Hi rosarama - what zone do you live and garden in? I grow Teasing Georgia in zone 5, and although she wants to throw long climber-type canes at times, I keep her pruned to a shrub height for two reasons. First, because of our harsh winters, I often have to prune her back to the snowline in the spring, so it takes her all summer to get back to anything close to climber height. Those long canes tend to appear late in the summer - too late to use her as a climber, so I keep her cut back to a nice 4-5 foot shrub height. The second reason is where I have her. She is located in a bed with other shrub height roses and fits better there as a shrub. Hope that helps. She doesn't seem to mind being a shrub, by the way.

In my experience in a decidedly different climate, Teasing Georgia is one of those Austins that wants to bloom on long canes and sulks if you try to cut her back too much. I have two of them, both in no more than part sun, and they still bloom rather like you describe after about 8 years. I'm sure they'd bloom with more sun, but they'd have long canes regardless. Mine are also freestanding bushes and you're right that they get large. All I can suggest is to give them some extra water (Austins love water) and maybe a little fish fertilizer to encourage her to pick up the pace a bit. In your down season (whatever that might be) you could try chopping and training her horizontally as Nik says, knowing that she won't bloom for at least 6-8 weeks after that. Most Austins love to get chopped and bloom enthusiastically off the laterals after you prune them, but Teasing Georgia doesn't seem to be typical in that way. Maybe that's why DA lists her as a "climber" even though she isn't really a traditional climbing habit, to encourage folks to let those long canes be long. The more horizontal they are the better and you could try pegging down a few of the more accessible ones if you want. Just in my experience, your feedback is within what I would expect of this rose. Cynthia

I planted mine in 2020 on the recommendation of lilyfinch who lived nearby at the time. i dont have bathsheba but am very interested in trying it. im in a bind because i have no more room. i already need to thin the herd because my largest beds dont have enough sun and the only places with enough sun are already jam packed. what is the growth habit of bathsheba? im looking to remove 2 cl royal america and 2 dee-lish to free up space for something to mingle with chianti and evelyn

I have both CPM and TG, both in the ground for three years now. How much sun does the east side of your house get? I have TG on the east side of mine, and that's maybe 4 hours of morning sun tops due to two massive trees. She hasn't grown a lot but she has been fairly hardy and disease resistant. I've gotten very little rebloom from her but she's notoriously slow about that, so I can't say if it's shade/water or if she's still gearing up. I'm wondering now if she's getting enough water there, based on what others in this thread say. She might get moved next year. CPM I had in a spot much like StrawChicago - clay soil, 4 hours of afternoon sun. Mine was under the canopy of a massive oak tree, and that soil is some of the worst in my yard to be fair. More clay than soil I think! She never bloomed in that spot, and never really grew. Maybe the soil was too heavy and she wasn't getting as much water as I thought. I have a polyantha, 'Sweet Pea', in that bed who's done alright, but started as a two gallon plant where CPM was a one gallon. I moved CPM this spring to a spot with much fluffier soil (still clay but soooo much easier to dig in) and more sun and she's doubled in size already and has two blooms!