It really depends on the rose. Some have thick, stiff canes that want to go straight up and will never really bend. Others have a naturally weeping habit with thinner, more pliable canes that will happily do what you have in mind. I'm not familiar with your rose but from the pictures it seems to be one of the upright ones, although nice and bushy. Many of the older rose types such as the hybrid musks, teas and tea-noisettes, along with some of the larger Austin roses, are more prone to weeping than a modern hybrid tea climber. Since yours are already in place and growing nicely, you might try tying down some of the younger, more supple canes to make them bend. Good luck!

Ingrid

Ugh! That's so frustrating to hear, as I bought them from Heirloom roses and did it over the phone telling the woman exactly what I wanted the roses to do!! Now they are already one foot over the top of the 4 foot fence. It says they grow to 6 feet, sure hope they stop there, lol!!

Thank you, I will try to tie some of the younger ones horizontally, I had tried doing this while they were growing, but think I panted them too close together, (yet another mistake!) Oh well, I'm learning. Glad I found this site where I can get some help!! Much appreciated.

My Three Weddings and Golden Celebration are both outgrowing the top of their trellis this year. Their canes are arching over towards the ground and the laterals are sending off tons of shoots and blossoms. VERY much a cascade effect. Very cool!

It doesn't look like Courageous is going to cascade, but you can still get a fence full of flowers with proper training.

It looks like the sunny side of your fence is the naked side, so this should work. At pruning time next spring, attach the canes of the rose as horizontally as you can. As the rose breaks dormancy and starts to grow, laterals that form along the canes will seek out the sun, grow through the fence, and bloom on the other side. The key to the success of this is keeping the main canes from going vertical. (It's really not as hard as it sounds, I promise)

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This is Leontine Gervais, a once-blooming rambler, and it's trained this way to a 4 1/2' fence.

For true cascading effect, you want a ground cover rose like Red Cascade or Alba Meideland (which would be perfect for this application BTW) I don't think it's necessary to replace your roses, tho. Just rethink how you're training them , tie them to the wire fence, and make them go sideways.

Connie

Connie,
Thank you so much for your picture, how beautiful!! I have been trying to tie as vertical as possible, I think I just got some bad advice as to how many plants to plant. I will keep it up, and dream of having as nice a display as yours!!!

So...is this the rose sold by Heirloom as Courageous was first released by Harkness as the shrub rose 'Madrigal' and later as 'Fetzer Syrah Rose'?

If so, it's a shrub, not a climber. That doesn't mean it won't do the job. Some shrubs bloom on laterals at least couple of times. Others won't. Keep training those long canes more toward the horizontal (but not all the way horizontal) to see how this rose works. It may be able to grow like a short climber. On the other hand, you may need to top it at the height of the fence and keep it bushy and carefully deadheaded.

Here is a link that might be useful: Courageous aka Madrigal aka Fetzer Syrah Rosé

Yes, this is the rose, and Heirloom sells it on their climbing rose site, and they do say it can be used as a shrub rose. So I take it, it is really a shrub rose you can make a climber. After each posting, I'm wishing I came here for advice in the beginning!
Now a new question. When I purchased it I was told climbers don't have to be cut back in the spring, just remove dead vines. This site you gave me says to cut back a third in the spring in warmer climates. I'm in South Carolina, do you think I would be best to cut it back to the fence top in the spring or could I experiment by letting it do its own thing? What is the real purpose of cutting back a rose plant?
I do dead head regularly, at least twice a week.

I do not shorten the main canes on my climbers. Doing so will make them bushy, not long and lean like I want my climbers to be.

For climbers, in my garden, pruning is to make the rose fit the structure it's trained to (fence, arch, pillar, etc) For your application, pruning should (1) remove anything that's dead, (2) take out old canes that are bloomed out, tangled, or woody and weird. When you're finished pruning and tying, you should have nice fan-shaped roses that are ready to grow and fill in your fence. If things get out of hand during the growing season, use a light hand and clip out whatever is out of bounds.

Does this make sense?

Connie

Thanks Connie,
It does make sense. Unfortunately as you can see from the pictures they are planted a bit too close together to truly take advantage of long horizontal tied vines, but I'm trying to fan them the best I can. I guess if they won't cascade making them bushy will be the better way to go. Since I'm now finding this rose bush was originally a shrub rose instead of a true climber perhaps it will bloom nicely even if I don't get the true horizontal vines. I think I'll see what happens the rest of the year, and decide in the spring if I should take some of the height off.

if they have not been in that long, why not wait till they go dormant over winter and take 3 out of 5 away and replant somewhere else. It will be a fairly simple job to lift and transplant a bare-root rose. They do look awfully close and you will have future problems so it would really be a job well done.

So mzstitch, it is now more than 5 years later, do you still have your Courageous? Does anyone else on here grow it?

Yes, I still have it! This rose has a nice bloom with a great fragrance that wafts many feet away. It's likely be strongest smelling rose. Some years I take it way down, others I just trim it about half way and each year it grows nicely and at least three feet higher than my four foot fence you see in front of it in this picture. Its only drawback is that it prone to blackspot. This may not be the case for others, as I am in an area where it just can't be avoided. My Courageous is here to stay, I wouldn't live without it!

Nice! So glad you responded! Yeah I was not happy to read about its susceptibility to black spot but oh well. Tell me, how is the rebloom on it? Is it pretty good rebloom after the spring flush? Is there a good fall flush or is it just a sporadic bloom here and there after the spring flush?

I would say it has a pretty good rebloom. Of course the first flush is always the best, but for me it pretty much always has some bloom and definitely a second flush.

Awesome, thanks again for your feedback.

Do you have a photo of what it looks like now (or more recently?) would love to see the progress

Sure would be nice indeed, especially pics with blooms. It would also be interesting to see your Julia Child bushes now.

Sorry, I'm going to have to disappoint. I had a crazy busy work year and I didn't take any pictures, I'll try to post some next year. My Julia child got to a good five feet high and when in a full flush it really is an outstanding display. Such a blooming machine! That is a rose that is truely an absolute beauty when planting a number of them together.