Thanks for the advice. We haven't done anything to it this year (as far as feeding). We've had more rain this year than the past two years combined! There are quite a few blooms but they're nothing like they were the first time they bloomed after we planted it, they're small, not as healthy and not the array of colors (that makes it a "Joseph's Coat...coat of many colors"). We actually tried to find another bush or two. No one has them. My SIL found some online from Home Depot. Might order a couple more :)

I got one by accident. It was covered with disease in my cold and damp climate. The orange color was quite pretty. I was able to send the plant to a gardener in a warmer, dryer climate. I do think that the color is not so good in direct, bright sun. I thought the ones I used to see on the West Coast were rather garish.

Congratulations on overwintering a Joseph's Coat in zone 4. I have been unsuccessful with that one in zone 5 even with protection. I'm not sure if the green wilted leaves mean necessarily it has survived, since what you want is green cane - the leaves are toast after the winter regardless. Still it's a good sign so far. I'd leave the covering on a bit more if you're still getting temperatures down to 10. I tend to uncover things when the temperatures stop dipping much below 20, since those temperatures don't tend to bother roses much. If you're concerned about moisture you could uncover the upper portions as you describe and protect the lower portions. You might get extra damage to those upper portions in temperatures of 10, but what's important is to protect the base. Cynthia

I'm not familiar with this particular climber but the good news is that is IS young so less is morel! The most important thing I see is that you need to get some of those canes growing more toward a horizontal. See that cane on the far left? I'd pull it as close to horizontal as you can. The idea is once you have it designated as a main cane anything growing off of it is a lateral and should be pruned. It looks like that same cane has a lateral that's coming off to the right a foot or so off the ground. You have a choice: you can decide it's a lateral and prune it off at 6-12 inches OR you can decide to treat it like another main cane and pull it horizontal too. (On a young bush I'd probably make it a main cane.)Then prune off anything growing off of it. Really, at this stage you are trying to organize more than you are trying to prune. In general I'd try to get this rose to grow more in a fan shape so that the canes that you keep are at a 45° to 90° degrees. You don't get lateral breaks from an upright cane and blooms come off laterals--more laterals more blooms. After pulling the left one to the left, see if you can't pull the canes on the right to fan out to the right. It's alright if a "main cane" doesn't originate from all the way down at the base, but it would be helpful if it was coming from the bottom third of the plant. Someone posted a link to a way to attach canes to walls that looks pretty cool. I've never used it but it might be something that works for you in trying to get those canes horizontal. https://sugru.com/home-diy/no-drill-diy-garden-trellisHope that helps...