Lol, yes, even in my cold climate GT is a giant! Have you tried bending those canes down and tying them off? I do that sometimes and then it sends up more tall canes!

..quite incredible...we'd never see that in England...I'm not sure I'd want to though..

You don't want to, either. Incredibly prickly and not terribly heavy flowering in long season, arid places. Even without copious water, GST will achieve Herculean proportions but it won't flower well without heavy infusions of it. Probably a very decent type where there is plenty of water, but not where there aren't. Mine only retains its spot because it's physically impossible to dig it out. It grows, but it refuses to flower much, as every other GST I've grown has since eagerly obtaining my first from Hortico back in the mid eighties has done. When I can get to it, I hack him back to a foot or so then let him reach for the skies again. Sometimes with a flower, but usually without them. There won't be another. Kim

It is hard to see, but my GT is planted at the begining of a brick patio. I just suggested to my DH that if we built it an arch, it could form an entryway into the patio, but he was NOT interested in doing that. All of the other roses we have given arches to have grown on them, and then leapt off them sideways and gotten taller and taller - my Sombreuil (aka Colonial White) has reached the roof of our 3 story house, and is STILL growing - the canes just keep getting longer and longer - my DH will have to get on a 35 ft ladder and tie them sideways. I guess in CA, where irrigated, many roses just keep growing forever...

I will try tying the new canes down and see what happens -

Jackie

Jackie --

We tried tying the d*mned thing horizontally, but it was in a location that made that difficult. Had we had, say, a picket fence to espalier it along, I think it might have been great. As it was, it -- yes -- made about 15 lanky feet, and produced one bloom or small spray, right up at the top. We finally dug it up and donated it to the trash company. (That was before we took to using failed roses as kindling. I'm sure it would have burned well.)

The Austin yellow which succeeds here, and blooms well, is 'Golden Celebration.' But even that -- like every Austin we've ever grown -- likes a generous supply of water. And in today's world, that isn't easy.

DH carries dishwater over to them, and supplements the watering system with that, and that seems acceptable. But in today's world, in Southern California, we ain't plantin' no mo' Austin roses.

Jeri

I think this year for the first time instead of just chopping off those long canes I will try to tie them to the support structure. Sort of bending them down, so they will be sort of "pegged" in mid-air.

We have been able to give this bed plenty of water so far, and this bush blooms predictably in flushes all summer, and I do love the flowers. The purple clematis I planted under it is doing well, and they look great together. It is my only Austin. I am not tempted to plant another, but I tend to anthropomorphize roses, and have never taken out a healthy one - my fault, of course.

Jackie

Lost on a hard drive, several computers ago was a passed along photo from California of a heart-thumping GST that was in front of a two story high porch (two floors) on the front of a gray Victorian house, and the GST went up and over that porch, and was loaded with blooms.

My hedge of GSTs never got that size, a propensity to BS both on the leaves and canes and a heart-rending need to grow new canes as soon as winter gave any hint of leaving lead to early canes that were lost to freezes as well as new growth along the canes that had made it though winter, that then died and made cankers at many leaf breaks that were winter killed.

I found it easy to push for lots of blooms (lots of water and lots of Carl Pool bloom buster fertilzer) and for a fall wedding did a dozen blooms for each brides maid for one niece's wedding (and she had ten brides maids.)

Specimen shown in original post has rootstock canes sticking up well above the foliage (and fruits?) of the 'Graham Thomas' scion. So the 'Graham Thomas' is actually about half the height of the stock. That said, a 'Graham Thomas' in a frost pocket area near here was once said to have grown about 20 ft. tall on the side of building.

bboy - you are incorrect - those are NOT "rootstock canes". I realize it is difficult to see from the pic, but NONE of them are coming from below the scion - they are ALL brand new lateral canes which have just sprouted out of the top 2/3rds of older canes in the past month or so. Identical in every way to all of the other canes & leaves. When I "peg" them in mid-air, I am sure they will bloom with normal GT blooms. This bush does this every Fall without fail.

Jackie

Yes. GT did that here, as well. And no. That was not rootstock. BBOY -- You are not the only one to have problems believing it. I am told that Mr. Austin didn't believe it, either.

AAMOF, I've seen some big, mature plants of 'Dr. Huey' rootstock -- but many Austins can out-grow him, hands-down.

The problem is that, in our part of Southern California, these Austin roses are "Jolly GREEN Giants." They grow like Jack's Beanstalk -- but they do not flower.

Jeri

Jeri - now you are tempting me. What I am seeing with my GT is the normal growth habit of my huge huge climbers. They put out long canes, and then those canes put out longer laterals, and then those laterals put out longer... etc.

Those roses do not bloom much until they get as large as they think is correct. So, maybe in my and your climate GT is really a frustrated 30-40 ft climber? If I had an unused house wall I would plant one and see how big it got, with encouragement. Hmmmm..

Jackie

Well, yeah. Maybe so.

I did always think, if I had a place to spread it out horizontally, it might be pretty cool.

But in practical terms, I'm better off with Golden Celebration, which whose canes arch over, and push up blooming laterals without any fuss and bother on my part.

At 50, I didn't mind doing something heroic -- like self-pegging Mme. Isaac Pereire and Othello. At 70, I am inclined to prefer roses that don't need that fuss and bother, and unpleasant labor.

;-)

Jeri

Just to let you know, I had to tie my GT canes very early on and keep at them or they got too stiff to bend at all and they snapped. Like I said earlier, once tied down it sent up more laterals, which did bloom of course, but they also got quite tall. And as Kim said, he is a water hog even for me. He's always the first one to show wilting if we have a dry spell.

Golden Celebration is also a water hog. In fact, I think MOST Austins need generous watering. And that's OK in some places, but it is increasingly a problem in the SW.

Jeri