My New Dawn climbs to the second floor of my house. Boughs reach the power lines.

Check out Cl. Old Blush. It grows WONDERFULLY in TX (I have seen in in the front yard of a house in Drippin' Springs) and it repeats.

Now, I think it does not bloom continuously -- the way the bush form does. But it blooms in a veritable explosion of pink, in the spring. Once fairly mature, it scatters some bloom during the summer, and comes on strong again in the Fall.

But to be truthful -- There is a reason that the Banksiaes are loved all over the world, and grown all over TX. There's nothing like 'em.

Jeri in SoCal

Look at this "Yellow Lady Banks," in the Historic Sacramento City Cemetery:

Be careful about considering New Dawn for Texas. You'll find this is a significantly more successful rose where winters are longer, colder and wetter and summer heat isn't as intense nor as long. Here in Southern California, it was a disaster.

Banksiaes of all types, including Fortuniana, are wonderful. The best part the Banksiaes have going for them is the virtual lack of prickles. Mermaid is another which is fabulous and pretty much ever flowering, but she BITES, big time! Belle of Portugal (The Portuguese Hussy) eats cathedrals and is glorious in flower, but once blooming. If you can shelter the thickest wood from the extreme sun for long periods of time, Susan Louise can get quite large and repeat its flowering.

Also considered once flowering, but capable of repeat in the right climate once mature is Silver Moon. I have a decades old love affair with this one. Cl Mlle Cecile Brunner is a hard one to beat, especially if you obtain one which repeats or flowers regularly.

One I would love owning a castle so I could grow it again is Montecito. When in flower, it is truly a "Jack and the Beanstalk" plant! And, that fragrance! I'm hoping my Nessie, daughter of Montecito, might eventually develop into a house eater. Kim

Were I looking for a house eater, I would try one of the Hybrid Gigantea's. Yes, they got that name for a reason. I grow EverGreen Gene, which came from Roses Unlimited, and it would fit your bill nicely.

It takes a few years to set roots and get BIG, but once it does, whoa nelly. It is giving Mermaid a run for the space in the back of my mom's yard in hot east San Diego -- where gets no water, but it doesn't seem to mind. I half-believe it jumps over to the neighbors swimming pool on the other side of the fence and helps itself at night.

Here's a bloom -- very hybrid-tea'ish in bloom shape, monster in plant shape.

This post was edited by kstrong on Tue, Apr 2, 13 at 17:51

I loved my Belle Portugaise but it just got too large to handle anymore. The canes are thick and strong but not easily bendable. You need the room to let it go its own way without cutting it all the time. If I ever get a big enough space, this rose will be one of the first to be planted.

I collect them. Most roses of this sort don't rebloom but make an amazing display in the spring. Paul's Himalayan Musk is a favorite. We have two. One we planted on our old motorhome that we called White Bear.

Some of these are so spectacular. You have so many choices in the warmer zones. I am so jealous.

As long as the rose is sufficiently arctic hardy for where you're trying to grow it and it's protected against whatever is there to eat it, many of the old once flowering ramblers can achieve some pretty monumental proportions, too. Since the flower only once, they put all that extra energy into elongating and reaching for more supports. Granted, length and severity of the seasons govern what's eventually possible, but there pretty much are Jack and the Beanstalk types for many climates. Kim

Go out and research the Noisettes and Tea-Noisettes. They rebloom, are fragrant and beautiful and some get plenty large. This is just one suggestion to add to all the excellent ones already offered. Since you live in a warm climate you have a lot of options.
My largest rose is 'Treasure Trove', a species hybrid, strong, beautiful, and healthy, but once flowering. Ours is now 25' or 30' up a black locust, and a sheet of bloom in flower. The size some of these roses can get is not to be ignored.
@Susan, you're right that warm climate gardeners have a wider choice of house eaters, but German breeders and others from frigid climates have been breeding hardy ramblers and climbers for a long time. If you want a hardy rambler that's close to a species, have you ever looked into those selected and bred from the European R. arvensis? I have a young 'Venusta Pendula' in my garden that I've been greatly enjoying, and it's popular in Germany so should be able to take cold. It often see it described as lacking fragrance, but mine is strongly myrrh-scented, a fragrance I happen to like.

My favorite would be Lady Banks because she is carefree and putting on quite a show right now. I do have a Cecile Brunner climber which has scampered way above the top of a 14 foot tall arbor at only 2 years old. She is setting buds.
MAC has staked claim on 1/3 of my back deck pergola which is enormous.
New Dawn is a beast, and I hate to prune her.
I also love Old Blush, which grows over the garage. She is much easier to get along with than New Dawn.

Yes. I was also going to suggest Cl. Old Blush -- It's a wonderful thing, in TX.

Jeri

I know you are looking for repeat bloom alternatives to banksia lutea, but I couldn't resist posting this picture, because it shows it literally swallowing my house!

If I can get up onto the top of our garage roof later today I will take a picture of an amazing MAC, which blooms literally all of the time.

Jackie

That's so pretty Jackie!

Beauty of Glazenwood

Portuguese Hussey? LOLOL.

How about 'Purezza'??? Looks like R. banksia banksia (White Lady Banks) -- slightly less rampant, but it repeats.

Jeri

I took this picture of MAC yesterday while standing on the roof of our garage - about 12 feet off the ground. MAC is rooted on the ground on the North side of the garage, between it and a 8 foot tall fence, which is about 2 feet away from the garage. Despite being in total shade, it grew up into the light, ate half of the garage roof, and then as you can see went up the neighbor's pine tree.

There is actually about 12 more feet of this rose going up the tree, but I had to shrink the picture to get it to post, and had to take off that part of it.

Jackie

My last house swallower pic - this was taken yesterday, and is about 1/4 of this rose - Belle Portugaise. The window in the picture is on the third story of our house.

Jackie

These photos and suggestions are thrilling. I never even considered getting a rambler. I have mostly HT's and Florabundas. I have an area that I can put a few biggies along a street. I think I may have to invest in a few of these. The beautify of such size, even when allowed to just grow with no supports is calming and eye catching.... and cheaper then installing a picket fence to block the view of a street.

I remember thirty-plus years ago when i was more likely to waste gas taking drives just to see where roads went, and what I could find at their ends, finding barns and old houses 'slip covered' with Belle of Portugal. When in flower, it is an amazingly beautiful sight. I never had room to grow it, but tried Susan Louise several times, both budded and own root. She never succeeded for me as her wood is too softly pithed and she sun scalded every time no matter what I tried.

A word of caution about trying any of these monsters free standing...to get the height and density desired to provide protection and privacy from the street, they're going to require greater depth than they give in height until they develop that mass of bare, prickly superstructure under them required to support them. Once they have the height you desire, you can begin trimming back the depth as possible. That can quickly and easily eat a great deal of room and can be very nasty to deal with if you have anything like Bermuda grass in the area as the grass willingly grows up and through that prickly mass, making it a horrific maintenance job. Much better to begin with a chain link fence which outlasts virtually everything and let the rose eat it for support. Kim

My BOG climbs up a rock face, through a fence and into the trees.The bottom canes are 1 1/2 inches in diameter and the bush has been duking it out with ivy for a long time.

I am considering the same thing and read this with zest!! My oh my!!

I have a few potentials...MAC, ND and peggy martin in a spot they can devour tall and mature, yet 'thin' crepe mrytles...am thinking of more!!

Love the pictures. Would love to find Belle of P. and also does anyone know if there is much difference in the two lady banksia? prefer white, but those yellow pictures are wo;nderful!!

keep it coming, great thread!!

Oddly, the double white is more likely to throw sharp, hooked prickles than the double yellow. Both have grown here for the past nearly 35 years. They're two of the few things which have flourished here against the gophers, moles, rabbits, squirrels and desert rats and get by all on their own without supplemental water. I posted photos of them in a previous thread then dumped them, so here's a link to it so anyone interested may see the prickles. Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Every Rose has its Thorn

A local college here has planted yellow and white Lady Banks roses along a bike path, for perhaps a mile. They are both blooming now, right next to each other. I can tell you that at least in this climate, the yellow ones are MUCH more vigorous than the white. They have more, denser blooms, they have in many instances escaped the hedge and grown into/over trees. The white ones have way less bloom and are still exactly where they were planted.

Jackie

One of our local Department of Water and Power large facilities is surrounded by extremely tall chain link fences. They got smart and upholstered that fence with white and yellow Banksiae and Cl. Mlle. Cecile Brunner. The plants are regularly sheared like hedges to keep them close and dense to the chain link. It works extremely well. Kim

This is great! I spent a while last week hunting through the archives for just this kind of post but couldn't find one. I ended up ordering two Peggy Martins to cover one entire side of my house.

I started a thread asking if I had made the right choice but am thinking I'll see how they do. I wonder if the canes will be a bit long and stiff for training against a wall. We'll see. I'm installing BIG supports for them tomorrow so here's hoping they grow into them.

Jaqueline3, so gorgeous!

Gabriel, Peggy Martin won't be too stiff to train.

the first couple wouldn't swallow a house but perhaps one side of a garage
'Crepescule' can grow to be 20 feet tall and more, and unlike many climbers it has excellant re-bloom. It's an apricot-golden color with red at its' base and quite fragrant. The foliage is attractive.
If you love yellow roses; 'Marechal Niel' is a marvel to behold and deeply fragrant. It re-bloom well and is in full bloom today on April 5th. I'm growing mine between two purple 'Royal Robes' it blooms more often than an average Hybrid Tea, here.
R. gigantea odorata at Berkeley Botanical garden in California blooms in early spring with several hundred charming saucer sized pale golden rose blossoms, , it is climbing a tree with great enthusiasm.
I've espaleried a Mermaid to keep her within bounds, against a wooden fence in my back yard.
I have an Albertine too, and it has splendid large pink and salmon blooms and c. 33% re-bloom in the autumn on mature plants.
For Ramblers, I'm devoted to 'The Garland' with its millions of palest pink, tiny dainty roses with pert squared-off petals that offered a sweet pervasive scent that surrounds the plant like a cloud of bliss.

I'd love a 'Silver Moon' but where to plant it? my neighbors backyard on a moonless night?
White Lady Banks is one of my 3 favorite white roses, I once lived where the rose garden was surrounded by a low fence where those beautiful white roses bloomed all over it in spring. Oh what joy. there is such a variation between bloom shape and character between white roses, and this one thrills me down to my toes.
I was at Berkeley Horticultural nursery today and took a whiff of 'Snowflake', another member of the Banksiae and was pleased with its' sweet and moderately strong scent. I don't know how big this gets.
Lux

Lux, Banksiae "Snowflake" is the name the nurseries have applied to plain old Fortuniana. When you find Snowflake at places like Home Depot and Lowe's, you get Fortuniana.

You should also look at Banksiae lutescens, the single yellow Banksiae. Both doubles are flowering and nearing their end here. Lutescens has already flowered and is pushing new flower clusters as it did last year. Not a "repeat", but a continuation of the first flush. It has a scent I can detect which neither double form possesses. When I collect a jar of anthers for pollen, their dried scent is a very strong clove. Kim