A graft looks like a gnarled fist just above the root. If you bought your Don Juan at a regular retail nursery or garden center, it is probably a graft. If the thin canes are coming from below the graft, they are from the rootstock and should be pulled off [to remove the eye]. If they are coming from above the graft, from the same point that the other canes emerge, then they are just week new canes and can be pruned or pulled off. Keep only nice firm thick juicy canes and just one or two of those.

Whatever you do, Buford, don't be suckered into buying Scent from Above - it rarely blooms. I had one from J&P which I bought in 2004. It just sat there and after polling this forum, I heard that at least 20 others had the same experience. So there's probably a reaoson why J&P are tying it to Don Juan which is known to be a -prolific bloomer. I SPd Scent three weeks above and now have it in a pot - can't bear to do the final act - putting it in the garbage, I used to call it "Sent from Below."

I have grown three climbing roses from the Canada rose breeding program that are cane hardy here in MN zone 4a. They are William Baffin, John Cabot, and John Davis. They are really large shrubs that can be trained as climbers, but completely winter hardy except for tips and late season new growth. WB is the most hardy and disease resistant, however I have never seen any repeat flowering despite claims to the contrary. WB is also very vigorous to the point of being difficult to control. He will turn into a small tree or a thicket if left alone. John Cabot is relatively easy to train on an arbor or trellis, but also has a tendency to spread out. Moderate to light repeat that varies from year to year for no apparent reason. To my eye, the flowers are more appealing than WB's. Blooms are semi to lightly double in a fuschia tinged pink. Can get minor fall spots if not sprayed. John Davis is, I think, the most civilized of the three. The four inch flowers are clear pink and fully double. JD is the least vigorous, but still a good grower after the first two years. JD has a reliable repeat. JD can get a touch of Powderey Mildew in years when PM is around. Quadra and Rambling Red are two red climbers that grow OK here, but both have moderate to severe die back in the winter. They do not have the spectacular spring flush of bloom that the first three do, but are consistent bloomers over the season. Because of the winter kill, they do not get over six to seven feet for me and show no sign of getting out of hand. Three climbers that I grow as pillars or tall bushes because they die to the ground or mulch line every winter might be worth trying if you are willing to do extensive winter protection are: Climbing America, Golden Arctic, and Roberta Bondar. Good luck. Charles

Don Juan is not your usual climber. It starts blooming right away. Its kind of like a pillar rose in that it blooms all over, not just on lateral canes, so you can train it up a pillar and it will still bloom. It will bloom even more however if you "peg" it (train it as horizontal as possible). I don't know how cold hardy it is, because I live in South Florida, but I do know that it is one of the best performers for our heat, so that makes me believe that it does not like the cold. I once asked the owner of a local nursery why she didn't sell roses and she said it was because it was just a "slow death" for them here in SoFl (my rose garden would beg to differ) and that the only rose she knew that did well here was Don Juan. Well, there are many roses that do well here, but Don Juan does not only do well here, it thrives. But many others just perish in our heat or succumb to disease no matter how much to fuss over them. Save yourself alot of heart ache and get yourself a rose that is KNOWN to do well in your area. It will be worth your time and money for many years of beautiful blooms and alot less work to get them. You don't want to be fighting an uphill battle, especially when there are SO many great roses that will do will in your area. :)