I second the call for additional pictures. This rose that grows near your mother's house is extremely interesting. Roses that will overwinter well enough to be climbers in her zone are few and far between, and fragrant climbers are even fewer.

Picture is not informative enough to say but I were to guess I would say Rose Viking Queen.

It was bred at University of Minnesota, ultra hardy, pink climber and a wonderful fragrance.

Thus, its the only rose I can think of that fits the conditions you've described !!!

Sorry I'm figuring

Kristin's ideas · More Info

Kristin's ideas · More Info

Kristin's ideas · More Info

That does look like Viking Queen ! I was right !

I don’t think it’s Viking Queen, it just doesn’t get that big. How long do you think it’s been growing there?

Just how big is it? I can't tell from the photos.

There were a *lot* of hardy, once blooming ramblers in previous existences.

Does the receptacle (the swelling at the base of the bud, where the seeds will form) have a vaguely acorn shape? If so, then this is likely 'Banshee', which is well known for its hardiness in extremely cold zones.

See:

Banshee buds

plant parts detail.

Looks like Banshee to me

I have Blairii #2 and Viking Queen and I don't think this is either.

Receptacle

Kristin's ideas · More Info

Wow, that does look like Banshee, as Paul suggested. Look at this picture: https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.30001

How very cool!

Moscow has a climate more like Chicago according to a Russian in law who grew up there. I tried to grow "Communist lilacs" bred in Moscow in Alaska and it was too cold for them to bloom in Alaska. I sent some to my sister in Southern Minnesota and they bloom there. I guess I always thought of Russia as being so cold, but I guess I was thinking of Siberia which is probably where they would have sent me.

Comtesse, I might be a freedom free speech type. Not so much for authoritarian regimes. I'm not a Putin supporter. Russia has had/is having horrible times but it is a big country, and it all isn't as cold as Siberia. We can't brag in the States here at the moment either I'm afraid.

I think that's a common name for the particular lilacs that were bred in communist Russia. Peter Schneider sells a lot of them and you can find them on his site. I'm glad you're here Sheila. I hate to think of you breaking rocks in the gulag.

Thank you, vapor. I think I would be really bad at that. The varieties I tried were written about by Peter Schneider in "The Gardener" magazine. They were all hybridized by Leonid Kolesnikov in Moscow starting 1919 and going on for decades and introduced in the 1940s. I had "Beauty of Moscow" (Krasavitsky Moskvy), "Banner of Lenin (Znamya Lenina), and Hope (Nadezhda). They never bloomed for me in Alaska but happily they do for my Minnesota sister. I think they are great for those who have room for lilacs. Here, I have a couple lilacs that came with our home but I haven't planted any yet. It may be a little hot here, but they might do great. I'll look that selling site of Peter's up, thank you.

Sheila, those are famous ones! I'm so sad they didn't Bloom for you because I would love to know what they look like. I really consider getting some this year but I have so many other things to take care of that I couldn't justify it.

I did find the nursery "Lilac Hill Market" of DocLilac Ted Collins, whom I bought my plants from in the past. He died in 2018 but his family carries on. Maybe I need some here. Would need to be a Spring purchase I think.

, Sheila oh, I just tried to send you a p.m. but you appear to have yours turned off.

I think I turned it on now, vapor. I'm a bit clueless on this, and my tech support is snoring.

You figured it out! I just sent you a p.m. . Hope it helps.

I agree completely! When I first heard it I was like what? I had to see it numerous places before I realize that was just the term. :-)

You wouldn’t be alone, Sheila, in Siberia! I think you’d have quite a few of us there to keep you company, and we could all secretly try to grow little rose bushes during our bathroom breaks and compare notes in hushed tones around the fire at the end of the day.

I think this has the makings of a feature film, now that I think about it! :-)

Yes, lol—we have “wussy” here too! I think growing some thorny monsters (in Siberia?—we‘ll call it plot-zone-extension, similar to plot armor) and build a trap for them. Then we set the whole labor camp free and become national heroes!

(Sorry for the OT post derailing. Sometimes my creative mind just wanders without explanation.) :-)

I nominate my "Pink Surprise" to be the rose we wrap the gulag leader in before our escape. It is a rugosa. I hope it is hardy in Siberia.

"Pink Surprise" would be an apt name, wouldn't it. Imagine the surprise when they can't untangle themselves and even their rifles are being hugged by the thorny canes.

My grandfather was a young soldier during World War I and was captured by the Russians. He spent several years in a Siberian prison camp and always said what kept him alive, since they gave the prisoners next to nothing to eat, was the camp doctor's attraction to him (he was very good-looking and the doctor was a woman!) She kept sneaking him food, which enabled him to come home and marry my grandmother.

What a story! I think you inherited his looks.:-)

Oh Ingrid! What a family history. My grandfather got mustard gassed in WW 1 and that was no picnic either. I'm so glad your grandfather survived. It does seem like you inherited his looks. Vapor is right.

“Pink Surprise” is perfect! (I imagine a slight feminist tone to this one, so I like that it’s pink.)

Ingrid & Sheila, how amazing to have these stories in your families. My grandfather was in the Navy in WW2, but refused to talk about it when he got back. I can only imagine what he went through to bring him to that place of never wanting to revisit it. He did bring back a wonderful Buddha statue (which I now have) and a passion for growing tropicals, which led him to move to S FL and later on teach me to grow things.

So I think Ingrid can use her good looks and charm to distract the soldiers while we smuggle out supplies for our escape, yes? :-)

I think so Perma.

You guys are so sweet! I will of course do my part to aid the cause, as united we stand. Sheila, mustard gas was horrific, and had long-lasting effects. It is so sad what we humans do to each other. We never learn either. My father (who was a soldier in the German army, and served in the infantry SS) was imprisoned in an American camp where they were systematically starved to death. Without being told why he was transferred to another camp which saved his life. This was after walking from France through Scandinavia for a thousand miles and nearly losing both his feet to frostbite. Forgive me for mentioning this but the story of my family's past has had a deep effect on my life. My grandparents, Germans whose ancestors had settled in Yugoslavia in the 1700's, were imprisoned in concentration camps there at the end of World War II under Marshall Tito, at which hundreds of thousands of Germans died from starvation and other atrocities. Their fate is a mostly forgotten chapter of history since Germans were the enemy, and history is for the most part written by the winners, not the losers.

Oh Ingrid, when will we ever learn? What a history. I feel for what your family has suffered. Yes, the mustard gas had lifelong effects. Sad.

Ingrid, I “liked” your comment only for what you said about how this has had an impact on you. I completely understand that, and agree that human beings still have much to learn about how to treat one another. I’m so sorry to hear about how terribly these men suffered during war.