In most cases, I would let the cane grow out and become fibrous, then bend it over all at once and tie it. This is easier and safe for the rose, as you will feel when the bend is getting dangerously steep. However, with the combination of stiff roses and a low fence, as PFZ says, you will need to start earlier. What I wanted to add is that you have to be very careful not to break the watery young shoots that haven't developed fiber, bending them gradually. If there is not a good grid surface to tie to, you can use a temporary bamboo stake set at an angle to guide the shoot.

I use pantyhose that I cut into strips. It's easier on the canes and the color hides among the foliage. I pull the canes towards the fence/trellis and once they are attached, then I train new growth in a horizontal line which can take a couple of months to grow... Some roses train easier than others...

HMF says that CL Pennies From Heaven grows up to 8' tall, and spreads out. Since you are in SD, it would probably get that big - not sure that it what you had in mind. Climbing miniatures are miniature in the flower, but not in size of the plant. I thought you might want to consider using just a miniature, not a miniature climber. That way you could be fairly certain as it its height - Help Me Find is a great resource. OR, perhaps a polyantha with a small growth habit. Little White Pet is my favorite. I live in the SF Bay Area, and all roses grow to whatever their maximum size might be here. I have 3 Little White Pets, and even the 2 that are over 10 years old are only 2-3 feet tall. If you don't like white, I'm sure you could find a tall miniature or a short polyantha you would like - check HMF or the Vintage Garden website - they have a great way to search out color & habit. Jackie

Thank you for your responses - they are very helpful! This is where I've read about training in the second year: http://www.palmers.co.nz/index.cfm?componentID=334. I have no clue how reliable that information is - perhaps it is true for some geographical locations? I am glad I did the right thing training them now. I did get scratched - in fact I undressed to sunbathe while training roses. 30 mins later, when I saw blood, I got fully dressed and gloved ;-) These are my first roses ever so I want to make my mistakes with them rather than with the more expensive antique roses, which I also admire and will one day buy. There are not too many cane hardy to zone 5 but some are so I just have to do some more reading and first-hand rose growing. Regarding my worries about the leaves, I am double cautious around roses now because 2 years ago, while feeling brave, I pruned my mother's roses in what seemed to me a regular spring fashion, i.e. down to less than 1' - and it turned out they were climbers and shouldn't have been touched.. They have not recovered by today - the few new canes are perhaps only half as thick as the original ones I had cut off. So now I try to read and ask before I do anything. BTW, is there hope for those hard pruned climbers? Will they ever grow as strong as they initially did, or should we replace them with new ones? Diane - thank you for the links to GW posts - it didn't occur to me to do a search using any other word than "espalier" so I only found one result :-) I am not cutting anything off these roses in the foreseable future.