealing with several at once. "Stabby" is a good word - the thorns on ours were not huge, but curved and very very sharp, and of course the canes are flexible and love to whip around. They kept grabbing my hat off of my head, and even though I was wearing extra heavy gardening denim, they ripped holes in it. After some consideration, I am not surprised that your roses rebounded quickly - that is not something I am worried about. Rootstock is another matter - every single rose in my garden is on its own roots, except perhaps for some ancient ones planted by my DH's ancestors. I really think all of those have gone own root by now, as I have not seen a root sucker coming up anywhere for decades. I won't plant a rose unless I can get it own root, and anyway most of the roses I plant are cuttings I rooted myself. Life is way too short to keep having to deal with (here anyway) zillions of Dr. Huey plants, which in our climate tend to be way more energetic than the scions. I do remember some places where the scion was gone, it took us 2-3 tries to dig up Dr. Huey until it stopped coming up again. Of course, when an emerging rootstock turned out NOT to be Dr. Huey, I aways waited for it to bloom to see if I liked it - Here is my favorite, 'de la Grifferaie (1845) - the rose tree it killed was yellow, and boring, so I was fascinated when dlG came up, a mystery to me, but I could tell by the leaves it was something special. So much that I waited through 4 Springs with no blooms, until it did this on the Fifth one, and continues to do that every Spring ever since. Fabulous strong fragrance, too, and no disease whatever. Jackie

Can you show more of the house? All of the front in one photo, close-ups of porch area, front door, and beds. Are the sides and back brick, siding, or both? Are there awnings over the windows? In the meantime, there are lots of trim colors that could look nice. Here are a few, search ’blonde brick trim colors’ for more: https://www.coloradocolorconsultants.com/2021/08/24/top-5-paint-colors-for-blonde-brick/ If you’re keeping the metal columns, I’d paint them whatever trim color you decide. Otherwise look into replacing with wood columns (sell or give away the metal ones, they’re popular for projects). For landscaping advice, we’d need to know what area of the country you’re in, a better idea of budget and planting experience, and close-up photos. The tree definitely needs trimming up. The porch could be more welcoming and inviting with seating (chairs or bench), potted plants, maybe a table. There are usually good deals on seating sets — two chairs and table. I don’t know your style to be more specific … if it was me, I’d go retro with porch furniture, new or look for vintage. Also — did you just move in, or have lived there a while, or are planning to sell? More context would be helpful. :) ETA: Retro outdoor furniture: There are quite a few threads on Houzz with houses similar to yours, this is one from a couple of years ago: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6210115/blonde-brick-home-accent-trim

@heather RR, we seem to have had similar experiences. I had a zephirine drouhin that I babied for 4 years. Just too much black spot. I have seen it look amazing elsewhere. I finally gave up and replaced it with crepuscule. Now, crepuscule has had very little growth since I planted in March this year. I don't know what to think of it. My David Austins are going nuts this year. Lady of shalott, boscobel, princess anne, etc. Even my earth angel is doing fine. I too have a madame alfred carriere! it is supposed to grown over the arch leading to our backyard. I have had it for 3 years in that spot. It had 10 flowers in May and nothing after that... So glad to hear you have had great success. @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) and @erasmus_gw, westerland looks lovely!! @erasmus_gw, amazing photos. Thanks for sharing and the great list of options. I absolutely love hot pink and would to plant a hot pink one as I have a couple in my front yard. (gertrude jekyll et el). The other neighbor has a westerland type so I am running out of colors :( I am not particularly fond of deep red roses and I have a few white and blush pink ones. I need permission to plant a pink or a orange climber. @Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley, it is a very large golden chain tree. I think it is now at its full mature size. Just compared it to the ones we have in the arboretum.