Go see Hartwood Roses in Fredericksburg. Connie has a great collection, so you can see what the roses actually look like. She is very knowledgeable and very easy to talk with. www.hartwoodroses.com

Thanks catsrose. I actually don't want to see the roses - in the past I did buy several based on just that, and most of them failed in my garden because I don't spray. The climber I'm looking for will replace wisteria, which was healthy and looked nice both in and out of bloom - that's what I'm after.

I'll see if I can talk to Connie - if she doesn't spray her roses, perhaps she can offer some suggestions.

I don't have suggestions for thornless climbers, but the climbers below are very healthy w/o any spraying:

Laguna (fragrant, vigorous, thorns)
Quadra (very little fragrance, big thorns)
Aloha Hawaii (fragrant, thorns)

Many once blooming ramblers are quite healthy in our area.
For example, Wichuraina ramblers like Paul Transon, Alberic Barbier, Francois Juranville and many others. They all have thorns. Some multiflora ramblers are quite healthy in my garden and are less thorny (but still have thorns). For example Ghislaine de Feligonde, Veilchenblau, etc.

Darlows Enigma is healthy, fragrant and thorny. Gift is healthy and has thorns.

The few thornless climbers I tried were Mme Alfred Carrier and Crepusculr. MAC was very BS prone and Crepuscule was wonderful, but borderline hardy and died one winter after being in my garden for 3 years.

Olga

For an expanse that large, I suggest that you consider the Noisette, 'Mme. Alfred Carriere'. It would perform well in your area. The plant has great vigor, beautiful & healthy foliage, and produces lovely fragrant blooms over a long season. It does well in full sun, but does not resent partial shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: MAC @ HMF

It appears that Olga & I have had different experiences with MAC's disease resistance. I'm near the VA/NC border and have few disease problems with my plant, which is approx 10 yrs old. Mine gets morning sun only and is planted in an open area with good circulation.

If I remember correctly, Olga gardens in your general area, so her experience may be more relevant for your situation.

I really loved MAC and wanted it to work for me. It was in full sun, good soil, etc. I had it for 7 years, loved it for glorious spring flush, fragrance and soft color and planned to keep it even though it was always naked from mid June on. I would keep it forever, but it got RRD and had to be removed. I still feel very sorry about it. But I do not reconnend it for our area, if you want flowers AND leaves :)
Olga

I have Ramblin Red growing on my trellis. I have a no spray garden and it does not blackspot in NJ. BS is an issue where I live.

Rambling red has thorns too and actually here it gets BS. Not complete defoliation, but approx 30 % leaf loss. Quadra is much better choice in my opinion if you want healthy red and are OK with thorns.
Your mentioning RR, brought Carefree Sunshine to my mind. It can be grown as a small climber and is reasonably healthy. Not thornless, but good fragrance and lovely flowers.
Olga

The deep red climber, Dublin Bay, does quite well in my no spray garden in the heat and humidity of eastern NC. HelpMeFind says it gets 8' to 12' in height. If that is tall enough for you, this is a wonderful rose that lasts well in the vase. I also have the vigorous, thorn-free Cresupule, which is beautiful. It may not like your winters.

Dublin Bay is great. It is not thornless and has no fragrance, but color is wonderful and it almost does not fade. Very freeblooming too. My sister grows it here in MD no spray for a dozen of years and though not fully resistant it keeps at least 50% of its leaves most of the time. Never completely naked or ugly looking. So it depends on your tolerance to BS. I believe it could be a good choice.
Olga

Carefree Sunshine repeats better than most climbers/large shrubs if it is deadheaded. Really, it repeats like a floribunda. The dense, bright green foliage makes for an attractive plant, too. But my plant made only a few climber-like long canes before settling into its assigned role as a 5-high x 6-wide shrub.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll be much easier for me to pick something now.

One more question, if I may. I'm somewhat reluctant to try Mme Alfred Carrier or Crepuscule, which means I'll have to put up with thorns. In that case I might as well get something fragrant. The wisteria I mentioned bloomed only in the spring, but the scent was intoxicating.

Is there a once bloomer which would do well in my setting and which has a remarkable bloom? If not, I'll focus on repeat bloom and not fragrance.

Thanks!

I adore Ghislaine de Feligonde (Spelling may be off!). It's completely clean here in the northwest. I too, had to get rid of Mme. Alfred Carrier. It was completely covered in blackspot. Ghislaine has very small thorns and has the prettiest range of pink/peach colors.

Another disease free climber for me has been Autumn Sunset. It grows large, has gorgeous, big blooms, and a great fragrance. I've had 2 for years now framing my front porch and without any spray at all, they've been totally clean. It blooms almost continuously for me. It does, however, have thorns.

Autumn Sunset as well as Westerland get quite a lot of BS here.
Ghislaine de Feligonde is a good choice in my opinion too. Gets some BS, but not much. Looks good and smells great. Repeat is only moderate for me.
Olga