Beautiful home! But yikes - north side of the house and shaded by a large tree? Not ideal for a rose. Do you get more sun at other times of day? If not, you might consider a different climbing plant that enjoys shade, like climbing hydrangea.

If you insist on trying a rose, climbers that supposedly do well in part shade are Graham Thomas, Golden Showers, Eden, Zepherine Drouhin, Mme. Isaac Periere, and Westerland. I'm sure there are others, but these ones come to mind.

I can only speak to Westerland and Eden. Eden is a gorgeous rose. I am growing mine in a spot that only gets sun from about 10 am - 2 (maybe 3) pm, but it is extremely healthy and flowers abundantly nonetheless. Westerland was planted in a spot that got only morning sun (before noon) and flowered occasionally but not enough for me to be happy with it. This spring I moved it to a spot that gets only afternoon sun (noon or 1 pm to sunset), and it is MUCH happier - just completed its first flush, and despite being moved, is about to put out an even bigger second flush. In terms of thorns, Eden has few - almost none on the lateral canes, but does have some on the basal canes. Westerland is thorny as hell.

You may want to give up on the thornless criteria and just focus on roses that are very shade tolerant - otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have very few choices! Good luck!

Paige, our house faces more east than north, if that makes a difference? I would consider climbing hydrangea. I love hydrangeas, but did not know they had some that could climb! I would love a nice fragrant flower to greet us as we come home, if possible. not sure if hydrangeas have much of a smell.. but it is not a deal breaker since I can plant other fragrant flowers nearby too, was thinking some irises in the bed..

thank you for your rose suggestions also! I am inclined to try to find a thornless variety due to small kids and dog. but i will take a look at eden and westerland. thank you!

How many daylight hours(sunlight) does that corner get from from Spring to Summer ?

My zf, just getting started. I don't spray but it keeps most of its leaves. Not a whole lot of repeat

David, I think we get mostly direct morning sun, about 3-4 hours. then by afternoon, the sun is above the house. we get the same amount most of the year, except for maybe 2 months of winter rainy season.

farmerduck, your rose is beautiful. can you tell me what ZF stands for? I am a gardening newbie. thank you!

I think farmerduck's rose is Zepherine Drouhin, not ZF, the keys are next to each other. With only that much sun, I would think which ever rose you plant will become lanky, so i would go for a smaller rose.

Have you thought about jasmine? It's fragrant, evergreen, and can take shade. There may be a cultivar that is pink but I don't think it is evergreen.

I think if you only get 3-4 hours of morning sun, it will be hard to find a rose that will bloom well for you. Then again, you won't know until you try. Does the top of the pergola get more sun? Best case, the rose will grow up to the top without blooming much, and then do better once it reaches heights with more sun.

Off the topic of roses, here is a guide to planting climbing hydrangeas: http://www.marthastewart.com/1502837/marthas-step-step-guide-climbing-hydrangeas

But they won't have a scent. For scented climbers, you could try jasmine, but I'm not sure how well it does in shade.

If you are planning on putting iris in that shady front bed, I would stay away from bearded iris, which like lots of sun. Japanese iris are ok in part shade. Even better for you would be Pacific Coast iris. These plants thrive on the west coast in part shade. I have several clumps of iris douglasiana (a native pacific coast iris) growing in my yard in spots that get maybe 1 or 2 hours of morning sun, and they bloom like crazy for about a month in the spring. There are many beautiful varieties. Check out the article here.

Finally, another flower that has done great for me in part shade is foxglove. There are perennial varieties that will bloom from spring into late summer even in afternoon shade. And if you want scent, oriental lilies like some afternoon shade and create a heady perfume throughout the garden.

Yes, it is Zepherine Droulin. The thornless climber :)

What about Pretty in Pink Eden? I love this rose, so far I found 3 of them, it repeats well with big pretty blooms.

I've been looking at David Austin's Diamond Jubilee rose which another poster( Marlorena) has grown and says gets only a few hours of morning sun in her garden but has done well for her( or him).

Too late to get it this year : I believe it's only available as a bare root rose from David Austin, USA. Meets your shade and fragrance criteria and I believe relatively thornless and easy to train. Will need lots of water though and not sure how warm your summer gets.

Some hybrid musks are nearly thornless, fragrant and tolerant of partial shade. They can be trained as climbers.

pROSPERITY IS A PROLIIC WHITE THORNLESS ROSE

Sally Holmes. While it is white, this rose often has peachy-pink tones too, and is known for being shade tolerant.

Lynn