Rosa Cecile Brunner goes up to 120cms and the climber to 7 metres. Many roses grow taller than described in each season, in spite of pruning. At least mine do. The climber seems a bit tall for your 'obelisk'.

It will only get about 2 feet high, maybe a bit more, and the same wide, so should cope with being in a pot. If you wanted a larger rose, that might be difficult - many of them do not like being contained in a pot, only the smaller ones won't do too badly.

Thanks Djorac and Bamboo. I wasn't thinking of putting it in a pot though. I have this homemade support which looks rather like a wooden pylon affair and for the last two years it has stood at the back of the flowerbed with a clematis Warsaw Nike on it.
The clematis has been wonderful but does not cover the whole frame and in a rash moment I bought Cecile Brunner and then started worrying that it would swamp the support and the clematis, but if it only grows to 120cm it sounds as if it would be ok. I bought another rose at the same time, called Phyllis Bide. Do you think that one would be better on the frame? One has to go on the frame and one on the fence. I just love small tumbling roses......!

Phyllis Bide looks so delicate, pretty and frothy in bloom. Prettily pink flushed with apricot. A small older climber at 200cms, very petite. I think you will need to toss up for where you place it Penny. Either placing would do.

Thanks very much Dorjac. that's good to know! I will decide which colour would be best with the clematis and put the other on the fence.

Cecile Brunner is one of my favourite roses - my grandmother grew it in every garden she had, and planted several in mine as well! Sometimes it sends out "sport" stems - long branches which in turn sprout many more shoots. Even if yours is not a climber, you may end up with what looks like a rambler if you don't keep her in check! It is wonderful on a fence, though.

Thanks Melchisedec, I think this will definitely be going on the fence where it will have more room to spread. Should the 'sport' stems be removed?

If you remove the sports, the plant will remain much smaller. If you train the sport horizontally, all the new shoots will grow upwards from it. This forms a hedge-like plant in just a few years. The only downside with Cecile Brunner is that the climber only flowers once, but it is just so lovely when it does flower!

Thank you! I will have to make a bit more room for it. I tnink I will put it on a 6' sq bit of trellis which I've just put up between an arch and the shed so that it can spread both ways! There's honeysuckle on the arch but they will just have to tumble together!

Sounds great. One of my Ceciles is over 35 years old. If you saw the size it is now, you might get a fright! However, I think it is a climber! It is virtually indestructible, and always comes back after cutting back. So you can keep it in check without too much worry.Just a warning, though - it is very thorny!

Oh dear! And I have not yet managed to find any really thornproof gloves! Thank you for all the tips. I will let Cecile go and just cut back when necessary.