Yes, it is possible to do the rose arbor thing, though you will need to lower your expectations significantly from warm zone, book-quality specimens! Just choose hardy "climbing" rose varieties, e.g. 'John Cabot', 'William Baffin', etc..
I'm sure someone else will be happy to tell you all about the local gardening society, and urge you to join....and I'm happy to let them do it, LOL!

Why, Lori, could you be referring to moi? Happy to step up and oblige!!

MusicalMommy, if you're interested in gardening in Calgary, you should investigate the many advantages of joining the Calgary Horticultural Society. I've been a member for several years, and have benefitted from (among other things) the information in their newsletters, their members-only garden tours, their plant exchanges, and (my favourite) discounts at many garden-related businesses. If, like me, you spend more than a little bit at the nurseries each year, your membership fee is paid back several times over with the discounts!

I'm not on the executive, and never have been. I volunteer from time to time, for certain events, but I'm generally too busy to even attend their monthly meetings. Still, I've gained a great deal of knowledge, inspiration and confidence from this group, so I'm a big fan. I belong to other specialist plant societies in the city, and benefit from each of them, but the CHS is my favourite. Check out the information in their website and see if the society is right for you. The member section outlines all the member benefits.

I don't know if all the passports have been sold out, by now, but you could check into this coming weekend's viewing of the annual garden competition winning gardens. You'd get a lot of inspiration and ideas from those. You don't have to be a member to buy a passport. The information is on the website, but you have to dig a bit (easy for a gardener, eh?) to find all the locations that are selling the passports. ($20 for non-member for the 2 days...with many, many gardens to see.)

Welcome to gardening. Enjoy the process and keep dreaming. More is possible than you can imagine, even in our climate. Keep getting help and ideas on this forum, too, and come join the many Calgary gardeners who tend to congregate over in the Far North Forum! ;-)

Doris

Here is a link that might be useful: Calgary Horticutural Society

Yes, thanks for taking the hint, Doris! LOL!

Thank you Lori and Doris! I will look into the Horticultural Society. I sort of heard about it "in passing" and didn't know it was something lay people could join. For some reason, I thought it was some sort of professional society. I will check out the website.

Hi, MusicalMommy. I hope you're still monitoring this thread.

I went on the first day of the Winning Gardens Tour, and took some photos of a lovely rose arbour that I'd like to share with you (I hope the garden owners don't mind!!) The rose, on each side of the arbour, is 'William Baffin'. The gardener said he lowers the canes from the arbour each winter, but I'm not convinced that's necessary. I have 'Wm. Baffin' in my garden, growing as a rather rangy bush, and it doesn't seem to need protection (there is winter kill most years, but the rose blooms on new wood, so I just prune out the dead stuff...the new canes grow quite quickly). This rose tends to sucker, but I don't mind because the suckers bloom true to type, and the suckers are growing in just the right places. If you grow it as a climbing rose, you'd have to be more ruthless with your secateurs.

There are other hardy roses that can be used as climbers...'John Cabot' comes to mind (it's a redder pink).

I forgot to ask how old the roses were on the arbour. However, these photos show you that it is possible to have a rose arbour in Calgary.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Doris

WOW THAT IS JUST GORGEOUS ! I HAVE POLE BEANS ON MY ARBOURS>

Doris.... thanks for the pics.... they sure make me a rosaphile....lol...I just love any excuse to arbor, trellis, pergola my gardenscape..... so William Bffin, here I come! Sure wish I could belong to a local horticultural enclave of enthusiasts...but alas, living in the hinterlands has its trade-ofs...:o(

Ron

Ron, send us a photo of your rose arbour, once you have it built and planted next year.

By the way, you can be an honourary member of the Calgary Hort Society, if you want. It would be a bit of a drive for you to do the garden tours, though. ;-)

Doris

hmmm. i reside in Calgary too and i am seriously considering joining, especially for the upcoming Plant Share event.

Yes,Doris, a bit of a commute for sure..... this Dorothy can't get the knack of clickin' her heels to summon a chinook to deposit him in the midst of a CHS meeting...lol

Yes, I will begin to master digital picsmithing and someday festoon this site with my Avalon West.....lol.... well, each of us must see our little God-given plots to steward as special,eh!

The weather you Calgarians seem to be getting these days makes me very thankful for our 'reasonably seasonal' weather.... though I wonder about its variableness daily!

Ron