Climbing cecile brunner?

My experience in a hot and dry climate of growing a climber (Reve d'Or) against a house wall which received less than full sun is that it deteriorated over a period of some years and was finally taken out. I was told that putting up a trellis or some structure to keep it off the hot wall would have been a good idea. The fact that your climate is humid might help your rose to do better than mine. If it works I think it would be a lovely idea and what you've done to the front garden sounds very pretty. A rose like Kiftsgate, however, could easily eat your house if it's happy in that spot. The delicate petals of Duchesse de Brabant might not do well in the heat, I'm afraid. I hope you'll receive replies that will suggest some viable options.

Mme Alfred Carriere would be my first choice of the ones you list. It is bullet proof in my garden. Also, its growth is probably easier to control than some of the others. Or, how about a climbing china like Cl Old Blush, or Cl Cramoisi Superior? In addition, in a climate as warm as yours many roses which are not classified as "climbers" will climb anyway. Le Vesuve is a china/tea, and loves warm climates.

Another one I would look into is Sombreuil (aka Colonial White, the modern LFC introduced in the 1960s, NOT the old tea rose). It has the look of an OGR. It definitely climbs taller than what HMF says, if you want it to - it is the rose on the right in this pic, which has made it up to our 3rd story roof. Blooms 10-11 months of the year - it is growing on an arch, and then it escaped and is growing on a South facing wall in zone 9 (which I think has been zone 10 for the last 4 years at least).

Jackie

Jackie

My experience with roses against a south-facing concrete block wall is that unless they are heavily-foliaged, they eventually lose too many canes to sunburn. I've been able to grow 'Louis Philippe' that way, and 'Tina Marie,' but we failed with every climber we tried -- other than Cl. Old Blush (and that mildewed).
Putting SOMETHING between the rose and the wall might help. But you'll remember that, for English gardens, they recommend growing roses "against a wall" because -- well -- it's hotter against a wall than elsewhere.

Thanks for the suggestions so far :) I was tending towards Mme Alfred Carriere after looking at some lovely pics of her growing at Sissinghurst, however I've also read she might be a bit more prone to black spot (was reading Paul Barden's list of black spot resistant OGRs). I saw Renae and Duchesse de Brabant growing at the rose nursery on pergolas and gum trees and Renae seemed to be doing very well with little care, but I prefer the foliage and overall look of Mme Alfred Carriere. Blush Noisette is also lovely but she may cook in that spot? Not sure how tough she is. Kiftsgate, Mermaid etc could end up on top of the house but I'm less worried about that than a miserable, slowly dying rose! Ah so hard to decide!

Climbing devoniensis? The Tea book says it thrives in the heat. I only grow the bush form, but the scent is outstanding.

Possibly Kiftsgate or Mermaid would be options, assuming you have no plans to use the front part of your house/verandah etc again, ever! LOL There's an article that might be worth reading if you Google:

the independent thorny issues climbing roses

which describes coping with Kiftsgate; as for Mermaid (which I adore), check other threads on Garden web/Houzz by searching using the box at the top of the page. She is a heartbreakingly lovely, but truly formidable creature, not in my opinion, in any way suited to domestication or training. She may kill you if you try.

Comtesse :¬)

Here is the The Killer Rose article.

And here is the The Independent article Comtesse was talking about, Thorny Issues.

Wouldn't you be better off with a thornless rose?

Hot and humid? Reve d'Or would do well. And it's bullet proof, no blackspot. I have grown one for years over and arbor. It gets full afternoon sun and loves it. I don't have it against a wall however. Sombreuil I have in the same spot and it's lovely, however, it does get blackspot and it is stiff and thorny. It does have outstanding fragrance however.

I had climbing Iceberg against my house, facing the south, and it did well. However it was virused and succumbed to a bad winter. I tried replacing it with Lamarque, but that plant did not survive the first winter :(. I am thinking of climbing Devoniensis. I have Duchess d'Brabant, but it doesn't seem to want to climb. I do have to prune it a lot when it gets out of control, maybe that is my problem. I have it right near my front door, maybe if I gave it some support it could frame the porch, that would look nice.

Here is Reve d'Or on the right and Sombreuil on the left. Reve d'Or is a much more prolific bloomer.

^that's a lovely rose there....

..As for the question in hand, I would say don't allow your heart to rule your head...... you have a lot of white on your building...window frames, pillars etc... personally I wouldn't want a white rose too... Kiftsgate needs a country garden with a big landscape..and staff.... at Sissinghurst, Mme Alfred Carriere grows on a mellowed red brick wall, which complements its blooms I think... I wouldn't care to grow it against too much white...

...I think Swanes nursery in NSW is a main supplier in your area, they have nice climbers like 'High Society'... 'Climbing Pinkie' and Austin's 'Golden Celebration'... all would grow 4 metres in your climate most likely... but the one I would consider most, as it appears to grow so well in Sydney I gather, is climbing Lady Hillingdon, as this meets your apricot criteria and Heritage status...plus the foliage is rather good and is suited to growing up a pillar with the greater air movement... I might plant two there if possible, one on right and left pillars...and train across the top...

...there is a large cemetery in Sydney called Rookwood so I read, where it is seen to thrive...

Great ideas, thank you :) I like the look of the Devoniensis, Reve d'Or and Lady Hillingdon, I'll ask about those at the nursery. In regards to the colour on the house, it is washed out in the strong sunlight. It is actually more like this but a bit lighter:

Sorry for the huge colour swatch lol! So I do think white could work as well as pick. Apricot I'm actually less sure about but given that a lot of the colour on the house will be covered by foliage I think it could be ok.

Sounds like Kiftsgate and Mermaid are out - I don't want the house to be eaten alive! And definitely no staff here to do the hard work! Thornless would make life easier - I did like how limber and thornless Renae was - but it's not an area that receives any traffic, it's really just seen from the nearby path. So thorns aren't really a make-or-break for me.

Swane's used to be one of the biggest rose specialists and I think they still have a great modern selection but I would generally go with Green E Roses for potted plants or Mistydowns for bare rooted. Both have a great selection of OGRs, Austins etc. I went to Swane's recently and didn't find much except for a very spotty Buff Beauty and a few sad Austins that I rescued from the bargain section. I like the climbing Austins but from what I've seen I think they would be too high maintenance for what I'm looking for - all my Austins here need spraying regularly unfortunately and are fairly temperamental (but lovely) creatures. Of course I only have a small selection of Austins and I'm far from an expert but that's just my gut instinct!

Anyway perhaps it's been narrowed down to a Noisette or a climbing Tea? Does anyone know if Blush Noisette would get fried?

Would love to see pictures of the final Rose.

I agree with Jeri regarding the wall being hot, so that will have to be taken into consideration. Also, being in Australia, one has to look at what roses are available there. The rose I am going to recommend is an older rose. It is not an antique rose yet but getting there. It was also available in Australia (and hopefully still is). The rose was bred in an area where heat in summer (38 C plus for three to four months) is the norm. It is thornless and fragrant. It is also a repeat and it does get BIG. It is Renae. It was bred for disease resistance. Overall, great and beautiful rose. Renae

I think Brightstar moved, maybe to New Zealand? I wish she still posted.

I think the word is bulate

My Boise ID won't give me the correct spelling but I think you know what the word is.

yes, it's bullate. I'm at my computer now! : )) I love that R. Bullata! In fact, I especially love roses with unusual features.