I advise giving it the royal treatment this year and see if it doesn't noticeably improve next year--it third year. Third year (or older) plants often outgrow some of their earlier "problems." As Buford suggested, give it a good afalfa feed (pellet, meal, or "tea")now and in about another month. I'd add that you should combine that with an organic feed like RoseTone (monthly until mid-August), and water it a lot. After a season of that, it should be a much improved plant by next year. Oh yes--you do have it in at least 6 hours of sun, don't you? It likes sun. And keep it healthy by spraying Bayer Advanced Garden Disease Control for Roses and Flowers, as suggested above. Good luck. Kate

To make Climbing DD worth growing, try training it along a horizontal, rather than a vertical support. By doing so, you're likely to see a significant increase in bloom production during the spring flush, and a reasonable (but not dramatic) improvement in repeat flowering during the rest of the season. Another thing to keep in mind is that this is a climber that definitely improves with age. It grows energetically for the first few years before finally settling in and getting down to business -- and that process definitely takes longer if the plant is allowed to grow vertically.

Hello Deb. The names bush or shrub relates to the way a rose develops during a growing season. They are usually pruned in the coldest time of the year by removing old and unproductive wood. The plant responds by regenerating itself the next growing season, including the production of 4 flushes of bloom, rarely but sometimes less, AND they can beccome huge plants. Genuine species roses that are shrubs, produce single blooms, and are once-flowering only. Old European shrub roses from depths of time also will bloom only once. In the Australian climate, there can be seen a "repeat" bloom on many so-called once-bloomers. All genuine climbers are once-flowering only. And this includes the group known as ramblers. These are the true climbers. Most of the others are sports of Moderns that have mutated to a climbing FORM, i.e. they behave as a rambler. One confusing group refuses to behave according to either of these two growth habits. They are the Noisettes, a diverse group of roses from various origins. The growth habits of climbers/ramblers is fundamentally the production of new canes AFTER flowering (early December here). These canes do not have blooming parts to the ends of the canes, but just grow and grow. This factor is the fundamental departure point for shrubs and climbers. Typically these canes are best constrained from blowing wildly about while they grow, are then pulled down from April on and positioned horizontally on a fence-like support to encourage production of flowering laterals the following Spring. There may be some residual blooming in Autumn. These plants are the typical climbing sports, and names are usually prefixed "Climbing" or Cl.", e.g. 'Cl.Papa Meilland'. The lax-limbed ramblers behave exactly the same way, blooming in Spring-early Summer, and then going into a frenzy of regeneration for example, (various hybrids of Banksias, Multifloras, Moschatas, Wichurianas, and Filipes). These are the plants we ought prune after blooming, if we can get close enough(!), to provide space for regrowth. Left to themselves, the plants will coppice, growing up and over themselves each season. These ramblers are not the plants to put on a fence, arch or pole, but better planted in the open to fend for themselves. The Spring display of course is stunnibg, but it is important to consider the foliage, to maintain beauty thereafter. If you want to use the small arches commonly available from the chains, you really ought consider the appropriateness of the roses you intend to grow there. Some of the Hybrid Musks that throw 6' to 8' canes can be considered, but these become heavy unless cleaned out regularly, else as I have described elsewhere, the rose will be wearing the arch for adornment. There is one rose undeniably suited for these smaller arches, and that is 'Renae'. Pliant, repeat flowering, and fragrant, but still must be cleaned out of old wood. Any repeat flowering rose ought be pruned in Winter, otherwise, after blooming...

Hi Bev They are both so beautiful such lovely colours a bargain too. Love the double petals on the first one, and such a great pic. The bottom one is such a georgous bright pink so different from my pale ones. Cheers..MM.