Crown Princess Margareta roses hands down. She is a beast that will cover that in 2 years. She is a gorgeous deep apricot color which an incredible fragrance that wafts. I grow her with Jackmanii Superba clematis and the combination of colors is gorgeous. I would plant 2 on each side. Oh and mine are grown facing East also which she seems to prefer. CPM is a David Austin rose so there you should find her easily. I am seriously thinking about getting a few more for another area. She's my favorite rose out of 50 hands down and tough as old boots (could not resist). Rarely gets blackspot or anything else. http://www.davidaustinroses.com/us/crown-princess-margareta-shrub-rose
She can easily be grown as a climber which I do and here in zone 6 PA she gets to about 12' and very full. She is also much less yellow and more peachy apricot than the link I sent. Gorgeous!

If you grow her with the Jackmanii clematis the dark purple of the clems with CPM is stunning.

I just looked up Crown Princess Margareta and she is stunning. And I love your idea of the clematis. I'm sold! Thank you!!

That is just such a lovely structure and I would have kept it too. How about placing a birdbath underneath? I have an arbor and will be doing just that. I don't know if you enjoy birds but I am working on a bird garden and this is similar to my focal point . So the area around it I would plant a few more roses and then plants like echinacea and black eye Susan or cosmos .. plants birds love the seeds of and also plants hummers enjoy as well .

I think it looks very charming !! I love the aged look to it so I would be torn about painting it .. but fresh white always looks nice too !

Beautiful piece , please let us know what you do with it !!

In addition to Terri's suggestions, I would also grow a thornless variety across the fence behind it to tie it all in. Possibly white, really depends on what else is in the garden surrounding the area.

I also like Lilyfinch's idea of a birdbath or other similar type of structure that attracts birds between it and the fence.

If this is the doggie area, make sure to protect the new roses from the dogs "business" for a while. You know how they like to claim anything new in their territory.

Cant wait to see your updated photos!

Sally Holmes is trouble free and may look nice across the fence (when you have small children and dogs I think that's important). It's usually white in the heat here, but may have more apricot coloring where you are and tie in nicely with CPM.

For the birdbath idea, it could be a typical birdbath with water, or maybe even if you find a broken one someone is throwing away you could turn it into a planter. That might look wonderful with the rustic look of that area.

Photo taken from: https://empressofdirt.net/birdbath-planters/

So many wonderful ideas! As I said previously, I am brand spanking new to gardening so I appreciate all the input. I bought some spiraea aguta (bridal wreath) plants and thought I might put those on the fence behind the structure since they produce white flowers but I love the idea of putting roses there, and then putting the bridal wreath plants somewhere else. I also love the bird feeder idea. I do have one already though and it's very close (see pic - it's hard to tell how close from this photo, but it's about 6 or 7 feet away). Would it look odd to put up another one so close, even if I used it as a planter? Or maybe just use a huge urn? I do agree that there needs to be a focal point there beyond just the arch.

I don't think it would look weird ! You could always just move that one to the arch . Or could you put a bench under the arch ? I have quite a few bird baths so I don't know where to draw the line ;)

You could staple metal screen or wire fencing to the back of the posts and cross beam and grow the rose up the middle attaching to the wire not the posts. Having something grow up a post is much more difficult than training it up a wider surface.

By "staple" I mean something substantial, not the kind of staples for paper.

Or use cylinders of wire fencing around each of the posts.

A little bench just beyond the arch near the fence might be a nice area for you to sit to watch the kid(s) and dog(s).

Cori Ann - Good idea. I was thinking a bench is also nice under the arch where you can enjoy the wonderful fragrance of CPM. I have seating everywhere! And if you grow a crazy clematis over the fence in back, that would almost create a room for you all to enjoy. I have clem Sweet Summer Love which would tie into the purple of the Jackmaniii and blend with the second flush of CPM in purples and pinks. It is fragrant and would cover that shorter back fence. It also creates a great habitat for bird nesting.

Or if you like Lilyfinch's idea the bird bath, you could make this an English space with ivy cascading down from and over the birdbath.

No matter how stable you think that structure is reinforce it anyway. As the rose matures and gets bigger that structure will be aging. A full grown rose, leafed out and in full bloom, is amazingly heavy. Add some rain on it and it's even heavier. Rose arbors need to be VERY strong!

A perfect rose would be Crepuscule. Almost thornless, doesn't have huge canes that will tear down a structure and the most gorgeous shade of peach! Mine is blooming now and it is one of the roses I will never be without. Easy to train, lots of blooms. I love birdbaths - that would be my choice or a little seat or bench, if it is wide enough. You could make beds around the climbing roses and have a little gravel path leading up to it with annuals, daylilies blooming in these beds. Perhaps an arc of shrubs behind it to set off the birdbath.

Kate, I love the structure. It reminds me of my grandmothers swing I'd spend time on as a child. Personally, If the structure is secure, I would replace the plastic swing that was removed with rustic/antique swing - thick rope and "aged" wood or something like that. You could then use that beautiful fence to grow some climbing roses on that would create wonderful backdrop.

Other options - Unless you want to go to the work of pillaring a rose on each side of the structure you would need to modify the structure so you would have a surface to attach the main canes as horizontal as possible. Hoobv mentioned attaching wire in the middle. You could also create a three dimensional structure (arbor) by placing a similar structure in front of this and attaching it by lattice on the sides and supports at the top.

As far as roses (not for a pillar, however) I would never be without Eden, aka Pierre de Ronsard.