Maine? No. I don't see anything on Heirlooms webpage that I would expect to make a decent climber own-root in Maine. There are a few things that might be worth trying if they were grafted onto a rootstock that pushed them to grow.

One of the big problems with climbers in cold climates is that the hardiness ratings aren't where they do well as climbers, but where they survive. Add in that an east coast zone 5 is harder on marginal roses than a midwestern zone 5, and if you really want a rose that will climb, you are looking at Explorers or hardy once-bloomers.

Lily, I just ordered Eden, it looks like a phenomenal rose but is known to sometimes take a year or two to bloom. That might feel a little discouraging to you if it is your only rose.

mad_gallica is right that you will want to invest in a hardy rose, although if you get a once bloomer they flower for only a short time once a year .

The descriptions, photos and ratings on HelpMeFind.com where you can type in the name of rose you want to research, is always an additional deciding factor for me since the forum member's experiences vary so widely.

Viking Queen has very high ratings.

I have made some mistakes over the 25 years of rose gardening, but the biggest one I feel was starting too late. I know you will fall in love with whichever you pick.

I still feel overwhelmed when trying to choose...

One other you might want to consider that is still in stock ( last I checked ) is Louise Odier, I've heard good things about that rose. It can get quite tall. Some of the photos on HMF are magnificent.

I am also zone 5, but in a much dried part of the country than you. I have one of the Canadian Explorers, John Cabot, and it has a rich pink like you want. I find it to be very vigorous, I experience no dieback with it (it is up against my house), the flowers are lovely and bloom in big clusters which attract small bees. It has fantastic fall color. It only blooms once for me I spring, but the show lasts for a full 4 weeks. Mine is 5 feet tall in its 2nd spring here, but I've seen much larger specimens of it in my area. Some drawbacks, it is exceptionally thorny so training it against a wall is definitely possible but wear some tough long gloves and safety glasses. Oh it's also lightly fragrant. Mine just started opening its first bud of the season today, the color is especially saturated right now because of the freshness of the bloom and the very cool weather we've had:

I have other hardy climbers but they're so young I couldn't yet tell you how big they'll get.

I think Viking Queen might be hardy enough to climb for you but I'm not sure. I think Mischievous Magpie's suggestion of John Cabot is great - I grow him and love him! Another really good hardy explorer climber is Captain Samuel Holland, also a beautiful, deep bright pink. Then there's the Canadian artist series which I think are supposed to be super-hardy, and there's one climber among them, Felix LeClerc who is fantastic. A similar deep pink, tough, sturdy, always in bloom. Of course, I'm in zone 6, but I'm pretty sure all of these are good in zone 5, possibly even colder. You might not be able to get them from Heirloom, however. Two good sources for hardy roses are Northland Rosarium and High Country Roses, though be aware that the plants you receive will be very small to begin with (own roots). There's also Corn Hill in Canada, and I've gotten great plants from them, but the shipping is pretty expensive and they can't guarantee plants they send to the US.

Good luck, I hope you enjoy getting started with roses!!!

Lily

I grow a dozen climbers in Geneva, NY zone 6a. If you choose to grow a climber it is best to plant it on the South side of your home for starters in the warmest middle spot for winter. Also, planting it asap so it has time to grow strong to make it through winter. Wrap it w/burlap & mound it for warmth w/mulch. you can read how to winterize a climber rose. Tall roses like climbers sonetimes loose their canes w/ freezing winter die back. Then you’d have to prune off the dead canes in spring. I prune back every year but hooe not to loose too much of my tall climber canes. If wrapoed in burlap & next to S side home it may be fine. I have climbets on fence, but tgey get freezibg wind-so need wrapped in burlap for warmth.,

ok, now to find the climber you’d like if it is still in stock to sell at nurseries. I woukd make these suggestions from my most hardy roses to choose from at Heirloom Roses:

OWN ROOT ROSES in gallon pots:

1. Eden CL , gorgeous but takes 2 years to bloom well. i love her! Light pink.

2. Laguna CL , A Kordes, very deep fuchsia

3. Kiss of Desire, A Kordes, medium pink & whitish-really beautiful-hardy!!!

4. Jasmina CL, A Kordes,med pink

5. Madame Isaac Perierre CL, deep fushia, Bourbon, Old Garden Rose, Intense perfume, 8ft -available from “A Reverence for Roses nursery,” online. (not at Heirloom Roses.) Repeat Blooms but hardy.

6. Aloha CL, medium pink

Best to buy own root roses for your climate as they survive better during winter. (Grafted roses often don’t live through winter unless especially protected…)

7. Viking Queen is a goid one-but I dobt have her-I thinks shes hardy! She cones highly recommended, too.

Where do you want to plant your rose? If it’s out in the open yard then may be better to get a bush rose. I have 112 roses in NY and they are all pretty hardy ones and do well now in winters.If you need other suggestions please feel free to ask.

Bush roses like the Double Knock Outs are good roses for beginners & with some fine care, do really well blooming prolifically. I have 8 Knock Outs. Kordes roses are very hardy! Summers Romance Parfuma, a Kordes, is hardy & has clusters of prolific light pink blooms-really gorgeous!

Have fun shopping for roses!

Hello! I have Viking Queen and she is not a climber for me here, more of a large shrub. Same for Aloha. I do not have Eden but haven’t seen people raving about her in cold zones - needs survivng cane to really do well. I have Laguna and this year had the most survivng cane ever, we had a mild winter. I agree with MG - grafted will give you the best bang for your buck. My best climber is Above and Beyond - huge spring flush, and now that its older I see more blooms thru the summer - it’s not the pink you are looking for though. Party Hardy is pink-ish, you could probably fan it out on your garage, it gets pretty tall, an arching shrub if freestanding. One zone makes a huge difference in how much cane survives so the rose can actually climb. lol don’t listen to amyone in a warmer zone, thats how i got Viking Queen, Aloha, and several others! 😜 And dont plan on doing the Minnesota tip, aint nobody got time for that! There’s a FB group, Growing Roses in Cold Zones that may be helpful.

I am in zone 5B and I can recommend to you two pink Canadian Explorer roses I have grown – William Baffin and John Davis. I have more experience with Baffin, but John Davis is a prettier rose. I don't give either of them winter protection and there is little-to-no dieback. Some of my Baffins have gotten at least 7 ft tall, but I tend to trim them back since I have a small lot. John Davis I have only had for several years and the tallest branch is 6 feet high, but it hasn't reached its maximum potential yet. I have seen Viking Queen and Felix LeClerc recommended. I did see a Felix Leclerc in a garden center in Chicago a few days ago and the flowers were a similar pink to Baffin, but larger and very pretty. I have no personal experience with either of those and have run out of space!

Thanks so much, everyone. I had no idea when I decided to buy a rose that I was getting into something so involved. One of the things that I have learned here is that just because something is rated to my zone doesn’t mean that it will be happy here. I’ve started looking at roses that are hardy to zone three or four in hopes that they will do better in my zone, 5B

That is a really wise decision Lily.

I have to agree with berrypie7. For example, I also have Blaze, which was sold to me many years ago as a climbing rose hardy in zone 5 and higher--hahaha. Most years, it has so much dieback, I'm lucky to get half a dozen flowers. However, since we have had two relatively mild Winters in a row here, this year it had little dieback and is loaded with buds. I've concluded it's really a zone 6 rose. Beware of plants that are labeled as hardy to zone 5, because it MIGHT just mean that the roots will survive in zone 5, but not much else.

Mine grows As a low climber. I have seen it grow quite tall in a zone 5 Ohio area But I don't seem to achieve that with mine. Same thing for aloha. It suits where I have it planted but I might not depend on it for a large vertical space. Peggy martin has survived surprisingly well to -7 Fahrenheit but I do not know how she would do in a zone 5 winter. I have over 60 climbers so a lot to consider

May I recommend Cape Diamond. It is not promoted as a climber, but should be. It is super winter hardy, easily taking your Zone 5 in stride. A gardening friend here in zone 6 has an 8 yr. old bush that has monster proportions. It can easily cover a 4' high fence 10 ft. across (5' each way).

The fragrance is 4 out of 5. Repeat bloom if dead headed is well above average. There are no disease issues without spraying. Just feed it well and watch it take off.

Moses

I have two ”new dawn” climbers in zone 5. They are still young but planted close to my house and came through their second winter impressively with almost no dieback. Just planted an eden rose last week!

Hello. You all have been so helpful. Thank you. This rose is to go against my garage, part sun , facing west. On a sunny day gets about 4 hours of sun. I have the space for it to grow to about 8 feet high, 6 feet wide . So many choices, and yet so many specific types are not available.

@Lily N

Eden may be ok as it grows in partial shade, too. However, roses w/ 4 hrs sun bloom less.

Honeymoon is cream colored but very hardy & does even better in part-shade!!! She’s my miracle bloomer in part-shade very healthy.

Kiss of Desire has part shade and so does Laguna. Laguma is super vigorous!!!

I’ll check on any other roses that do well in part shade.

Rugosa’s Roses , very hardy, do well in part-shade like Hansa, I read. Anyone have experience with them? Hansa is medium pink-grows very large, very fragrant!

I'm in zone 4b. My garden is part shade.

I recommend Canadian Roses/ alba shurbs (they take shade and are cane hardy)

I don't recommned iffy roses. The canes won't surviive. Go for Canadian roses if you can find them. They'll do fine.

Here is what I grow:

Quadra, (Red) which is a thorny monster. It grows with no poblem, with a couple of clematis vining one side of a arbor. Would maturity you have spordic fllowering in fall. When the flowers are spend you shake them and have rose petals all over the place.

John Davis,(Pink) is almost hornless. It spordically it reflowers. Our neighbor have one against a wall it's gigantic.

Alba Semo-plena (white/ very fragrant) - This is one big rose. Flowering time is two weeks. And then you'll have hips.

Species Rose, Rosa glauca/ short flower, blue grey leaves,a ton of hips. It will self-seed in your garden, though.

Good luck....

Lily, in Maine, rugosas are hard to beat. They are fragrant gorgeous and so healthy. Hansa and Rosarie d la Hay are gorgeous. Look on Corn Hill nursery listings (Canada, by you) or High Country Roses. They both have great choices and both companies are fantastic. Rugosas did better for me in Alaska than the Canadian series roses I think because my heat index was so low. I think the Canadian roses loved the plains where it heated up in the Summer more. I still grew them and loved them too.

Suzy Verrier has a great book on rugosas as well as her great gallica book.

@Lily N

Alba roses bloom once keep in mind.

Old Garden roses OGRs such as rugosas, are very hardy, but they spread more, have a different shape than modern roses, some are disease resistant. Some Old Garden Roses are not disease resistant.

First, since you’re only purchasing one rose you may wish to choose between OGRs and modern? Which rose do you like best?