I have Ramblin' Red. I've had mine for 2 years and it has quickly grown to cover my 6 foot chain link fence and looked so pretty last summer. No winter protection for it in my yard and only a small amount of dieback. One of it's parents is Henry Kelsey. I have that one too but it's been slow to grow and not nearly as nice as RR.. Oh, and RR is fairly disease resistant. I don't recall spraying it last year nor do I remember any problems with disease. I don't have any others climbers but I would like more. I will be checking back her to see what others suggest.

I have two Ramblin' Reds as well. I planted them in a bed against the back of my house (west facing) last fall. I wanted the hardiest, redest climber I could find-and they seem to fit the bill.

I have Darlow's Enigma - a fine, small white rose with striking yellow anthers and wonderful musk scent. It can handle both full sun and part shade. Does die back part way each winter, but doesn't need any extra mulching or anything. The foliage is lovely too. So if you don't wish a red, this one is lovely. I can also recommend William Baffin for a gorgeous vigerous pink.

-Marie

What about fragrance? this is very important to me in a rose- as well as rebloom. What sort of height are you all seeing in your roses?

Ramblin' Red grew far above my 6 foot fence. Probably 8 feet + long for some canes. It also covers a section of fence over 8 feet wide. Mine is spread wide across the fence rather than trained up an arbor. No fragrance and for me good rebloom.

Another hardy red is Quadra. I have no experience with that one though..

I have many New Dawns along a fence and arbor. They are lovely, prolific bloomers with a nice scent. Also have a couple of John Davis, a fine pink but not as much scent. Also a Viking Queen, which is very lovely buts needs heavy mulching as it is not as hardy here. The blooms get bigger towards the end of the season.
Baffin is unruly but would cover your arbor in no time.

Baffin has a lovely sweet scent, Darlow's Enigma is a strong sweet musk you can smell many many feet away but isn't over-powering.

-Marie

John Cabot is a vigorous climber and hardy to zone 3. It has lovely reddish pink blooms. Ours is going gang busters. We've only had it two years and it's already 7-8 feet tall. A real winner.

I also have two Baffins which I love. I'm actually shifting my whole garden so they have more room to grow. And they do need a lot of room. They can get up to 10 feet tall. But they bloom for a very long time (May and June), take a breather in July, and then bloom again through August and September.

My newest additions are a New Dawn and Ramblin Red. They're a bit leggy. I need to prune them back, give them a chance to fill out. On a whim I bought an Autumn Sunset climbing rose last year. Beautiful, big, yellow/ orange, fragrant blooms. However, it now looks a little sad. All my other roses are waking up, but I think it needed to be taken down off its trellis and covered. It's a zone 5. Does anyone have any experience with this rose? Has yours made it through a Minnesota winter?

Fragrance, hardiness or repeat bloom. In Minnesota, you must pick two. Unless you are willing to take climbing roses down and protect them on the ground, you can't have all three.

With the exception of 'New Dawn,' I have grwon all the roses mentioned above. I'll offer my experience and other suggestions for you.

'Ramblin Red' is a true climber, requiring support. The flowers are purest scarlet and exquisite. Unfortunately, they are scent-free. This one is mostly hardy, with just some tip damage in a normal winter. It is not as vigorous as the others mention here, taking a few years to get some steam. It repeat blooms well.

Both 'William Baffin' and 'John Cabot' are Canadian Beast roses. They are not climbers, but VERY vigorous shrub roses. As they age, they lose their ability to repeat bloom. For most people they are unscented. Amazing spring bloom, though, and hardy and disease free. But they sucker all over the place. The Roses Forum calls Baffin 'T. Rex.' I don't know of anyone happy with Baffin after they have had it for a few years. It is a monster to prune each spring. Last summer I took a chainsaw to Baffin and this summer I will do the same to Cabot. The canes were are wide as my bicep at the base. I'm replacing with more refined, scented shrub roses.

'Viking Queen' is not hardy and will need to be taken down and covered each fall is you want long canes. Otherwise, it will regrow from the base into a nice, albeit floppy shrub.

I have 'Darlow's Enigma' and just love it for the repeat bloom and rich, strong scent. But it isn't a climber in MN and it never will be. It is a twiggy, thorny shrub that never gets the chance to throw those long canes that it does in zone 6. It is *almost* cane hardy here. This winter mine suffered no damage at all. But last year it died to the ground.

'John Davis'is another Candian shrub rose. Much more refined than the thorny Baffin or Cabot. It can be trained as a short pillar rose. It flowers all summer. It has next to no thorns and is also hardy to the tips. Drawbacks are the lack of scent and a susceptibility to mildew in late summer.

Here are some other roses to consider:

'Applejack' is a long-limbed shrub like Baffin and Cabot are, but this one is highly scented. Even the leaves are scented, of eglantine (apples). It blooms heavily , rests a few weeks, and starts blooming again. No suckers and very hardy. It can be trained as a short climber if you keep the sprouts form the base to no more than three new ones each year and you cull the three-year ones each fall.

'William Lobb' is a old garden rose (moss) with an amazing perfume. It has mauve flowers that fade to dove-grey before the petals fall. Hardy, thorny but a once bloomer. Mine twines around a bluebird house. To compensate for the once-bloom, I grow a Polish clematis at its base. During spring it climbs through the rose. When the rose stops, the clematis starts flowering.

And then there is 'Lillian Gibson.' A true climber, this one has smoooth canes, pink flowers (unscented) and good fall color on the foliage. It's a once-bloomer from South Dakota.

I will beg to differ on Darlow's - It DOES die most of the way back in winter, but mine does actually climb up and fill out over the top of my 8' obelisk. I'm also right on the northern edge of Saint Paul. It's sort of protected from the worst of winter's blasts. I think it's a matter of where it is in your yard (and mine doesn't even get full sun about half the day, only mottled or shade) and maybe even what you feed it. I do know it LOVES a good rich organic spring and after bloom feed.

-Marie

I'm being drawn to New Dawn for my south wall facing the patio... not sure about my arbor selection yet. I'm thinking about putting a Buff Beauty on an obelisk- anybody growing that one???

I live in a climate similar to coastal California. I have Climbing roses Cecille Brunner -light pink flowers in clusters, little but perfectly formed high centered tea shape - the Buttonhole rose - hugely vigorous - 1.5 storeys and 20' wide in 2 years,(I am training it against the northern side ( in the southern hemisphere) of my house) medium, sweet fragrance, V. FEW THORNS, and I have rooted a few pieces which are now flowering - this has flowered for me all summer still producing 2 or 3 clusters (say 8-10 in a cluster) at a time and its into autumn); Growing beside and intertwining CB is Zephirine Drouhin COMPLETELY THORNLESS deep cerise pink semi double flowers intensely fragrant - the deep pink flowers are stunning in with the light pink Cecile Brunner, but not nearly so many of them. I have read Zeffie has a problem with black spot but I never have and don't spray - its in a good wind area and full sun; I have grown Zephirine's sister Kathleen Harrop and it was not quite so vigorous, paler pink flowers, still thornless and intensely scented. Pierre de Ronsard (Eden), hardly any thorns, medium fragrance, gorgeous shell pink and white cabbage flower, doing well only been in for a year already waist high and I am training it horizontally to get more flowers, but low. Zeffie, Cecille Brunner and Pierre de Ronsard (Eden) are near a path and had to be thornless, or nearly so. Renae - NO THORNS, pretty vigorous and hardy, (but not as vigorous as like Cecille - no rose I have grown is a vigorous as she, except maybe banksia rose) Renae (sister of Pinkie) has lilac, little, muddled flowers in clusters, strong, sweet fragance. This is a very pretty and nicely behaved rose - the canes are pliable and can be trained easily; Icebergs which haven't prospered perhaps because they haven't had full sun I've killed about 3 of them now - succumbed to everything and go into a white scale sulk and fade away; Reine de Violettes - deep purple double old world flowers, medium scent, NO THORNS, in morning sun, doing well, flowers shatter with rain, good scent I love this rose has completely matte, soft leaves it's near a seat; Crepescule - soft coppery apricot semi double muddled blooms, slight scent, HARDLY ANY THORNS, shortish climber doing very well in full sun - I am training this against a 5' wall facing east - the new foliage is an arresting deep bronze; Mdm Gregoire Stachaelin (Spanish Beauty) pretty, pink can be streaky, semi double, informal, open flowers in clusters, sweet fragrance, medium vigorous but too thorny for me but I have struck about 10 pieces it's easy to root - they are growing on fences, over arbours, in trees it's autumn and they are still pumping out clusters of flowers, everywhere I look there is another pink tress of the Madam showing through somewhere; I have just ordered Lady Hillingdon Climber (thorniness rating 5/10 which is too high for me, but no Mdm Alfred Carriere available) - yellow, intensely scented; Also just ordered Nahema THORNLESS, shell pink, intense scent, can't wait till spring; Also just ordered Golden Celebration from David Austin - huge, gold, cabbage style flowers, intense scent, V. FEW THORNS. Then there are the ones in my garden I don't know what they are but I love them still. ....Can you tell I don't like thorns? I grow them for delight not for blood, pain and scars.