The good Dr. is very vigorous and may take quite a bit to get rid of. You really need to get out ALL of the roots or it will grow back. I would suggest you dig the soil right out and replace it before trying to put another rose in. That way you should be able to get all of the roots.

There are a lot of different climbers to choose from. Some will have hardier canes than others though. In your zone I would look for something that blooms more than once a season because even if you have to prune it to the ground after a bad winter you should still get some bloom the next season. A once bloomer, like Dr. Huey, won't do that. Once bloomers only bloom on year old wood so if you have to prune severely you'll be cutting off all the bloom for that season.

Some hardy climbers would be John Davis, Quadra and Zephirine Drouhin, but there are many others. Do you have a color preference or a size limitation?

Hi seil, Dang, I was afraid of that. Guess I'll have to start hacking at Dr. Huey to know what I'm really dealing with. It is quite vigorous but only has flowers for about 10 days in spring and has to be sprayed repeatedly to prevent BS and just isn't justifying the space it's taking up in the garden.

The climbers you suggested are all lovely. After browsing the David Austin site I think I am now leaning toward something in the apricot family. I really like Fighting Temeraire, and it is a repeat bloomer and looks like it will fit my space limitations at 8 feet.

Climbing Pinkie is always a good one--an "earth kind" rose (good disease-resistance). Blooms and reblooms a lot.

Another good climber I link is Aloha--a blend of apricot and pink with a touch of red at times. Good disease resistance.

Any climber will also work well on a pillar, so no problem there. Just depends on what "look" you are going for.

Good luck.

Kate

Kordes has released a new apricot colored climber called 'Aloha Hawaii' In pix it is spectacular. Most of the Kordes climbers are excellent. Check it out at Roses Unlimited and Northland Rosarium.

If you get the book "Right Rose, Right Place" by Peter Schneider, it is full of great info about growing roses in zone 6 in Ohio.

Jackie

Thanks for all the ideas! After a bit of blood, much sweat, and no tears (thankfully), Dr. Huey no longer has residency in my garden.

I think I have his potential replacements narrowed down to:

Aloha Hawaii
Crown Princess Margareta
Westerland

They all seem to be the apricoty color I want (as far as I can tell from pictures anyway). Would appreciate suggestions from anyone who has experience with any of these.

Hi vaporvac, sorry, just saw your question. Thanks for asking! I went with Crown Princess Margareta. I didn't get a good photo this season, but here she is to the right of the allium. She is slowly growing up the obelisk with a clematis and I finally got some repeat bloom from her this year. She smells lovely and I am happy with her. I also tried Westerland in another area, but it arrived weak and never quite took off so I shovel pruned that one this year.

Looks great Arlene!

Thank you. They look great growing together and so healthy! Do you spray? (Sorry if I've asked before).

I didn't do much in the way of spraying this year and some of my roses really paid for it. CPM stayed more or less fungi & pest free, however.