Hi Jannike, you're welcome! Yes ma'am, Annie is a seedling I raised way back "in the mists of time"! I think your hospital project is a lovely one to take on. Eventually, one should take care of the twenty foot span, but I'm sure you want it covered faster. I would suggest two, to three of them. Own root climbers take their time, unless you're looking at once flowering types which put far more energy in to growing than flowering. The more heavily the plant flowers, the slower it grows, generally. Some flower more as smaller plants, while others grow instead of flowering. Annie and Renae are the former types, so you can cover the space faster with one or two more plants, but one will eventually take care of it for you. I would consider the twenty foot span as three, six foot spaces, then plant one plant in the center of each one. That leaves only six feet for each to provide coverage and color for initially. If you'd prefer fewer, divide it in half (two, ten foot sections) and plant one in the middle of each, spreading out their growth to cover the five feet on each side of the plant. If you select Renae for that spot instead, I would still suggest the same treatment. If you choose a budded plant of some other climber, I would suggest only one, planted in the center of the span, as budded plants usually push growth much faster than many own root types. Not all, but most, particularly climbing types. I do think the lack of prickles will be a lovely trait for that situation. The lack of prickles is why I planted Annie Laurie McDowell where I did in the garden pictured on Help Me Find. It's right inside the gate entering the rear yard where people will come into personal contact with the plant. It is where the gentleman sits to smoke his occasional cigar while tossing the toys for the dog, so not biting is a great thing. And, she flowers virtually all the time and smells wonderfully. Ironically, she's also the only rose the dog gnaws on in the entire back yard. Eight other climbers on the walls and he gnaws Annie and the lilac. You should probably check with Burling about her timing with the plants to see what will work best with the hospital's timing. Good luck! Kim

It looks like Rosa Indica Major to me. Its Chinese name was something sounding like Fun Juan Lo (if you pronounce the J as 'Zh'). This rose was 'discovered' and brought over from China to the West in the early part of the 19th Century. It has had many names and its precise botanic origin is unclear. Being very tough and resilient to heat and drought - though not to cold - and being very easy to root, it has been much used as an understock in warm areas such as South Australia and (apparently) California. It is somewhat prone to mildew, but this doesn't seem to affect overall health if left untreated. It often swamps and then survives the grafted rose, so is a common sight in old neglected gardens here. It blooms early in spring, with those lovely airy puffballs of ivory irregularly suffused or blotched with pale carmine pink, borne on those similarly airy, gracefully arching canes, for a few weeks only each year. It has been noted that if it were a repeat bloomer, it might rank among the great shrub roses. The scent, to my nose, was only faint. Whether you want to keep it, and how you want to grow it, is pretty much up to you. I have seen it looking very pretty grown up and over a cottage garden arch. I love its natural fountain shape, however it may produce larger flowers if kept trimmed back. Or you could just take out the oldest, thickest canes at the base each year, immediately after flowering as Jeri and others have said (it doesn't usually set hips). This would keep it a bit smaller without losing its natural graceful shape. Espaliering it against the fence to keep it more 2-dimensional, would be very feasible, maybe still letting it keep its natural curves. If you have room to plant other things in front of it, it should make a nice glossy green background for most of the year, with its annual few weeks of glory to look forward to each spring. I took mine out (it was here - a rootstock escape - when I bought this house) and I do still miss it... Comtesse :¬)

Eden has stiff canes similar to William Baffin, the best I could do was train it at a 45 degree angle , I think it was too stiff to do anything else with. Darlows Enigma is a hardy shrub/climber for me, hardy to the tips. Starts blooming for me around this time with dark red new foliage. Repeat bloomer, sets hips for winter interest, very fragrant but probably the worst thorns ever. The blooms are single and white. Another very hardy climber for me is Seafoam, this rose will do whatever you want it too do. Starts blooming around now and goes well into the fall,no fragrance but that's OK because it has exceptionally healthy,dark foliage. The blooms are white, a little pink in thefall. I have another hardy rambler called Ghislaine de Feligonde. This reblooms for me, if I deadhead. Some people on the forum says theirs repeats and others say theirs doesn't. This thing is a MONSTER for me, and hardy to the tips even after this last winter. Blooms are yellowish to pink, very pretty. As far as structures go, they are always iffy for me. Eventually the older, thicker canes of the rose are what I tie the new shoots to. For additional color for my once bloomers I either plant clematis, liatris,daises or any tall perennial. Oh I also have Veilchenblau, it has always been hardy to the tips. Young canes are easy to train if you get there soon enough. Once bloomer, but when it blooms there are so many you can't even see the foliage. Orange hips in the fall, leaves turn a nice yellow than as well. Semi double blooms, every shade of purple, will get as large as you let it. It's practically thornless. Honestly winter protection is a gamble for me, some people bury the canes in the winter, I did this once and the rose got canker. It's just too much trouble. If I had a rose I loved with questionable hardiness, I would plant it close to the house where it would not be subject to northern winds.

I have never heard of cutting back a bare root rose at planting unless there is some dead cane to be removed. Pruning of any kind always stimulates TOP growth, not the roots. You can leave all the hips on you want. The rose will not go dormant. It will continue to put out growth until the weather stops it. I've left hips on from the spring flush in June and the rose continued to grow and bloom right through until October. New Dawn is such a growth monster that I can't see any purpose in disbudding it. The roots are growing, count on it! Roses, climbers in particular, will not send up more cane than their root system can sustain. Hence the saying for climbers, first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap. Those first few years that it seems to not be doing anything it is in fact building a big enough root ball to be able to push nutrients up those long canes you're waiting for. Once it feels it has sufficient roots to do that it will begin to climb.