Can it be spring now, please?

I know, I know, I live in West Virginia and it's late February. Spring's still a ways away. Right now it feels like there will never be anything green and growing again. So I started daydreaming. Every morning when I'm eating breakfast, I stand by the window that looks out over my back deck and wish it were spring. The other day I realized, "Hey, I have flowerbeds around my deck that get full sun. And hey-- there are posts that go up to a railing around the deck. I could grow some kind of vine-ish something or other."

First, I thought clematis. A friend suggested morning glory, but there's no way I'm introducing an out-of-control, parasitic weed into my flowerbeds. I don't care how pretty the flowers are. Then it hit me: ROSES! I could grow climbing roses, one for each fence post. I had roses lining my driveway in the house where I grew up, and I love, love, love, love roses!

On a particularly cold, bleak day this past week, a friend walked into my office with a rose catalog. Hurray!! I spent a happy evening reading through rose descriptions (wish I could fit a Mr. Lincoln somewhere-- that was my favorite rose bush growing up) and deciding what to actually order. I haven't ordered them yet, but here's what they are. I'll send pictures when the roses are here and blooming:

Westerland-- it says it's a hardy climber that can handle temperature extremes-- my kind of rose. This one's kind of apricot-pinky.
Candy Land-- from the picture, these are pink roses with a little bit of white, kind of candy-cane looking. They're supposed to have an apple fragrance.
Autumn Sunset-- this is another hardy climber. It's light yellow (the catalog says "apricot gold clusters have a rich, fruity fragrance"). As with every other rose I'm ordering, it's supposed to be hardy enough for cold winters.
New Dawn-- from the picture, these are pale pink and look like they'll grow all over the place.
Dublin Bay-- this one's deep red with lots of dark green leaves.
Sombreuil-- This one's white with double flowers that almost look like camelia blooms.

I wanted a purple rose, but the only one listed in the catalog looks like it only blooms on old wood, which means I won't have flowers the first year. No way. I want flowers as soon as the plants can be happy in their new environment. I have visions of roses covering all the top of my deck railing.

I'll post pictures this summer . . .