I have grown all of the Austins roses listed in the Chamblee's website at one time or other. They used to offer 'Spirit of Freedom', which is the one that would have been my top choice as a climber. I have 3 specimens that came from a single 1 gallon pot from Chamblees. They have growing to around 12 feet high or so in 4 years and have large, very full flowers with a strong damask fragrance. But SOF is no longer offered by Chamblees. Among the Austins still available from Chamblees, is Benjamin Britten. I am now growing Benjamin Britten and know that it can grow tall enough to train over an arbor. The canes are flexible enough that they would be easy to train. I have been to the David Austin Rose US headquarters in Tyler, TX and they have a number of the taller rose specimens on display that have been growing for a while. Benjamin Britten was around 12-14 feet tall and perhaps 6 feet wide. The repeat in my garden is not as fast as I woulld like. The red-orange flower color is interesting but would probably not appeal to everyone. If you consider Austin roses that are not offered from Chamblees, I would recommend The Generous Gardener and The Wedgewood Rose. Or two of the Meilland roses in their Romantica collection, Collette (pink) and its yellow colored sport, Lunar Mist. All of these have nice, full, medium large flowers with a good scent and repeat bloom with a reasonable frequency. Good luck with your selection, John

Last summer was my first year to actually try developing a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. My big winners were Black and Blue and Red Lady in the salvia department. This year I'm also trying the annual red cypress vine planted on a trellis behind the Black and Blue and putting out lots of old fashioned red pentas, both in ground and in pots. The pentas are new plants for me this season. I picked some up on close out at our local nursery and have overwintered them in the greenhouse. Cuttings root easily, so it's easy to make a lot of plants from a mother plant. What attracted me to this plant was the fact that the hummingbirds would come down and feed from these plants at the nursery, with people standing right there beside the plants. I figured that was one strong draw and I needed to try them. When I got them home, the butterflies loved them, too, so they do double duty. :-) The problem I have is the little resident bully guarding everything. I hung feeders in different places with some distance between them last summer and that did help pull attention away from the plants so other little beauties had a shot at getting to the plants. Can hardly wait for spring and be able to enjoy the little flying jewels once again. Good luck with your project. Mary

These are so slow growing, it's often better to have a local nursery order the largest blooming size you can afford. They may hesitate if you're lower than hardiness zone 8, but worth checking with them. You might be able to order direct from Monrovia for delivery to a local nursery, but my experience has found it more dependable to have a willing manager at a local store they supply order it for you. If time is not an issue, seedlings are occasionally offered on ebay or Etsy (hidden among dozens of seed listings); though, these will be 3+ years from blooming depending upon the growing conditions you provide.

My favorite vine! It's wonderful to grow on fences, up trees, and on trellises. Butterflies love it , but nothing eats the leaves. It's readily available at nurseries or you can get seeds online. As well as the pink, it also comes in white and what they call red, but it's more a dark pink. This is the 'red' blooming at the top of tall trees in my back yard ...