Different climate but I love Climbing Pinkie. Also Cl Maman Cochet is great. Another one I love is Cl Mrs Herbert Stevens. She has taken forever to establish but love her now, after 4 or so years...

Another great one is Golden Showers. Very healthy in my climate and blooms nonstop during our blooming months (not summer).

Although I haven't grown it (have baby plant in 1-gallon pot), I've heard so many good things about Annie Laurie McDowell that I look forward to it being my favorite. It has the lilac pink color I love most in roses, is intensely fragrant and thornless, blooms most of the time and has no disease that I know of.

Of the climbers I have grown, Reve d'Or is my favorite, with Lady Hillingdon being a close second. I love the peachy-pink color and bloom formation of Reve d'Or and the fact that it blooms so often in my climate, and it also had no disease. Ditto for Cl. Lady Hillingdon, which I had in a past garden and am now growing again as a young plant.

Ingrid

By far and away, my favourite climber this year has been the thornless helenae hybrid, Lykkefund - it falls about in a battle with a single unnamed philadelphus (it was a cutting rescued from the enthusiastic municipal Cambridge gardening team, who chopped it to the ground every year so no-one, including me, ever saw it flower). I recall planning for a pale border with the white climbers Aimee Vibert and a Lens rose, Jacqueline Humery.....and it did look pretty good with pale paeonies and phlox....but somewhere, a busy bee caused the white foxgloves to reseed back to the normal purpurea pink.......
Nonetheless, although this gorgeous rose is once flowering, it has delightful healthy foliage and a huge crop of many jewel-like heps (I grow r.moyesii for the heps too).
I have many climbers and ramblers and periodically become quite disenchanted - they fail to shed the dead blooms, they often look a bit atrocious after the joy of the main flush, can be a pain to deadhead.....so although there are many more dramatic, singularly beautiful roses, I very much value a rose such as Lykkefund for its mannerly behaviour, discreet disappearing blooms and extremely healthy foliage - there is no time across the seasons that I have to look away in annoyance.
Jasmina (a smaller, repeating Kordes climber) is romping close at Lykkefunds heels though - another rather unique looking rose which has many, many hanging clusters of perfectly round, small lilac globes - to me, there is something indefinably oriental and enigmatic about it - almost like the pendant double ornamental cherries in a Japanese park.

Thanks for all the ideas! Sometime I get a really narrow focus when I'm looking for things. And it's nice to see other ppl's "focus" of choice :)

If you like climbers that give large sprays, I would recommend Too Hot to Handle. If you like unusual, I would suggest Purple Splash. If you like hybrid tea-shaped flowers, I would suggest Night Light, Constellation, or Bright Fire. Perhaps one of these would fill the bill.

Purple Splash is my favorite because it's the first and so far only successful climber I've grown. I hear a lot a talk of true climbers being unsuited to my zone, none of them being cane hardy, but without any forethought or research I chose this because I liked the flowers and it thrives. This rose IS can hardy and wants to devour my house. I cut it back constantly. I keep saying that I'm going to train it better to encourage more bloom but never get the chance because it grows so darned fast and also I've run out horizontal space on the trellis. This could easily cover a whole wall. Since I've taken this picture it has made it past the overhang and is looking for purchase on the second story. The arbor to the right belongs to an iceberg that maybe will decide to grow upwards some day, but in the meanwhile Purple Splash is taking ownership.

ratdogheads, that is an awesome climber, very eye-catching. Does it repeat well for you?

Ingrid

It gets scattered blooms after the first flush, then another big finale at the end of the summer. It gets a bit of afternoon shade and I think I need to train it for more lateral growth.

Oooo, Ratdogheads! Wowza!

Amelie (my favorite film), I love Abe Darby grown as a climber. He gets some disease, but I've heard that he grows well all the way up to Maine (Suzanne Verrier). His gorgeous, fluffy, fragrant apricot-pink flowers bloom, rest, rebloom, rest, rebloom,.... I love Queen of Denmark as a climber. Once-blooming but the loveliest soft cotton candy pink flowers and oh-so-fragrant. Disease-free in my experience. She and Abe are both thorny. Queen is quite thorny. The hybrid musks like Penelope, Buff Beauty,and Cornelia are less thorny and lovely, lovely, lovely! Very low maintenance. Light to medium musk fragrance, but when mature, noticeably scented to my nose. Last, but not least, Madame Alfred Carriere. I've smashed her into the craziest space. (I garden on a tiny lot.) She's romantic, gorgeous, and relatively low maintenance except for regular pruning to keep her in check. Sweetly fragrant in full bloom. She might be stretch for you zone-wise.

Madame Alfred attached.

Carol

Climbing American Beauty. It's a once-bloomer that is hardy and healthy with large, beautiful flowers.

I look for fragrance
-beauty of leaf and growth habit
-disease resistance because I no longer spray with anything.
I love Tea roses above all other classes, but I see you're in 6b so I would choose a rose that has a Tea parent called Niphetos (seed parent an H.P. Frau Karl Druski) that has the delicacy of bloom that I love so much in the Tea rose class: cl. Mrs. Herbert Stevens.
It has fragrance,, good disease resistance, here, beautiful blooms and lots of them, it is the first climbing rose to bloom that is not a Tea rose here, it blooms in late Feb, when Mme. Alfred Carriere does.

My followups would be these roses that I also grow:
Blossomtime (57 'favorite votes on helpmefind.com)
I wanted climbing La France but it wasn't available so I bought Blossomtime becasue an author compared it to cl. La France. both are very fragrant and Blossomtime blooms 3-4 times a year, here.
Sombruiel 63 faves at helpmefind.com It is a rose that always makes me stop and admire it, which I think is a good criteria for growing it. though I cannot detect any scent at all from its old fashioned blooms.

I like the growth habit and bushiness of cl. Mrs. Herbert Stevens better than Sombruiel, which can show more bare cane.

Lux

It would be Dream Girl...but doubt I'll ever find it.

Oh, Amelie. Did you say ONE climbing rose? Oops. I got a little carried away and still neglected to mention Violette and many others. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. I'll put in a vote for Madame Alfred.

Carol

Lori Elf

That's a gorgeous American Beauty! What is growing next to it on your trellis?

Carol

"Zephy"

If I could only chose one climbing rose, my heart would break.

Rosefolly

@campanula: Lykkefund looks delightful! HavenâÂÂt heard of it before. My partner hates the idea of climbers/ramblers that fail to look nice when not in full bloomâ¦having a hard time convincing him we need an arbor ⺠âÂÂcause he says he hates when they look like jaggery sticks. And Jasmina! Wow! The pictures on HMF are stunning! I agree, there is something special about those blooms.

@the_bustopher: unfortunately, thereâÂÂs just something about striped roses I donâÂÂt likeâ¦not sure why, lol! Those are all bold color choices ⺠I tend towards pale and blushy or deep and darkâ¦not sure where that comes from, haha, but all the annuals I pop in are usually bright/bold, so maybe itâÂÂs just some funny bias.

@ratdogheads: your Purple Splash looks great! I had an Iceberg beside my DA Windermereâ¦it did not make the cut.

@Carol: ItâÂÂs funny you said that about Abe, as I have two, but keep them pretty contained and bushy. He is very healthy hereâ¦even with this craptastic rainy weather. Love love love his blooms! IâÂÂve seen QoS around (online), she looks very pretty. I donâÂÂt have problem with thorns (â¦she says, typing with two fingers less from pruning yesterday âº). Now, MAC, is what I look for in bloom shape, but, yeah, not sure I could stretch her up to my zone. Although my garden stretches the zone a bit, because itâÂÂs so contained and enclosed, not sure IâÂÂd want to baby it too much.

@lori elf: wow! your rose is beautiful! The pics on HMF show it dripping in blooms! How long does it usually bloom for? Is see youâÂÂre in MD, similar zones and that.

@lux: thanks for your requirements/considerations. Sometimes I get caught up in a really fat, fully double rose, at the cost of considering the rest of the plant! BlossomtimeâÂÂs blooms look a lot like some cuttings I took this year from a little rose garden, but those were more of a deep pink, but the shape is the same. Still trying to figure it out. Thanks for the info about Sombruiel; I keep eyeing it, but bare canes are a hard sell to my partner, lol!

@altorama: IâÂÂm a sucker for quartered roses :D

@rosefolly: the more I look, the more I realize I canâÂÂt choose ONLY one âº

@Daisy: While I love DA roses, Pat is one IâÂÂve never consideredâ¦but your pics are delicious! How do you find the color? Sometimes I feel like it might be tooâ¦whatâÂÂs the word, crass? Bright? But in your pics, it looks perfect! I love apricot colored blooms, but havenâÂÂt veered towards orange yet. How would you define SombrieulâÂÂs fragrance?

Amelie, I am the worlds worst at describing perfumes.
Some perfumes are easier than others. For example, Pat Austin to me, smells of warm, ripe mangoes. But Sombrieul? That is more difficult. All I can say is that it has a mixture of smells, amongst which is the scent of crisp green apples. Someone else may be able to describe the scent better than I can.
I love the colour of Pat Austin. It is rich and warm without being harsh or brash.
Daisy

Not too many Austin climbers mentioned. You might want to consider either his Teasing Georgia or The Pilgrim. Teasing Georgia has more apricot yellow in it, and The Pilgrim is more white/pastel yellow--more delicate coloring. They are both good climbers but maybe on the shorter end.

Or if you like pink Austins, delicate pale pink climbers to consider are Wildeve or The Wedgewood. Both are equisitely lovely.

But if you want bright red climber that grows with vigor, try Dublin Bay.

Kate

Ratdogs, I love your purple splash. I got one for mom for last mothers day and put it in a bigger pot (it was in a 5g) but the spot was pretty shady and it was not very happy. By the end of fall I moved it to the lower garden.

WOW is it happy! And in almost constant bloom as well. I pull mine wide and gave in an antique orchard ladder to climb. But I can see it thinking about that tree over there..... :)

Seriously, if I were going to grow a red climber I would pick Bardou Job which has been amazing in my garden. Right now I need to perform a long overdue deadheading so that it will repeat. That is my job for today.

And if you can get the right clone, try Climbing Crimson Glory. A lot of the Cl CG's out there don't really climb very well any more. I have been blessed with the gift of a fine one from Jackie and have high hopes for it. I did not know it even would really climb until I saw the one Jon grows in Wessex.

Rosefolly

I also love 'Cl American Beauty'. Here is a pic of mine.

You must beware if you ever look for this rose, however! There is a rose called 'American Beauty', which is NOT the bush form of this climber - it is another rose altogether. Also there is a rose called 'Miss American Beauty' - also unrelated. These issues cause me much confusion when I was trying to identify what turned out to be my Cl American Beauty.

Jackie

It has just occurred to me that you are really asking two different questions. One is, what would you have if you could only have one climber? The second one is, what would you recommend that I put on my garage in zone 6?

Of course, these are completely different questions. To answer the first one, I would say Madame Alfred Carriere. That is because, however, I am in zone 9 (MAC is a tea noisette and likes warm climates) and have a garden that has lots of tall trees. I have 3 MACs, and they are huge huge, and the tallest is 30 feet tall! They are perfect for my trees and wild and overgrown gardening style, but would not work for you.

Jackie

Even though I have a small home, I desperately want a Madame Alfred Carriere. I also would have to have it on the south side of my house, and I live in 7a. Am I crazy?

Lori_elf,
I want to know what is growing in front of the trellis. The white rose.
Darlow's Enigma is a big performer for me. Blooms all summer and willing to cover a large space.

I am looking for two climbing roses...one for over an arbor in the entry to my yard and one is for a pergola in my yard. I am in z6 (MA) and I am looking for as disease resistant a rose as I can get cuz I won't be spraying them. I really love Eden, but I was told she isn't a repeat bloomer and can be susceptible to rust (or some other nasty). Stinks cuz I love that kind of rose. I was also looking a Zephrine Dourhin cuz she is supposed to be thornless, but I think she may get too big. I like Jasmina & Renae also. I just would like a rose that can grow well w/o spraying and that flowers a lot without having crazy thorns or trying to eat my arbor. Should I rub a lamp? Lol.
Also, I have seen roses sold online that say they are "banded". I am a newbie & have no idea what that means. Anyone have an idea? Ty in advance

Hi dani !
I just wanted to tell you a banded rose is just a small rose on their own roots about a year old , I just received some from heirloom roses and was very pleased with them ! They are a little smaller than what you'll find in the stores locally . But worth the patience and effort ! :)
I grew lavender lassie in pa and was very happy with fragrance health and repeat, it does have thorns but they weren't man eaters! I really don't have anything thornless so I can't help you but I know there's a lot out there. I had zephy for a while and it's repeat wasn't so great for me to grow it again . It is thornless and pretty tho !