I’m not help with the question but wanted to say the house is beautiful! Can’t wait to see what you do!

Thank you! I hope I can do the house justice with my beginner gardening skills

Hello there :),

I can’t help much since I am in a much warmer zone. Roses really behave very different from zone to zone and even within the same zone based on too many variables. I did want to mention that your house is lovely 😊 in every way and I think if you are successful with your combo it will look spectacular. I have heard that rose New Dawn, Maybe Awakening can climb in your zone. Again I can’t verify those claims. I also read that William Baffin can grow 10 feet in zone 4 with tip burn only, but it is a deeper pink. I think your idea is worth trying, but in your colder zone you may need to be patient and find the correct rose for the job.

Hello! Beautiful home! A couple of things - Blue Hydrangea - you will have to supplement your soil to get blue blooms here, our native soil runs on the alkaline side, so all of mine bloom pink. If I add a good chelated iron they will be blue. Be picky about which ones you select - Nantucket Blue has been a reliable mop head for me, and Twist and Shout is a great lacecap. Finding a re blooming climbing rose may be trial and error for you. Look through some of the threads - the Canadian climbers get some size here, others struggle. I don’t know that you’ll get anything large enough to go over the top of your window, but it would be really pretty! Party Hardy gets tall - if you go to Meinkes garden center in Niles they have them planted all around the perimeter of their yard - gets quite tall - 8ft ?, good re bloomer, has done well for me too. Meinkes also has a TON of roses 😜. Clematis would get that large for you. Have fun designing and shopping!

Hi Cynthia!

Thank you for all the insight, you obviously know your stuff! I'll look into the different roses you mentioned. I may have to wait another year, just put the hydrangeas in this year and order the right kind of rose early enough next year so I can have the best chance possible, because I think a lot of the really good ones are either sold out online or they won't send this late in the season anymore.

I hadn't even thought of the temperature factor, but that definitely is something to consider as well.

Thanks a bunch for your thoughtful reply!

Hi Dianela!

Thank you! I did actually order the New Dawn, I think 2 of them from Heirloom roses, to put on my south wall as I think they are not as cold hardy as some of the others I'm looking at but can thrive in zone 5 if they have full sun. They haven't gotten here yet but I'm excited, I've read lots of good reviews on them!

I will look up that William Baffin rose. Yes, I'll definitely need to not try to rush this project. As I said to Cynthia, I think I may have to hold off on getting the roses for the front this year and make sure I decide on the right one, and order with plenty of time in advance for next spring. As sad as that makes me this year lol. It'll be best in the long run for sure.

Hi Dingo!

Wow you must be my neighbor, thanks for the local insight!! We are in Hinsdale. Yes, I am aware of the alkalinity.. actually I am getting a neutral reading on my soil here, using one of those metal shaft ph things that look like a meat thermometer. 7.0. so, my plan was that since the roses also prefer a slightly acidic soil, that I would add Aluminum Sulfate to the soil to try to get it between 6.0-6.5, for the roses to be happy and also for the hydrangeas to grow more blue. I already bought about 5 endless summer hydrangeas (3 of the original, 2 Bloomstruck). with the idea that the original ones would be in the middle as they can grow about a foot higher than the 2 others. The bloom struck may look a little more purple and could go on either side of the originals. I think the slight height difference and adding some of that purple to either end of the row of blue may look nice.. but we will see. I hadn't heard of the Nantucket blue but that sounds like exactly what I'm looking for since I got on this hydrangea kick after visiting Nantucket this past summer! All of the homes with their blue hydrangeas was just stunning!!

Thanks for the tip, I will go to Meinke's!! Maybe I'll get lucky and come home with roses for the front this season after all! Yes, I thought about clematis. that is an option, but I so have my heart set on this cottage look with the old English looking garden roses and hydrangeas. It's going to be a challenge but worth it if I figure this out.

The ES will be fine I bet - mine do well but I see a lot of complaints about them not blooming. I haven't grown Bloomstruck so no help there. The aluminum helps the color but doesn't really acidify the soil, but the roses will be fine don't sweat it. Throw down some MIlorganite, it helps with iron, or if you have Holly Tone that helps too. Whatever is easy to get and cheap :). You will need like a 10 footer to hit the top of that window I bet - search for Bellarosa's posts, shes up by me far NW - I think grows John Davies around a doorway, one of the Canadian Explorers anyway, and it's gorgeous. She's also a Hydrangea grower. You can always fill in with Clematis or Honeysuckle while you wait for your roses to fill in.

How would you recommend acidifying the soil slightly, if not with the AS? Would you do Milorganite AND holly tone? Do you put those right after planting or wait for the roots to establish? I’m very new to gardening. This is my first home and I’ve never gardened before, and only know what I’ve been reading. There is so much varying info out there though that it can be a little tough to know what exactly to do. I will try and look up the person you mentioned. Thanks a lot 😊

Your house is so charming! I love the boxwoods as well. I don’t have experience growing blush climbers with hydrangeas and I am not in your zone either. I did have great luck with my endless summer hydrangeas and roses in the same location, but the hydrangeas has dappled sun/shade and the roses were a few feet away in morning Sun and afternoon shade. I love the blue endless summer hydrangeas.

Oh Lala thank you for this- let’s me know it’s possible! What roses did you use? If you have a picture I’d love to see!

Hi Tiffany - I think your roses will be fine with the soil as is. I use Holly Tone for roses and especially around the Hydrangeas, as I'm pretty alkaline here, and mine are still pink. If you really want blue (would be gorgeous), go over to the Hydrangea forum and they can help you more than I can with correct supplementation.

Thanks!

I’m in zone 9a and our hydrangea do need some shade. But I used to be in zone 5 and although I wasn’t a gardener then, I know hydrangeas lives in sun there.