I think I had my ZD several years before it became a reliable bloomer. I am in a much warmer zone than yours so thought that was the reason. I have decided I know nothing about plants anymore. I lost some big roses this year because of our weather (I am told) but my gardenias are better than ever and not a single dead limb on my hydrangeas. The Constance Spry that was a lover of cold weather that I cut down and put behind the fence to compost, came back and had a single bloom this year but I admit it was in total shade. I just happened to find it when composting. Up from the grave it arose. I lost all my Pedro Dot roses this year. I even lost some of the cold hardy hybrid teas grafted onto fortuniana but the fortuniana lived. My wave petunias came back and my cold-loving cherry tree almost perished. I am through trying to figure out plants. I think it's a big conspiracy against me. ;-)

Colorado is a lot warmer than here. I grow several climbers. They lose their canes down to the ground here because of the dry air, not the temperature. There are people who grow climbers in New England, but they get 30 inches of rain a year. I moved Zephirine Drouhin to the shade after studying Zeffy Rose's pictures of her massive Zephirine Drouhin. She has a lot of shade. Zephirin Drouhin makes some blossoms for me now. Most climbers bloom on old wood, so choosing a repeat climber might be a better idea. They bloom on new wood. ZD blooms for me on the north side, with shade from noon to dark. I also have Dutchman's Pipe there and P. G Hydrangea and Annabelle Hydrangea. P.G. blooms here in August, Annabelle blooms in June, and Zd blooms in July. There's also Ash leaf spirea, which is just about done blooming. Madame Plantier and alba maxima are very tough here. I haven't tried growing them in shade.

It sounds lovely! Along the lines of a suggestion of an arbor, how about swagging the climber across a heavy rope from one 4x4 to another 4x4 rather than having a rigid cross piece? I just love swagged roses. Also, I've been researching thornless pink climbers for my porch recently. Zepherine Drouhin was on my list (despite being a hotter pink than I want) until I read a post on Facebook by Paul Zimmerman. Here's a quote, "Oh, I've grown it over the years - and never really fallen in love with it. The blooms are a little too hot pink for my taste and for me it blackspots consistently. Even if I leave it alone to let it try to build its own immunities, come summer I can still count on its foliage looking like the face of a coal miner just finishing a 12 hour shift." What he recommended instead is a lighter pink sport of ZD "Kathleen Harrop." Here's what he had to say about it, "I planted my first Kathleen Harrop at our farm some 15 years ago. I've never regretted it. The blooms are a softer pink, it is also thornless but best of all it rarely gets disease for me. I grow her as a large free standing shrub and year in and year out she covers herself with undulations of shell pink, fragrant blooms. A real standout in our garden. Why not give her a home in your garden." Just thought I'd pass that along in case you'd consider a lighter pink sport.

Hello again, and thanks for the input. Now that it's January, and the garden catalogs are arriving [in droves!] I'm once again thinking about the fence...... view1ny, thanks for the input and the link. I checked it out and really like the website. James Galway does sound like a winner, and I love the Austin roses. How is yours doing this winter? Here, I have lost several roses because of our freeze/thaw, freeze/thaw type of winters. At least, that's what our extension agent and local greenhouse people seem to think. [They break dormancy before they really should.] I've resorted to buying only roses grown on their own roots. I will try to find some own root James Galway roses. I'll need to check the Heirloom Roses website again, it's been awhile. chickenfreak, does Madame Alfred Carriere have a lot of thorns........and is it fragrant? I really like the OGR's, although I'd prefer some that rebloom along the fence. Another older variety that I'm considering is Pearl d'or. Has anyone grown that one and would it do well in the hot humid conditions of the Mid Atlantic? I'm beginning to think about planting an entire border along the fence with a mixture, instead of a single variety, but it would absolutely have to be low maintainence varieties. Watering and composting/mulching are completely reasonable, spraying every other day and constantly fussing are not, especially with that many. I like to enjoy my yard/garden, not be a slave to it! Thanks for the input!