Recommendation for a small climbing rose

[Wonderfulcheapfalafel]

I've never grown roses before but I have an obelisk in my garden which currently has sweet peas on it, and am thinking a rose may be nice for next year .It's about 5ft high so not massive. How quickly do roses grow? I do need vertical interest in my garden as I already have some slow growing shrubs taking their time at the moment so lots of empty space.

Would I need a bigger obelisk for a rose? Any suggestions to variety? My garden is quite purple so something to complement/contrast would be good... It will be south facing, full sun.

Lots of empty space, eh? <wipes drool>

By a coincidence, I also have a similar sized obelisk in my garden with sweet peas on it, which I'm not intending to use next year (not a criticism of sweet peas but they need lots of watering and daily picking). So next year I'm thinking a clematis would fit the bill better. I do like climbing roses and have quite a few already, they are all on fences though as they need to make horizontal growth from which the flowering stems pop upwards. To go on an obelisk, I think you would have to wind the new growth around in an upward spiral and tie it in as it goes.

As to variety, your best bet is to look at rose websites at the compact varieties of climbing rose to see what takes your fancy. There are so many available with different attributes - some have better disease resistance or fragrance strength, which might be important to you - and although we can make suggestions, nobody knows what will win you over. Trevor White are good, and Peter Beales but there are plenty others.

(I'd suggest that when you take out the sweet peas, be sure to improve the soil with applications of organic matter/compost/well rotted manure/slow release plant food granules etc, as roses have huge appetites and will sulk in poor/average soil. I've found them a bit addictive and always looking for spaces where I can squeeze in another... )

If you look on the David Austin website there are filters for climbers and for size.

Generally, climbing roses are much taller than your obelisk and would swamp it within one season.

Thanks all, going to have a think, but maybe a clematis would be better....