There are a lot of things that can affect the colors of roses. It may be pale yellow in one flush and deep golden yellow in the next. I would plant it where you want it and enjoy what ever colors it gives you!

My GC is planted where it only receives the hottest afternoon sun and it normally is that deep golden yellow color but occasionally it will have some lighter blooms. I don't worry about it. They set off the darker ones!

Golden Celebration landed in the center of a garden bed along my front porch. Lucky inspiration, since I'd no idea at the time it would grow so tall. Might think "center" rather than "front & center", as it naturally grows long arching canes that can cover a lot of territory if left to its own devices. Mine blooms abundantly in rich golden yellow blended tones, only showing plain yellow when the temps pass the mid-90's here. Noted no difference in coloration nor duration of flowers along the branches that receive 2 more hours of full sun than sister canes shaded earlier in the afternoon. It's in an ESE exposure, with 8-10 hours of sun before the roof shadow casts shade. I do keep it well watered in that location.

That part of the porch bed is 15' deep by 20' long. If left unsupported, GC would cover most of it! Set a square copper pipe obelisk around it, the kind with upper reverse curves topped by a wooden ball. Very pleased with the fountain effect it gives, and with the rose itself. Another rose grows centered in front of GC toward the walkway edge - floribunda Easy Does It. That rose blooms here in colorways I've not seen in the usual photos, an everchanging blend of the golden yellows that echo GC's, along with corals, paler pinks & apricots shaded with cream. Both roses bloom generously & continuously despite my lazy no-spray ways in high humidity central Virginia, with simple organic fertilization & light deadheading by snapping off the spent blooms. Golden Celebration blooms like a floribunda, in sprays, and the blossoms are similar in size here. Really liking this combo, thought I'd pass it along.

The link is to another thread discussing GC you may find interesting. If you mention your location, you may receive info more targeted to your vicinity from others nearby, since zone 7 climate conditions vary considerably in different regions, apart from low temperature norms. You can also use the search box at the top right of each Gardenweb page to turn up many more threads about others' experiences with this rose. Here's hoping Golden Celebration charms & delights you as it's enchanted me!

Here is a link that might be useful: Does Golden Celebration need support?

This post was edited by vasue on Mon, May 5, 14 at 14:06

At a public garden in our area, we saw a row of 'Golden Celebration.' They had planted a half dozen of it, maybe 2.5 ft. apart.

About 2.5 ft. BEHIND that row, they had planted a similarly-spaced row of a low-growing white Floribunda. We never went back, and I've often thought about how surprised they must have been, when the GCs ate the entire bed and covered the little Florries.

Surprised for sure! Another candidate for the stupidest gardening mistakes thread, to which we've all undoubtedly contributed, admittedly or not. Thanks for the laugh. Jeri, at the comical foregone conclusion of that planting plan! Dinglehopp, you've been forewarned! Let us know where your rose lands & keep us updated. It's a beautiful & bountiful rose where it's happy & you'll find that just-right spot for it to thrive.

I just got my GC bareroot. I wonder how big will it gets in my zone. I have an 7' entrance way arbor in which my Princess Margaret is on one side. I'm planting to place my GC on the other side. Now I'm second guessing this plant. Sounds like both GC and PM are going to overgrown the arbor. Any suggestion?

Joopster, suspect you'll be fine with the Golden Celebration half of your arbor. Not familiar with Princess Margaret, but find a climbing version on HMF. Perhaps you mean Austin's Crown Princess Margareta? (I give my roses pet names, too - like Goldie for GC.) Both Austins seem to share a similar form, but I'm not personally acquainted with CPM. Believe GC would be stunning trained to an arbor & lend itself to that form naturally. The 7' walk-through height of your arbor sounds appropriate in your zone, so the two you have in mind will meet at the top & interwine there. Assume you won't be planting the roses smack up against the uprights of the arbor, since you'll want to keep the center walkway passable, but will space them to the sides of the arbor & encourage the main canes to arch toward their supports. The laterals on mine don't exceed 2', could easily be guided toward the arch side & allowed to spill on the outside, and could be kept shorter selectively if needed for clearance.

Check out the photos in the previous link & in the photos tab at the link below to see CG on various supports. Seil's reported hers grows 12' by the end of each year from early pruning, and supports it on an upright trellis if I'm interpreting her pictures correctly. Mine's about 8' high vertically after 5 to 6 years with no pruning besides lightly deadheading the blooms, and could be taller if the top laterals were trained to the top curves of the obelisk that surrounds it.

Your planting idea of combining the two conjures up a lovely vision in my imagination. I'd go for it!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Celebration on HMF

Thanks all for your input!!! I should have mentioned that I have only a little boarder garden, so the GC will definitely not be in front or behind anything that it could swallow up. The only things in front of it are low growing companion plants, and if they get covered a little, that is just ok with me because it means more roses! My plans for the garden have changed so much since I posted the above thread, thanks to all your advice, and to much more research into these species.
I decided to plant the GC on the side that receives some afternoon shade, not because I am afraid of color loss, but because there is more space & there will be more room between plants on that side, AND because of the elevation of the porch from the ground is slightly higher on that side due to a slope in my yard, so when the GC inevitably grows huge and tall, it will actually be beneficial because I will be able to see the flowers from the porch, instead of having to look down at them.
I only have small concern that GC may expand width wise more than I expect, she is planted in between an Ebb Tide and a very young Lady of Shalott. GC is slightly downhill from the ET (hopefully this helps ET not get eaten), and then even further down the slope is the young lady of shalott. I want to get some kind of support for GC and LOS so that they can grow vertically more than horizontally, and maybe eventually provide somewhat of a lovely privacy barrier for the porch. All I hear about these two roses is that they are both strong growers & can get quite enormous-so maybe this is possible? I am having trouble finding a support that looks strong but doesn't break the bank, & that could possibly also eventually support bot GC and LOS, or maybe some style that I could get a second one of for LOS, but still want to avoid looking overly cluttered..... hmm....

Here is the side garden, again the GC is the big one in the middle, Ebb Tide is on the left, and the young Lady of shalott is on the right. Please ignore the mess, I literally JUST planted these when this was taken, I still need to move some small things around and add mulch, but here is what I've got so far:

{{gwi:262430}}

Jessica, you've done a great job for a very promising beginning! Like your approach & the way you've arranged the bed. Saw your post last night before shuttintg down. Came back today & first stopped at your "have you used a support like this for a rose?" thread. Should have landed here first - to check the actual height of the wall. Somehow had the impression it was much higher. Please forgive my blathering about tall trellises on the other thread - duh!

Looks like the porch ledge with the pot & planter is around 6-8' long? Lattice panels, with the "boxes" set overlapping either horizontally or diagonally, come in 4x8 standard sizes. You could set uprights to frame the porch opening & support the lattice, stacked vertically if appropriate to the area you decide to cover. You could cut a porthole or diamond "window" in the center of the lattice that extends above the ledge & edge it with flexible molding. If the wall to the right of the Lady would accommodate it, you could extend the lattice on that, too, needing a third upright at the far end downslope. That would give you the uniform, uncluttered custom look you may be after. Not a difficult job for the handy homeowner, especially if you use the twist or pound-in fittings to set the uprights.

Another option that comes to mind is to use a garden arch spanning the side of the porch (or wider) parallel to the porch & house, spaced so it sits in the bed a bit away from the wall. The climbers could be guided to the arch supports as well as fanning through the empty space, and the whole would provide an "awning" effect along the top of the porch opening. The top could be arched or squared. That could be made with uprights & crosspieces, lattice or crossbars or both could be incorporated into the design on the sides, top and/or wall & opening, using the same type of components as in the link. If you don't feel up to building such a structure, you could look into metal pipe fit-together arch kits & modify to fit your space.

Ran into (another) irresistible sale some years back for this type of metal tubing garden arch. They're often used for wedding arches as well & easy to come by this time of year in crafts stores, among others. Come boxed as kits to assemble, with straight & curved pieces that join together with holes drilled for screws to hold rigid. J&P & other gardening sites sell them for $80 & upwards, but they can be found for a fraction of that in white or green. With two sets, the pieces can be combined to make one set of legs longer (which you'd need for the slope) or widen the top span. You can use half an arch placed so it bends backwards toward the house wall or other support. Originally picked up 10 of these at $5 a pop to use as 3-D design models for arch tunnels & rings, sort of a giant erector set. One's been up a few years now, meant to support a vine temporarily while the porch arches were painted, and surprisingly has no signs of weathering as yet.

Might want to keep an eye on the downslope end of your new bed, to see if heavy rain tends to wash away the mulch & erode the soil there. If so, those build-by-block garden wall stones might be installed to prevent that & the end of the bed leveled a bit more. May be unnecessary, but keep an eye out.

When faced with a design challenge, often print multiple copies of pictures & draw on them to visualize the options & compare. What do you envision there?

Here is a link that might be useful: lattice panels & fittings