I would say that depends on the rose, and whether or not it's worth the thorns to you. For me the fragrant ones are. Wish I could tell you the name of the one that was already here, against a fence. It's at least 7 years old, red, mildly fragrant, and is just starting to make a show on the 4 ft. fence. It's chain-link so I've been training branches more out instead of up until last year when I let a few go around the top rail. It's blooming now over a solid area of about 4 feet in width, 2 feet high. So if you can find the right ramblin' rose that doesn't grow too fast, you can bend and shape it to fit about anywhere.