Mme Annisette or Honeymoon. Or any Kordes white climber, they are the most blackspot resistant

Those are both lovely roses, though I am looking for smaller clusters of single or semi-double blooms, if possible. Similar to Climbing Iceberg but without all the BS issues.

Have a look at some noisette roses. They might be marginal for your zone though -- still, have a look. They are typically fragrant and heat tolerant (they originate in the southern US). I've got Madame Alfred Carriere just starting to climb on my fence and it looks like she got through our 5 degree temps recently without any issues. MAC is a tea-noisette, so ostensibly even less hardy than regular noisettes. Reportedly she can take heat, but most folks I know (including me) have the plant in partial shade because it is sort of famous for being able to tolerate that. Still, with a tea-noisette heritage it should do OK with heat. I'd only suggest it if you want a SUPER VIGOROUS rose -- it puts out a lot of growth.

Guirlande d'Amour does well here in North Alabama and repeats well so if you love it give it a try. Another great one is Darlow’s Enigma (perfect health without spray). Darlow’s enigma also reblooms more than GdA. MAC as recommended by K S is also a great choice. I have grown climbing iceberg and it actually does very well here despite the black spot as long and it gets good water and fertilizer.

I would also consider 'Bride Partum brise Parfum and Pin Surprise which is actually white.

Colonel White and Madame Alfred Carriere

Thanks all!

KS7b - I've heard a lot of great things about MAC, though the blooms are larger than what I'm looking for in a climber (the fireplace isn't' huge and I think smaller, polyantha style blooms would be more complementary).

dianela - thanks for the vote of confidence re: GdA. I was also considering DE, though I hear it is more shrubby than climbing. I definitely need something that's going to grow taller than it does wide, and the reviews of DE seem to suggest it's a behemoth that needs its space.

Vaporvac - Brise Parfum is beautiful! More pink in it than GdA but I will add it to my short list for consideration. Thank you :)

There's a Pemberton Hybrid Musk that might be what you are looking for. I don't remember the name - maybe Moonlight (Pemberton HMs don't tend to be hardy here) Trier is another possibility.

Agree that Darlows' Enigma is a shrub, not a climber.

Bubble Bath or Prosperity would be lovely and could be healthy.

I think any of the hybrid musks even if they tend to be bushy can be trained to cover a fireplace if it isn’t super tall. Guirlande d’Amour can get as huge as Darlow’s enigma. A forum member told me in another thread she has one the size of a car. Many of these would require some regular pruning to keep it neat around a small structure.

I can’t comment on health because I haven’t tried it but the white re blooming rambler from the Austin’s collection may be nice also, Snow Goose.

Any chance we could see a picture of the structure? Then we might be able to advise a bit better. For what it's worth both pink surprise and Breeze Perfume Look right. I would not consider BP a pink rose Another very pretty rose With very few thorns is climbing Clotilde Soupert.

I wonder if Nastarana would work in your situation? I haven't grown it but have read that it can be grown as a small climber.

PS don't take my word on that. I'm almost positive that I read an account of it growing on a garden arch -- but Helpmefind.com says it is 15 - 18 feet, so... Maybe not small enough for your small fireplace.

Yes! Per Vaporvac's request, I'm attaching a photo of the structure (there was 5" of snow on the ground when I originally made this post, but the snow has since melted).

I was planning to put the rose on the right side of the fireplace, planting it slightly in front of the green Korean holly. I would say the height from the ground to the bottom of the curve is about 6'. Then it's another 3 or so feet to the top of the flue.

The space definitely can't afford a rose that gets massive. I'm happy to prune, but probably don't have time to make a regular habit of it.

It's a good looking fireplace and patio. I don't see a whole lot of room to plant anything big on the right near that holly. You sure don't want a rose that would grow too close to the top of the flue as it might catch fire. I think you're right about Darlow's Enigma being a big shrub.

I think white would be pretty with the bricks and darkish patio. A semi double one I like is Moonlight. It is not bs free here but if it gets good sun it might have pretty healthy leaves. It has good vigor but is not huge like MAC.

Moonlight

Moonlight on the right

Some large pots on either side of the fireplace would look good I think and you could plant something white in those. Some roses do well in pots, especially big pots.

I wonder if you've considered growing a white clematis in that spot.

Maybe Penelope would be a good white rose...buds can be scarlet or apricot but usually the effect overall is white.

Radler's (the Knock Out breeder) Cloud 10 is unbelievably healthy and floriferous here. The flowers might be too double for your taste or purpose, but it's a stellar rose. I don't understand why it hasn't become more popular. Mine did take a few years to decide to climb, but now it's about 8' and very well-mannered. And even before it climbed, I fell in love with it for its health and prodigious bloom.

I second the suggestion of Prosperity, although mine tops out at about 6 feet. It's totally BS free here, one of the healthiest. It's not in the most favorable site, and it has nothing to grow on. I'm sure if I would give it a trellis, it would grow upwards. But it's doing what I want where I have it, lol.

I love MAC, but I have two concerns: I lost mine in one of the Polar Vortexes several years ago, and I'm Z7 like you (I've recently been reclassified to Z7b), and...before she was cut down by that nasty winter, she was every bit of 20' tall, up in a cedar tree. If she survived, even if only for a few years, you'd be pruning her severely every year.

No to Pink Surprise. It is a Monster and would be dangerous, although beautiful. My Prosperity is more shapely than my Moonlight and more upright here. I think it would fit your space well.

Thank you Sheesheila la. I wasn't sure how it would do in his own 7 getting knocked back every once in a while because I know wRenae e'rey is sometimes tender there. I'm still suggesting or notnot. Tense Renae for its low thorn an also again Bride Parfuon. Cloud ten would look great even with larger blooms My prosperity has never been a good repeater in some shade.c! CS does sometimes ball, but blooms down and is Laura very. Lovely.

Agree with oursteelers...the holly would just take up room and not be seen. It's a good white, not small.

Is that Prosperity?

I cannot imagine recommending 'Pink Surprise' for anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances! That has to be one of the nastiest roses ever created. I mean, if you want Living Barbed Wire to protect a space, then by all means. But don't plant it in proximity to any space you intend for use by humans (or any creature that relies on keeping its hemoglobin contained in order to survive) - it is totally unsuitable for such spaces.

That rose has two surprises on offer: the nasty barbed wire surprise, and the "it's not really pink at all" surprise.

And as you now know, 'Climbing Iceberg' is not at all appropriate for a climate in which Blackspot is an issue. You'd find it nearly impossible to keep it's leaves on the plant.

If yours weren't such a (relatively) small space, I'd recommend 'Darlow's. That thing is a real trooper, and impervious to disease. But in an open space with lots of light, it will eventually form a 12 X 12 foot ball. It is neither dainty, nor easily trained.

Sorry. I guess I'll stick to the many roses I grow myself but I wanted this 1 for years and it seemed to fit. Thank you for the information on it. When I had inquired about myself a couple of years ago nobody mentioned these aspects!

Just wondering what you were going to use to support a climbing rose on. It would need something like a trellis or wires or wooden structure. In my opinion that fireplace might look better with nothing attached to it. A rose can look scraggly part of the year.

I think something white would look good near it..I don't know how much sun that spot gets. Maybe a dwarf paniculata hydrangea on either side would look good. If you're longing for a white rose maybe you could plant one somewhere else in your yard. I just think the fireplace looks good on its own.

Hello all - thank you SO very much for your thoughtful comments and suggestions! You have given me a lot to think about, and I wanted to respond to a few of the questions:

- erasmus - I was planning on planting a clematis to grow with the rose, but haven't really considered planting a clematis on its own. I've always had this vision in my head of growing a white semi-double climber since visiting a garden in Scotland and seeing an absolutely splendid white climber covered with very happy bees (we have two beehives on our property, so finding things they can pollinate makes me very happy as well). Granted, that rose was growing on a large wall and had plenty of space to stretch out left and right...a different situation than what we're talking about here.

Another reason I wanted to grow something on the fireplace is that I wanted to provide some visual interest for our adjacent neighbors, who are lovely people and now looking out at a tall brick wall. I haven't run it by them, but perhaps I could grow the climber on their side and have it run up the back (if they're amenable, of course). Though accessing the rose for pruning purposes would become a challenge as their yard is about six feet below the foundation of our fireplace...

I am planning on putting a few pots in the area and wonder if I should do that first (I also plan to fill in the space in front of the boxwood hedge to the right of the fireplace with small shrub roses) and see if that helps soften all the hardscape.

Regarding structure, I would drill in eye hooks and create a wire frame around which I would tie the canes as they grew (this is the plan, at least).

- oursteelers - I could relocate the Korean holly, though I am hesitant to as it has a sister holly on the opposite side of the fireplace and I'm trying to create a courtyard look with symmetrical borders. I think I'm beginning to see that climbing rose growth is not as vertical as I imagined, and that they really need to be treated like a shrub with long canes. Is that an accurate depiction? In my response to erasmus above, I mentioned a very pretty climber sprawling on a brick wall that I don't remember being very bushy up front, but perhaps that's because I was so enamored with the blooms I wasn't really looking down lol.

I found a picture I had taken of that rose in Scotland in case anyone was curious. I've never been able to identify it, but it looks kind of like Guirlande d'Amour (though I don't remember it having any detectable scent, and from what I hear, GdA is quite fragrant).

Sounds like you are thinking it out. If you did grow one behind the fireplace it could drape around to the side/s too if it was vigorous. That would solve having to compete for root space with the holly. If it doesn't end up making you happy you can always take it out! You sound like you have a vision of a white rose with bricks ...don't be daunted...just try it out and please yourself. I do think your word " soften" the hardscape makes sense...it could use a bit of softening. Pots , if beautiful ones, can really add something and you can move them around.

What about Blush Noisette? It gets fairly large but it is kind of drapey. It's not bs proof here. I like Fig's suggestion of Cloud 10...looks like a good one.

Blush Noisette

This is one that could grow on the back and wrap around.

Yes, the draping idea could definitely work. Having never grown a climber before, how much regular attention do they need? From the bottom of the neighbor's yard to the top of the flue, we're probably looking at 12-13', and I'd need to get a large ladder up there to prune back canes. Obviously couldn't do this regularly throughout the season, maybe once a year, but even then, pruning atop an 8' ladder has me feeling a bit queasy!

Somewhat related - any good sources for beautiful, particularly large pots? There are some lovely terracotta ones that I see David Austin roses grown in, but I never seem to be able to find ones that big at the local big box stores (not to mention terracotta seems to fall apart here, but maybe that's because all my terracotta pots are pretty cheap).

In the size range you are looking at, 'climbers' are basically shrubs with long canes.

If you don't mind a bit of mess, there is nothing wrong with doing a major pruning with the ladder once a year. That is pretty much how I handle Quadra. By August it is more than a bit sprawly, but I don't mind.

There are a LOT of semi-double white cluster flowered climbers grown in Europe. You don't see them here because IMO, people think they look too much like feral multiflora. Largely because they do look a lot like feral multiflora:-)

Terracotta isn't frost proof. One of my big gardening ah-ha! moments was when I realized that the inevitable instructions to bring potted plants in for the winter before the first frost were meant not to protect the plant, but to protect the pot.

Ibd518, just for general info, the only pots that will survive my winters are high-fired pots. The widely available plain clay pots you find are low-fired, and won't withstand hard freezes. Anything below about 25F will cause cracks and flakes eventually, and if the soil in them is wet when a truly hard freeze (below 15-ish) hits, they may shatter. High fired pots will withstand hard freezes. Now the bad news: a decorative, large high-fired pot in the 30" range will set you back several hundred dollars, which is why I have just exactly two, lol. They're a matched pair, and if one ever breaks...

mad_gallica - You learn something new everyday! I always thought the frost warning was because of the plant. Never even crossed my mind it could be related to the pot!! Thanks for the heads up as well as the vote of confidence regarding the once yearly pruning...makes me think something like GdA might be attainable. Now to talk to the neighbors...

fig - Thank you for the info re: pots! I really hate bringing pots indoors and don't mind investing in some quality ones if they can withstand the elements. I will look for high-fired ones for those that I plan to keep outside. Is 30" the appropriate size pot for most 3-4'/medium shrub roses?