The very first question is: are the roses on rootstock that thrive in your soil? If your soil is shallow, or if the roots only thrive in a shallow cone of 'good' soil, then you're not going to get height, regardless of your zone. When the original poster buys a rose, he's buying a rose that has already been pampered beyond belief, in a green house or poly house, planted in soils that are totally unlike the real world, and fed the rosey equivalent of fois gras, lobster, and eclairs to make it grow. Nothing any of us can do inthe real world will equal that kind of pampering for twelve months of the year. Well, maybe some folks in California's cooler summer/warmer winters areas can approach it, but weather survival wasn't designed into the genetics of modern roses. Not all rootstocks are alike, some force roses to grow 12 months of the year, others may help dormancy happen. Some soils are better for Dr. Huey; other soils will make roses on R. multiflora wonderful plants; still other areas demand R. x fortuniana to overcome soil problems. About public gardens....go there earliest spring. Be sure you're comparing roses there with your own roses by starting to see if their roses made it through winter. We've been to some northern public gardens in early spring and I've been shocked at the number of roses that are replaced in a given year. It's not fair of you to evaluate your home roses by comparing them to roses that last year were in California, and only recently exposed to the last gasps of an Ohio winter. FWIW, I had a hedge of 24 Graham Thomases in east Tennessee. Their main problem was a tendency to put out spring growth early in spring, and that growth would get killed, dependably, by later spring freezes. That frozen growth would then be the locus of a nasty canker that would gird and kill the cane by mid June. The most cankers I have ever counted on a single cane was thirteen on one single cane of Graham Thomas. So, I'd guess Dave protects his GT.

Not clothes pins, ever. Graham Thomas has canes that canker easily and keeping a year or two year old cane in close contact with a fence would be a place that water would accumulate next to where there was damage to the cane from wind moving it against the fence. A gentle use of jute string loosely around the canes/stems and then a second knot holding it to the fence. You are in a zone where winter won't kill the canes back?

vesfl... oh that's nice, I'm glad he liked the photos... 'The GG' is one of those I mistakenly put inside the obelisk, but you can get away with it as you see, but it's a little awkward to train up the middle, which is why I recommend putting it outside.. I also have another rose on that obelisk outside of it, so they share the space, although can't see it much in that photo.. some of my obelisks for this season, I've got no less than 3 roses all planted outside, which I shall entwine together, but obviously this is for the adventurous [read insane] gardener. Your friend can make do with just one rose... I like 'The GG' very much, lovely scent, nice first flush, and continues to bloom until late... Oh, you asked about the training, well I just let The GG go straight up really, it's quite an upright grower fortunately, not too thorny and troublefree, but the other rose on the outside, I'm training it around the structure, twirling it around upwards as it goes...

jjpeace, I'd love to see what your pegged roses look like. I've never tried it. I haven't visited garden centers either (or anywhere for that matter). It does take patience when you live in a short growing season climate. One thing we can console ourselves with is the farther north we are, the longer our summer days are for a while, at least. Did you lose the three roses because of cold weather? I'm sorry to read that, and Evelyn is a favorite of mine, too, though she gave me the willies with her first blooms a little while ago--lots of proliferations popped out--ick. Carol, thank you so much. Yes, you are patient, much more than I am, and I admire what you can accomplish in your short season--not just the roses but the other flowers you grow, I remember how you fooled me with one of your photos--lots of big blooming roses, and I didn't even see the pots. They looked great. I hope you have a repeat of that this year. Diane