That is amazingly thoughtful!

How sweet of your hubby!!! What a great Christmas present! Have you considered New Dawn? I have not grown her myself, but have seen her in bloom several times. She is a sight for sore eyes!

Shops ,and fduk thank you for the compliments ! I have grown new dawn before and love her but I feel like where ever you plant that rose you are stuck with it due to massive thorns . While I don't mind thorns , new dawn is kind of a beast of them and re painting may be an issue .
Does any one know abt glorie de Dijon ( sorry if spelled wrong ) or crepuscule ? Considering those . Actually tonite after work I'm making a list of everything that interests me and going from there . So fun !!

That is beautiful!!!

I'm getting a dump truck full of good soil for Christmas :)

That husband is a keeper.

Crepuscule has no prickles at all, or if you really searched, maybe 1 or 2 on a 15' wide plant, but I don't know how cold-hardy it would be in 7.

Crepuscule is almost thornless and would be gorgeous on it. It's one of my favorite roses.

I've no tip for a rose or several but make sure that the arch frames some feature or stands at the beginning of a path leading somewhere. Give it a purpose.

You could consider Westerland or its sport, Autumn Sunset, though both are thorny and won't climb too tall, more like shrubs than climbers. Spice So Nice will climb, but is more orange than apricot. My favorite is, Royal Sunset, a repeat blooming, large-flowered climber, but not top hardy here in the winter (zone 6). It is apricot, HT form, fragrant, and drop-dead gorgeous. If it's hardy for you, you'll camp under it when it blooms. Keep us posted on your progress! Bob

Oh, Lily it's gorgeous! I can't wait to see it covered in beautiful roses!

You like 'Albertine' but wish for repeat-bloom? Then get 'Mel's Heritage' to grow on your wonderful new gift. For an extra pop, find a nice dark purple Type 3 clematis to join it, and simply hard-prune the clematis down to a few inches every Spring.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Mel's Heritage' on HelpMeFInd

I don't know if Reve d'Or is hardy in your zone but it's a lovely rose with few thorns which blooms often. I've heard great things about Viking Queen (which is hardy) and Snowbird. Mel's Heritage looks like a wonderful rose also.

Your arbor is very beautiful. The upper part has an almost Oriental curve to it, very eye-catching. I love the way your husband presented the gift to you.

Ingrid

Buford. - a dump truck full of soil sounds like the perfect gift !!
Do you have plans for a new bed ?

Hoov - I assumed it would work in zone 7 ...so I may still try her but not on the pergola . :) yes he is a keeper !!

Marianesse ..., it's rather large like a pergola so a swing will go under it . I bought some books on paths and landscaping for inspiration . My yard is a blank slate that faces a beautiful lake and farmland . So it will be the center of a viewing area . So excited !!

Seil I can't wait to share pics !! :)

Hoosierbob , I love the royal sunset , I think I'll use it on my fence ! I'm afraid it won't grow large enough for the pergola . It looks gorgeous tho !

Which leads me to Christopher !! Thank you for leadingvv me to Mel's heritage ! Gosh it looks perfect ! So it's at the top of my list and I'm pretty sure the winner . Thank you! Do you grow it ?

Ingrid , Viking queen looks great too and might be another for my fence . I have almost half acre of fence that needs roses so I really can try it !
I have always admired your garden , and appriciate your input ,

In fact I just want to make sure to tell you all I appriciate the comments and our rose friendships here . I may not post much but I read a lot and feel like I've been in most of your gardens before ! Thanks for sharing your gardens :)

Lilyfinch -- I don't grow it, but I was seriously considering (and researching) it when I put together my original rose orders two years ago. To me, it appears to combine the best traits of the Wichurana Ramblers with the Tea-Noisettes (bravo, Paul Barden!). Unfortunately, I didn't think I had a spot that would work for it -- but now I'm thinking I might want it for a tight spot against the fence and close to a path. Being so lax, I assume it won't mind being espaliered flat. So I just may get it for 2015.

:-)

~Christopher

This post was edited by AquaEyes on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 23:41

If you'd like an older rose look, why not Ghislaine de Feligonde, listed as a hybrid multiflora/ hybrid musk. Mine was a vigorous grower its first year, but I have only seen pics of a fully mature one--it's gorgeous, bs-resistant, floriferous. Quite vigorous, evidently. Best color with some afternoon shade; with more sun, it will be more pastel. check out those climbing pics at helpmefind.com

We're looking forward to your choices--and pics at all stages. : )

Kate

Kate

Here is a link that might be useful: Ghislaine de Feligonde

I have Crepescule in zone 7. It normally does fine, but last winter, everything above ground died, on all my teas. But it came back well. Reve d'Or is gorgeous, but mine had pretty bad thorns. It had RRD, but I have a replacement. Veilchenblau is thornless, but only blooms once and is susceptible to blackspot and PM.

Lily, my whole yard was dug up as part of a drainage project. So I have all these beds with yucky soil. I want to get a head start so I'm importing some good soil.

Lily, I second (or third!) Crepuscule. Here is a photo of a beautiful specimen in Nashville (Belle Meade.) It's not very far from you at all, so you know it does well here. This photo is from the flush of 2013 which was after a mild winter and they were spectacular. They weren't as amazing after last year's winter, but if I recall they survived just fine.

I have two bands from last spring myself and can confirm they stayed very clean this summer--much cleaner than my New Dawns. (By the way the New Dawns are coming out in January. I'll bare root them and give them to you if you want them!)

Love, love the arbor/pergola! Would love to know where you got it. I'm in the market for one for a new garden I'm putting together over the winter.

Here's another photo that has better color...

Crepuscule is one of my favorite roses. If it does well in your climate, I think you would be very happy with it. It enjoys heat, but I imagine your summers are plenty hot enough for it.

Rosefolly

Well crepuscule is definitely on my list for some area of the yard ! It's too pretty not to try . Thank you kate for the suggestion and link ! I will read all about it next ! :)
Subk3... I don't live far from belle meade and I toured last July so I must have missed it in bloom ! Or possibly passed it up , it's a large property ! What a great photo !! And if you have an extra new dawn I'll take you up on the offer ! We bought the pergola at a place called " lot of faith amish and Mennonite built furniture " in dickson . They have an area of clearance display models ,which saved him a lot of money . They have a catalog as well of everything they offer and are just so sweet .
I really can't wait to get it delivered !
Maybe if you ever want to meet and share a garden tour we could arrange that . I'd love to see others rose gardens in the area !
Buford good luck with your fresh new beds !
Rose folly it gets so dang hot here ! We seem to skip spring after 2, weeks and then it's in the 90s forever it seems . I love it ! :)

Yet another vote for Crepuscule. Mine, too had a fair biut of dieback after last winter's extra nasty coild, but she came roaring back this summer, bigger and better. And mine gets a lot of shade, so it is very shade tolerant. Another thornless consideration is Mrs Alfred Carrier--fabulous fragrance.

Here's my idea. Crepuscule on each end (4 bush's) and Don Jaun on Fortuniana root stock in the middle (2 bush's). East of the rocky mountains, the root stock Don Jaun is on make ALL the difference in the world.

fabulous.

I build pergolas, so now I have to spend some time at the drawing board.

Thanks

I'll throw another possibility out there. If you need something thornless, consider 'Renae'.

:-)

~Christopher