If I could choose only one climber, it must be ‘New Dawn’
Three years ago I removed a privet hedge from a narrow bed adjacent to the wrought iron fence that guards the house and screens it from the lane. I planted ‘New Dawn’ and Clematis x jackmanii, superheroes both, reaching 15′ (‘New Dawn’ can reach 20′ with a 10′ spread), figuring they’d duke it out on the fence. Roses with long canes do not climb, although they opportunistically scale trees. l trained the long canes onto the fence, bending them horizontally, tying them in, and allowed the clematis free rein. ‘New Dawn’ is winning and now reigns over all, enveloping the wrought iron fence with prickly canes, sporting hundreds of shell-pink, fragrant flowers.
Clematis x jackmanii and Rosa ‘New Dawn’ fight it out on my wrought iron fence.
Meanwhile the Jackman clematis wanders through, twinning its tendrils around the canes covertly, never mind the deadly thorns, until its royal purple blooms burst open perfectly timed to show off amongst clusters of blush pink rose blooms. ‘New Dawn’ inherited deadly prickles (technical term for thorns) from its Asian parent, Rosa wichuraiana, the mother of modern climbers; the species rose also gifts its offspring with glossy, disease resistant foliage, and long, long, prickly canes. ‘New Dawn’ is a repeat blooming sport of the popular climber, ‘Dr. W. Van Fleet,’ ubiquitous in gardens a hundred years ago, and eventually superseded by ‘Everblooming Dr. W. Van Fleet,’ or ‘New Dawn’ in 1930.
Only mother nature could have improved upon ‘Dr. W. Van Fleet.’ So coveted was ‘New Dawn’ that its discoverer sought the protection of a plant patent: enacted by Congress in 1930, the Plant Patent Act (PPA) gave patent rights to plant breeders. When horticulturist, Henry Bosenberg of New Brunswick, NJ discovered recurrent bloom on a stem of one of his ‘Dr. W. Van Fleet’ roses, he cloned the sport and applied for a plant patent. Somerset Rose Nursery introduced Bosenberg’s sport as ‘New Dawn’ in 1930. Plant Patent #1 was issued in 1931 to Bosenberg for a climbing rose: “My invention gives the true ever-blooming character to climbing roses.”
McKeon's Garden 
How inspiring! Love the two together. Beautiful!
judith,
ten years ago,i planted a no-spray rose bed, following the descriptions in your encyclopedia. three new dawns were the highlight of the garden, massive, grown as freestanding shrubs, beautiful glossy foliage all season, covered in light pink flowers for june.
unfortunately, they all got RRD rose rosette disease between 2010 and 2011 and had to be removed. a few other varieties also got RRD, but the new dawns were definitely the most susceptible. as you might know, the brooklyn botanic’s cranford rose garden has had serious RRD losses. do you have any suggestions for organic controls, or resistant varieties? is there any rrd in your area? i just read it has shown up at the Scott Arboretum and at swarthmore.
it is very frustrating for the most vigorous, healthy biggest roses in my garden to wind up the most vulnerable to this disease.
anyone needing information on RRD should read http://www.ars.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Rose-Rosette-Disease1.pdf, or the e-book http://www.rosegeeks.com/