Yes, Lady Banks roses take some time to mature and perform. Also, prune only following the bloom period. If you clip them later you will reduce or eliminate flowers the following spring. It sounds like you are taking good care of your plants. Keep them well watered during the heat (especially important until babies are established) so the growth is healthy and prepared for buds the next year. Carol

Our yellow banksia (R. banksia lutea) was a gift from an elderly friend, almost 20 years ago . . . a chunk of the root and cane of a then very old plant.

We put it in the ground, and watched it do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for three years.

Then, in year Four, it simply exploded in a frenzy of growth and bloom, flinging itself up a 7-ft. fence, and on into a big ficus tree, before pushing out above the tree to wave around in a joyous show of yellow.

It had spent those first years growing ROOTS, without which it could not have made all that wonderful growth.

It has since bloomed well in the spring, and then (in our mild coastal climate) scattered bloom through the year. THIS year, we had two successive heatwaves, with record-setting temperatures and high, dry wind. The flush of bloom stopped cold, shortly after it began.

But there's always next year.

I started collecting BanksiaeâÂÂLuteaâ by late Autumn, 2012. I had a branch about two feet long, I used some for cutting and made some tiny pieces to graft on the two Fortunianas.
Some cuttings rooted, they survived by the Vegas extreme heat but killed by the Vegas short extreme cold (around 25ð F). I did this last year and it was killed by cold weather too.
The two I grafted bloomed two or three pretty yellow clusters the first Spring and this year has grown up and blooming like this in the charming picture.

Such a lot of blooms on a small vine!

Thanks for your help. I will be patient with it.

I loved the description of the rose "flinging itself" and waving around with joy. You should be a writer.

Enablers...now I want a yellow one.

I planted my little 1g a bit over a month ago. I has been looking rather sad, but has some fresh new growth on it today.

Looking forward to it eating my little garden shed.

Kippy ... I want the yellow single .... But have no place for it.

Kippy ... I want the yellow single .... But have no place for it.

Duplicate -- sorry!

This post was edited by jerijen on Fri, Jun 13, 14 at 0:25

Well, I have the yellow single. In fact, I've been heavily breeding with it for the past three years, with some success. It roots quite easily using the wrapping method. It sets hips and creates viable seed. When are you coming for cuttings, Kippy? hehehe Kim

Kim, think they would do well side by side or would they compete for resources too much?

Ernie - is yours the double yellow, white, or one of the single ones?

I agree with the others' advice - just WAIT. Since yours are from rooted cuttings it is going to take some time for them to get established, but then watch out! Kippy - if by "side by side" you mean at least 6 feet apart, I would go for it.

Here is a pic of my double yellow Lady Banks, which has eaten the side of my house. I will also post a pic of the wi Cl Cecile Brunner which is planted about 6 feet away. They usually bloom in sequence (LB first), but sometimes they bloom at the same time.

Jackie

Here is the same side of the same house, showing the Cl Cecile Brunner blooming at the same time.

Jackie

Holy Moley! How do you do the training up so high? Huge trellis and looong ladder? How gorgeous.

Mine is a white. So it might go crazy and cover my ugly chicken house? I look forward to it!!

It will cover your chicken house! :-)

There are a couple of down sides to allowing a large plant like that to cover any structure. Massive amounts of debris and dirt pile up in them, providing excellent habitat for insects, rats, squirrels even possum and racoon. Eventually it can become a fire hazard. Getting vermin out of such growth is a CHORE, to put it politely. It's gorgeous, it's heavy and it can become a maintenance nightmare. Been there. Ain't fun. Kim

Kim, I hear what you are saying, but really it has not been a problem. These 2 roses have been on our house for over 20 years. During that time, once they fell down in a 100 MPH+ wind storm, and once we cut them down to about 7 ft high so that the house could be painted. In the first instance, we just (I say "we" - hah! It certainly helps to have a DH who is a contractor and owns 35 ft ladders!) put them back up, and the next Spring they bloomed more than ever. In the second instance, it took them only about 18 months to grow back to the roof - happy as clams.

I am not one who thinks of squirrels as a problem - I like them. Who really uses these roses are the birds - I never let my DH prune or re-tie them up except in the late Fall when we are sure that all of the babies have fledged. Our climate is warm and dry in the summers, so the roses have not caused any sort rot type problems, and I think they actually provide some insulation against the sun. They are of course full of water, which is better than our wooden shingles which dry out.

As to "massive amounts of dirt and debris" - no. My DH gets up there on his ladders once a year, takes out some of the weight, ties up the newer canes we are keeping, etc. However, (again, perhaps it is our climate - it gets very windy here in the winter storms) he has not found any debris except a few birds nests. The stuff he generates from his labor is almost all rose clippings, and almost all alive and green for that matter.

When we had our house painted, he told me that on this side of the house the shingles were in much better shape than another side where there are no roses - that entire wall baked in the sun and had to be re-shingled (I immediately started to grow a tall rose bush on it to be helpful!).

So, my experience is evidently different than yours - just wanted folks to know, hope you don't mind.

Jackie

Not at all, Jackie. I think one reason is your climate has RAIN which helps wash things out. Mine doesn't. I have to wash out climbers on walls and fences regularly with a strong hose stream or they get nasty, full of spider webs, dirt and debris. Rain helps knock off old foliage and rinse dirt and stuff through the plant. Must be nice...Thanks. Kim

Oh, I hadn't thought of rain (since we hardly got any last year)! But yes, in a normal year we get about 40 inches which arrives between Nov and March. Lots of very windy very wet storms which usually last 2-3 days each. I am sure you are correct - they wash the house and the climbing roses very nicely.

Oh, and Ernie - I forgot to answer your question. We do not use trellises for these huge roses. My DH got some sort of very strong metal ring & base plate which are used for hitches for tying up horses. He bolts the base plates to the house, then uses the rings to tie up the very heavy rose canes. Before he got that idea, the roses would fall out of their supports from time to time. Since he has been using them, they don't do that.

Jackie

That's a HUGE difference. We're supposed to get nearly fifteen inches annually, but haven't received ten per year for the past three years. That's quite a change! Kim

I checked today. I have about 10 feet between Cl Pinkie and my Double White LB. Think that is enough for a yellow to be happy?

Kippy, I think that's more than the distance between our R. banksia banksia and R. banksia lutea -- and they're both pretty happy.

Of course, both go over a fence and into trees. No buildings involved in the arrangement.

I bought a LB Rose on clearance at Lowe's probably 1.5 ago and had no clue what it was because obviously it has not flowered. I googled the name and was SUPER excited for my purchase. I have seen nothing come from this little rose at all!!! As a matter of fact I just moved it a little closer yesterday to the new arbor the DH built for me. It's probably a little over a foot long and this thread is giving me hope that it will eventually grow up and give me the blooms I see in Jackie's pics. It's so sad to know that it only is a one time bloomer!!! I am certain that it will eventually take over the arbor and I'm ok with that. :) I will need something else though to cover my arbor which will give me blooms much longer. I'll have to post pics when I get home. ;) of my tiny little LB's.
Thanks for the hopes!!
Elce