Yes, I have planted a 150' row of Lady Banks roses to cover an ugly chain link fence that runs along the alley-way at the back of my yard. Full sun all the time. It's doing great. Go for it!

Thanks Mary! With that much fence to cover, I imagine that the Lady Banks must be low-maintenance. Do they do well on a little to moderate amount of water?

That's a good question. When we planted them, I laid a soaker hose at the base but later realized there was not enough force to push water all the way to the last 100' or so. (I learn everything the hard way.) so the hedge at that end is not so healthy as maybe the first 75'. They *do* take some water to keep them healthy, at least the first few years. We need to replant that last 75' and we have a new plan for irrigating the hedge.

And they are fairly low maintenance, the canes that go into the alley have to stay trimmed back or we get a notice from the City about the branches hitting the mirror of the garbage truck. Harrrummph. Otherwise, we just let it go on our side. It filled in quickly and we're very happy with the result. Just need to do something about the section with stunted growth. We planted 6' apart. Someone here who saw a picture I posted commented that they were planted too close but we're okay with it.

I believe the Lady Banks Rose will will need a trellis to grow on. Good to cover a chain link fence. I had mine on a trellis and grew it to the top of the block wall.(then you had to trim it)It was in full sun(west wall facing east, and did great)

That's an excellant point Bubba, the laday banks is not an espalier so it needs something to climb up. The block wall won't have anything for it to grab.

I love Lady Banks rose too. I had one at my last Scottsdale garden in full bore sun and it was fine--it loved it. Let us know if you give it a try and how it works out. Like the others mentioned, it will need help sticking to/climbing a block wall (you can use those small adhesive dots which stick to the wall and then tie the major canes to those, or you can put up thick wire (with space between the wire and the wall); anything that will help the roses climb.

If you're still looking for options, good old hopseed (Dodonea) is an option. It will become a very tall dense hedge and is very low water once established (give it a good drink twice a week its first summer or even longer if you want it to continue growing quickly). With extra water it grows fast, and then if you ease it back to little water over a long period of time the growth will slow down and be more compact/durable. Just a thought.

Keep us posted!
Take care,
Grant

By the way, I'm sure most everyone knows that the largest single rose plant in the world is here in Arizona: the so-called Tombstone rose in Tombstone AZ (you have to pay a small fee to see it and they do sell rooted cuttings of it, though you can buy the same type of plant almost anywhere here). It's a white flowered Lady Banks rose. Talk about a house eater! I love them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tombstone Rose