Very pretty, though.

Oh that is soooo beautiful!! I think we all have done things against well meaning advice . Half the fun of gardening is finding out for yourself ! And sometimes they make the most beautiful combinations !

Looks great! What zone are you in?

Oh my goodness, poor Veilchenblau barely has a foothold against Peggy Martin. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to remove Veilchenblau and let PM have her way with your arch. It looks beautiful and abundant, just the way a rose over an arch should look. Something about a structure like that makes any garden look so much more romantic. Why haven't I done this????

Oh wow! Peggy Martin looks amazing there, and with that clematis... perfect. I'm with Ingrid -- maybe Veilchenblau wants to live somewhere else?

Also: Ingrid, your garden would look amazing with an arch or a rose-covered pergola!

Beautiful! It took 3 years for a Peggy band to to reach about 4’ here in zone 6a. I hope this year it will be 8’ . Does it repeat for you? Mine is a once bloomer. I head the older Peggy would repeat.

I don't remember where you are, fruitcat, but I have some experience with how amazingly and dauntingly large happy roses can get. I think you're right to be wary. If 'Peggy Martin' wants to be huge, the best thing you can do, I believe, is give her the space and support to be so. Others, more ruthless and energetic, may succeed, but I've never yet won a fight to control a rose's size.

Hey all :) I'm in 7B, Atlanta GA area. I'm just a couple years into old roses (other than Zephy D. that's been around for 7 or so years) and based on Zeph D, I started out speculating that size would be limited by defoliation via blackspot. Since I don't spray, my metric is do they survive year to year and grow more than they shrink. Peggy's defoliated some but she's grown a lot so my math is not working on her. As a gardener, I know how it goes... you gotta run your own little experiments and kill things in order to hit the "that shouldn't work" jackpots, so I'm not too broken up about this. [meanwhile, I have another disaster in the making: Mme Plantier and Mme Alfred Carrier also on a similar arch. Go ahead and start laughing!]

I think that if I leave only one rose on that arch, it would be V. because she is lighter/airier in habit (vs Peggy acting like kudzu) and I think would be less year-round maintenance. The photos I've seen of larger Veilchenblaus seem more fluffy/cloud-like which I think would look good there.

Regarding rebloom, Peggy threw one rebloom sprig last fall (I think I posted a picture somewhere) but that was just a few flowers in one little branch, it was not across the whole plant.

Whatever may come, it's been fun. Every time I look outside and see that explosion of pink, I chuckle a little, Peggy Martin's like a giant flower puppy!

I was thinking the same thing as Ray (your Tausendschoen is gorgeous, by the way), why not a rose that blooms a lot longer for such a prominent spot. Quite a few of the Austins, for instance, that are on the larger end of the spectrum can be grown as climbers, without threatening to reach 20 feet like Mme. Alfred Carriere. There's quite a bit to learn with roses, and even more so with the oldies, so fret not. It takes time to experiment, and each zone and even each garden is different. I won't bore you will all my blunders, but they are many. Veilchenblau has such a short blooming period, which would be a shame on an arch. You might investigate the hybrid musk roses such as Penelope, Felicia or Cornelia also for the arch. Lavender Lassie is also gorgeous but doesn't bloom quite as much from what I understand. On the other hand the color is so beautiful.

As Ingrid suggests, why not look beyond the conventional climbers and ramblers for your arches, as they're likely to get too big? I second consideration of the Hybrid Musks: 'Cornelia' is coming into bloom in my garden, and as always I'm struck by how sweet its scent is, and others in this group are equally lovely: beautiful foliage and flowers, flexible canes, and likely to be the right small-climber size. And they rebloom in fall, possibly in summer since you get rain then. I don't know how they are as to blackspot. They need regular pruning to remove old canes and stimulate the growth of new ones. They're graceful plants.

Another group to consider are the Teas, which I would imagine would be tolerably at home in Atlanta. My 'Clementina Carbonieri' (of commerce) is rambling around on the escarpment these days, twining itself through a pittosporum, and spreading itself eight or ten feet in every direction. The flowers are large, shapely, and fragrant, their color best described as "tropical fruit punch" or, "sunset before the storm", and the foliage is excellent. I've never seen black spot on any of my Teas, but it's not much of a problem here. Like quite a few roses (including the Hybrid Musks), the Teas with climb if offered support, while remaining shrubby if left alone. In addition to Clementina, I have the following Teas growing as climbers: 'Archduke Joseph' (huge), 'Mrs. B.R. Cant', 'Mme. Antoine Mari' (this is a work in process: it has to be retrained), 'Etoile de Lyon' (another work in process). I have yet to find a Tea that doesn't start throwing out longer canes if offered support.

The Hybrid Musks have a reputation for doing well in part shade, which I find to be true; the Teas are plants for sun, though not Saharan conditions. Your leafy garden looks like you'd have to plan for sunny spots. 'Clementina Carbonieri' burns quickly in sunny dry weather. Lately our weather has been wonderfully springlike: warm but not hot, cool at night, regular rains, and some humidity in the air. Clementina likes that, and her blooms have been lasting well. I'm thinking she might like your area's humidity as well. The Teas are hardy in zone 7. We had a nasty freeze in February 2018. It was cold enough to kill back my Lady Banks roses--one died to the ground, then resprouted--but the Teas, in a slightly warmer area, suffered no damage.

P.S. We all start out underestimating how big our roses are going to get. But if I may offer a suggestion, come fall, move 'Mme. Alfred Carriere'! She needs a (large) tree or a pergola or a big wall of her own. Mine is about twenty feet in diameter in all directions.

By the way, did I mention how beautiful your garden is? It looks wonderful!

Thank you all for the suggestions. Sounds like I need to sharpen my shovel and start thinking of where to move these big girls. I have some longer-term plans for a pergola-covered patio in the back, am now thinking maybe I can keep MAC at bay until she can moved out back. Hmmm....

Good luck!

FruitCat, I'm so grateful you posted those photos. I think they are beautiful. I have two Peggy own root bands and was planning to use them on an arbor or on a split rail fence. Any advice one way or the other? She probably won't get quite as outrageously monstrous here.

Melissa, I can only dream of my MAC getting 20' in both directions. She's new, but I've been told she'll be a moderate size shrub here.

flowersaremusic, I have no idea how big they'd get in your area. Try googling "Peggy martin rose houzz" to see if other discussions pop up where folks are growing it in your zone.

Thanks, FruitCat, but I've done that and the answers are all over the map. I'll just start somewhere and see what happens. I can go to plan B if plan A doesn't work.

Was it you who posted an up close photo of Peggy and Happy Jack? I saved that pic for inspiration.

I remember your combo picture from last year! What a lot of growth PM has put on. It IS beautiful, even though she’s clearly bent on taking over. Lol. Your picture last year of the clematis with PM sticks in my mind as one of the prettiest combinations I’ve ever seen. Lisa

Here is my Veilchenblau in zone 6a, for size reference.

Here is my Veilchenblau in zone 6a for size reference.

Altorama Ray, that's a beauty. I really like that rose, the foliage/habit makes me happy for some reason even when it's not blooming. It just seems airy and floaty. I also love that it draws native bees to it (Peggy gets some but they are usually rolling around in Veilchenblau, I'm guessing the very very faint scent I sometimes detect, plus the open flower shape both help).

Here's Peggy and Happy Jack this year, for the pink/purple fans. The clematis grew an extra couple feet this year, yay!

And a shot of Peggy showing all her colors. This to make up for the fact that I seem to be dumping on Peggy, but she's a lovely thing!

Peggy is beautiful, reminds me of my Lillian Gibson.

Another thing I love about Veilchenblau are the orange hips!

And how the ground looks after a heavy rainstorm haha

LOL, yes, the petal showers! I reached up while trying to check on the other clematis I have on that arch. Apparently I do these inspections slack-jawed while looking up. Got a mouthful and eyeful :D