Climbing Cecil Brunner never blooms

12 years ago

Last spring, I planted bear-root climbing Cecil Brunner against the south facing wall. It climbed all right about 20 feet but no flowers. This winter, all these long canes died back to the bottom due to zone 5 climate. Now they have tremendous growth again to intend to climb very tall. But I don't see any flower buds forming at all.

Did I make a mistake purchasing Cl. Cecil Brunner in my zone? If so, can non-climbing Cecil Brunner be a choice for me? I saw them in early spring with many buds in a local garden center. Nobody told me about this strange behavior of cl.Cecil Brunner.

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Comments (2)

michaelg
12 years ago
Although there is apparently some difference among various clones, generally Cl. Cecile Brunner is considered a once-bloomer (June bloomer). Once-bloomers cannot flower if they are frozen to the ground because flower buds are only produced on spurs coming off canes that have been through the winter. Chilling of the wood is necessary to trigger flowering.

There are some climbers for zone 5. For example, New Dawn is another light pink. You might have some winter damage, but not total. Plus it is a repeat bloomer, so the new growth will flower some. John Davis is a short climber with light pink flowers that would have no winter damage to speak of. It gives some repeat bloom but not as much as New Dawn. You could choose between them on the basis of rampant growth (ND) vs. moderate growth (JD).

One version of Cecile Brunner that blooms on new growth and repeats well is 'Spray Cecile Brunner.' It is a stronger grower than the regular bush.

Check out roses and where to buy at HelpMeFind.com.
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sage_co
Original Author
12 years ago
Michaelg,

Thank you so much for the information. I should have done more research long before I bought them.

I was reading about cl. Cecil Brunner in more than two books. None of them mentioned this difficulty in cold zone, showing off the pictures of all those splendor blooms on the tall canes. I knew it is nothing like Canadian climbers or even New Dawn that are pretty much cane hardy here. But I was hoping it may not die back as well if planted south facing wall, just like New Dawn here. what I did not know was the fact it blooms only from old canes.

In the past, I had an experience in growing cl. Queen Elizabeth. This information should be decimated from various catalogs or web sites, because sellers are happy to get rid of their stocks. I also become very curious how the climbing version of otherwise repeat bloomers become, all of sudden, one time bloomer and never blooms from new canes.

Now what should I do with this useless cl. Cecil Brunner ? Sigh!
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Climbing Cecil Brunner never blooms

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michaelg

sage_co
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Climbing Cecil Brunner never blooms

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michaelg

sage_coOriginal Author

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sage_co
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