The Roses Out Back

I love pretty, sweet smelling roses. The old rambling pink rose that I inherited when I bought the house has been a beautiful and reliable bloomer, but one rose is not enough! I'm not sure when I discovered the forgotten rose hidden in the back corner of my property, but I'd never seen it in bloom until now. Last year, despite spraying round-up on the poison ivy growing near this abandoned rose, I must have hacked off enough of the single cane that was left to reinvigorate it, and I couldn't be happier to see it bloom. It even beat my rambling rose and is blooming like crazy.

I often day dream of planting a climbing pink rose near the corner of my house, that I can train to spill up and over and give my house some cottage garden charm. Unfortunately the side strip of yard is full of gravel and dry clay dirt, so it's going to take a lot of preparation to make it rose-worthy. I'll admit that I'm a bit intimidated by roses, even though I'd get one of the less fincky roses, and the ones in my yard currently seem to thrive on neglect. I don't want to screw up that much of a plant investment, but they're so, so pretty I can feel the purse strings loosening.

What's your favorite, easy-going rose?