I have a gated arbor for her (to go on one side) that is about 9' tall at the top. I don't mind thorny or training (or pruning), but I don't know her growth habits. How far away should I plant her and have her growth definitely reach the top? She gets to run along a wall (6') that connects to the arbor, so half her growth will/can go away from the arbor, if that makes sense.

I usually plant too close!

Bonus points (lol) if you also know about CL Caroline Testout for the other side of the gate :D

However, at the time the dearly departed originally followed me home, I'd a good guess of the mature size possibilites. Anticipated a minimum height of 10' & a maximum double that at 20', with a breadth of 3-10'. Keep in mind I wasn't planning on training & controlling it in any ongoing manner once it got up and running, but rather thought to let it loose in a half-willdling manner. There's currently a "sidetable" beside the reading chair of stacked books on various subjects, along with others taken from the bookcase months ago still randomly piled. Checking Coral Dawn in these references (as we did pre-web), find a general concensus among the 5 authors represented of 10-12' average height, with Taylor hedging at 8-12' & Nisbet avowing he'd not seen one taller than 10' in New England (with no mention of cane hardiness or Winter dieback as considerations there). None comment on width. All say vigorous, with several adding upright, suitable for pillar or trellis. No index entries for this rose in the books past 1972 publishing dates, though I did see it online as Climbing Coral Dawn (is there a bush version?) & never looked for that variance. Many more volumes on hand that could be checked, but I'll go with that random sample. Checking online, find 12x4-8' fairly common, with Rogue Valley using Ashdown's info (they were in South Carolina while in business, as you may remember) of 15-20' high. Heirloom's listing 12-18x6'. You have spoken to Heirloom regarding Coral Dawn's possible eventual stature in your location, haven't you? Their educated guess would surely be worth more than my guestimate based on the experiences of others, who may themselves never have actually grown CD, depending in turn on secondhand info.

So my best guess is the 9' height of your arbor will present no vertical challenge to Coral Dawn & her controlled width will bulk to a minimum 2' on the arbor side. I'd plant the rose no closer than 2' to the support, probably more like 3-4', in case the rose decided to grow that 12'+ loaded, with a nice flowery edging below the rose & arbor. But then, I'd rather underestimate than be swamped by roses on either side eventually obscuring the passageway. Could always put a birdhouse atop the arch in the meantime. or suspend a hanging basket or light as spacefillers while the roses are growing up & out.

Sorry for the rambling, the pollen's got my thoughts as moving targets, challenging to coherently catch. My 2 cents worth is probably not worth a penny.

Does seem each plant's growth is highly site-specific, and we only find the answers to these questions through discovery.

Hardiness isn't an issue for you, but in zone 5 she's a consistent trooper and one of the few that will reliably cover an arch in that color range.

Cynthia