Dortmund, Awakening, Blossomtime, Romeo, DonJuan, Dark Owl, Graham Thomas will all do well.

How high is the fence?

With spans like that to conceal, you might be better off getting flowering shrubs (including flowering rose shrubs) for those spots. Alba maxima or Alba semi-plena will probably work pretty well as free standing flowering shrubs to hide those fence spans. If you must have color when those roses aren't blooming you could certainly have clematis twining through them.

york_rose: The fence is 6' high. Like I said, I dont mind a once bloomer at all. Anything is better than looking at that ugly fence, and at least something like an Alba has hips. I dont know if I want to do a white on the fence; I was going to put Alberic Barbier on an arbor thats a few feet away.

brghm: y'know, Don Juan was originally on my short list and Graham Thomas is lovely. I hadn't really looked at any Austin roses.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Don't forget about the Hybrid Musks. Some of them also produce hips and are in other colors than white. They also will fit that span nicely.

(Have you considered the possibility of using any Viburnums there? I suspect there are a few that will do nicely.)

Hi Mellifera, We've got 6' chain link around our WHOLE yard, and I agree, it's ugly (we used to raise and breed German Shepherds). I'm trying to cover the fence, too, just to cover up the ugliness, so far along my 50' back fence have Climbing Pinkie, 2 Lamarques and a Zeffy rose. However, along part of my fence I have Crossvine, which can cover a large area, and in the spring looks like a wall of orange. It's gorgeous, and it is quite mannerly, easy to control. You can get different colors from Brushwood Nursery which might work with your colors. Good luck!

Lavender Lassie, Excellenz von Schubert, Wilhelm (Skyrocket), Madame Isaac Pereire, Nur Mahal, Robin Hood, Will Scarlet, Russelliana, Setina, Ghislaine de Feligonde, Jeri Jennings, Blossomtime, Joseph's Coat, Parade, William Baffin. Some of these are officially pink, but not light pink like Renae.

Ideally the chain link fencing will be totally covered in roses growing through and on the fence within four or five years' time. And in that vein, I'd suggest choosing a variety that might need some clipping in five or so years' time, rather than still waiting around then to have the fence fully covered.

Best wishes,
Mary

Think of it as a free. Chain link fences make superb supports for roses. Lots of air gets through too. Many roses would suit your purpose, and others who live in your zone have been making suggestions. Nothing is more wonderful in a garden than a wall of roses.

Rosefolly

Thank you everyone for all the great ideas!

ogrose: How does Crossvine do in the shade? It's beautiful, and I'd love to find a spot for it. I have a section of fence that I was going to leave alone since it was in too much shade.

york_rose: I always loved Viburnums... even though I never knew that's what they were called! There's one still blooming at my dad's that I think we inherited with the house and I always smile to see it when I go home.

So I'm leaning towards Russelliana and Jeri Jennings. How disease susceptible are they? I'd like to say that I garden without sprays because I have two toddlers, but really its because I'm lazy.

I don't have either of these roses, so someone who does have them might be the best person to pay attention to. But I do have Jeri Jennings on order, and it's supposed to be disease resistant, or I wouldn't be trying it in this no-spray yard here. The Trier parent makes it a true hybrid musk, and most of those are disease resistant, or very disease resistant. Its other parent, Joycie, bred by Ralph Moore, is described as very disease resistant at Help Me Find. From reading about it, I gather that Jeri Jennings performs better in terms of disease resistance once it gets beyond the first year of establishing itself.

Rogue Valley's website information on Russelliana is messed up, so I can't find an official description there that's necessarily accurate. However, the rose is a very old one that managed to survive all on its own in lots of places in California, so it must not suffer from too much disease, or what level of disease it does get must not be a big worry. And Antique Rose Emporium carries it; that's probably a good sign. (Most, or perhaps all, of the roses they choose to sell show a decent level of disease resistance, as far as I can tell.)

Both these roses show some shade tolerance. Peter Beales mentions that Russelliana is shade tolerant enough to be suitable for growing on a north wall. It is a once-bloomer.

Jeri Jennings is thornless or very low in thorns, which might be an advantage around your small children. It is a rebloomer.

Those two colors might make an interesting color combination if used together. If there's room, you might consider using a Russelliana behind Jeri Jennings, and let Jeri Jennings stand on its own in front of the fence as a bushy shrub, with Russelliana climbing up the fence and blooming a lot across the top? (It's so easy to think of excuses to buy more roses. :) )

Best wishes,
Mary

How much shade are you talking about? One of my vines is in full sun, the other gets morning sun, afternoon shade, both are doing fine after years of them just sitting there sulking. I got disgusted, whacked them down to the ground and they both took off like gangbusters. Right now I am rooting two more plants that will go in a pretty shady area, don't know how that will work. Also, check out Brushwood Nursery, they have Campisis Morning Calm, a trumpet vine that is not invasive.

I really like the idea of the large shrubs, plan to put a huge flower bed in by my side fence which is over 100' long. Yeah, right, I'm heading toward 70 and still work full time, but I figure I can finish it by the time I'm 90!

Size-wise Joseph's Coat will work, but if I recall correctly from what I've read (I've never grown it myself), it's usually a black spot disaster in the Mid-Atlantic. Even with lots of air circulation, the Mid-Atlantic summer air is quite humid and warm (but only sometimes hot), which is what makes the region ground zero for black spot.

Viburnum carlesii ("Korean Viburnum") in particular is famous for its fragrance during its spring bloom (although there are many fragrant Viburnums with beautiful, nicely fragrant spring flowers & nice late summer/autumn fruit), and I think it will probably fit your spaces. It only blooms during the spring, but again, I think it would comfortably handle a not too vigorous Clematis vine for summer bloom. I wouldn't use Clematis jackmanii, but rather one of the summer blooming shorter vines (there are several very lovely hybrids on the market that aren't as vigorous as Jackman can be).

If you do decide on a Viburnum, I recommend you go with one with thick, fairly leathery leaves rather than one of the thin-leaved ones (such as Viburnum opulus/"European Highbush Cranberry" or Viburnum trifolii/"American Highbush Cranberry"). The Viburnums with thin leaves are a favorite food source for the Viburnum leaf beetle. That's a (relatively) newly established invasive species from Europe that absolutely destroys the thin-leaved Viburnums. As they eat the immature beetles ("grubs") of that species just strip the thin-leaved Viburnum bushes of all their leaves. Presently that beetle is mostly in New York & New England, but it's spreading south. (Without checking the internet to confirm this) I think it's been seen in northern Pennsylvania. It will spread further south.

It doesn't like the thick-leaved Viburnums as much so its feeding on them doesn't destroy the bushes, and there are quite a few very lovely thick-leaved Viburnums (including Viburnum carlesii and its hybrids)!