When the first plant (on Multiflora) was about 2 years old, Syl Arena said it was the biggest Golden Celebration he'd ever seen. It is easily 5 ft. tall, and perhaps close to 6, and it is big around. This is our hedge of 'Golden Celebration,' photographed in April, 2010. (It is presently just in bud.) The hedge is about 6 plants long, and planted on a hillside. The top plant is the oldest -- several years old, and on Multiflora. It is presently about 6 ft. tall, and 6 ft. in diameter. These plants are never pruned. When we used to prune them, they had immense dieback problems. We quit pruning, and they quit dying back. All of these plants bloom as "croppers," blooming in successive flushes, after deadheading. (Un-deadheaded, I think they would be slower to repeat.) There is no rust or powdery mildew. The fragrance is magnificent. The vase life is impressive. The hedge was planted for privacy, and is located on the East side of our house. They get full morning sun, little-or-no afternoon sun. You are in Florida. BEWARE BLACKSPOT. When we get an occasional wash of warm, tropical gulf weather, these plants are usually touched by blackspot. It's a transient problem, so we don't worry about it, and for us, these plants are never sprayed. I would, in fact, not like to spray a rose this large. Hope this is helpful. This is a rose I recommend for most of Southern CA, but I cannot speak to Florida conditions. Jeri

Yes, you can grow many climbers as shrubs. Depending upon the room you have and how vigorous the variety is, your results can very widely. Here, Banksiae is kept machetied as a shrub like an oleander or juniper. It paves itself with flowers all over the surface every spring. I have grown Silver Moon as a large, freestanding "shrub", allowing it to build on itself until the result was easily six feet high, eight or so feet thick and easily twelve to fifteen feet long. Altissimo and Sally Holmes were kept as "shrubs" for eighteen years. I didn't have any difficulties with the canes snapping, even though this was a very windy site in a canyon in the mid Southern California desert. You'll find that many "climbers" tend to grow shorter, but quite thicker canes when they have to support themselves. The tissue formation is used to reinforce the strength of the cane at the expense of elongating it. You'll find this more successful with Cl. HTs, floribundas and Large Flowered Climbers than with rambler types because of their tendency to produce heavier, stiffer canes. Another idea you can try was very successfully used at The Huntington by Clair Martin with the Austin Roses. Self pegging is where you take stakes for the initial, heavier growth, then wind the new growth back on itself in loops or swags so the plant ends up supporting itself to a large part. I've taken large, heavy stakes to create uprights like fence posts, then securing the canes to them like the rails of a fence. That creates screens in places you normally wouldn't have them, adding height and privacy to areas. I've used it to provide a surround for garbage cans on the edge of the garden; to block undesired views of dog runs, a/c units and ugly neighboring structures. It makes a nice break between the drive and garden, too. If you want a ready made example of the answer to your question, drive around and look at all of the Dr. Huey plants which have been hedge clippered into shrub form. Unless it's a very severe climate where it freezes, I'll be most cities have MANY examples of it. Kim

Soon you will be like the rest of us in here and other fig forums. 2 varieties will just not be enough, and you will figure out a way to get 4 varieties on that same wall! So they co-mingle... Not a bad thing! I don't know what planting zone you are in. You should put that next to your name so others can recommend good varieties for you. Desert King is delicious, but only puts out a Breba crop. Others give you 2 crops per year. I just had a thought. Is the south wall, your house, and are you on a slab? Fig roots can do serious damage to slabs, so you might either want them in large pots or quite a distance from that south wall. If you have a basement, you should be fine. You have a Green with red center fig AKA Desert King, and Negrone, a Dark fig with a red interior. You need a honey golden fig like LSU Gold or my fav, Mary Lane Seedless... See?

Yes, and I'm not looking forward to it. But last year and the year before we got down that low -- even a touch lower, as I recall a night or two each year that dipped just below 0F -- and only two died outright. Those were 'Jaune Desprez' and "Secret Garden Musk Climber" after Winter 2013-2014. I replaced SGMC with a gallon-sized plant, and that one survived Winter 2014-2015. I gave up on the pipe dream of having a Tea-Noisette growing out in the open on my dying Japanese maple, and stuck 'Baltimore Belle' there instead. Many things had damage, but rebounded after I cut out the dead bits. Of course, the ones with little or no damage were the OGRs with little or no China/Tea in them. But even "Bermuda Spice", which had to be cut back to under 12" inches the last two Springs, rebounded to about 5' X 5' by the end of each season. I was hoping to see what it does when starting Spring with something more like 3', but this weekend may keep that from happening. Meanwhile, my potted roses look frozen in time -- few leaves dropped, but no active growth, and no discernible damage. They're hanging out in my enclosed unheated back porch, getting some sun from the windows. This cold blast is an anomaly this year, coming as a brief interruption in otherwise mild weather. I'm hoping that such a short dose of intense cold followed by temperatures in the 50s a few days later won't kill anything. The Chinas and China-Teas I planted in the ground in 2015 are mostly in a protected spot against the house and facing south. The few I put in my tiny front yard are a bit more exposed, but I planted them deeply. We'll see in just another month or so, when I start pruning. Being a zone-pusher, I realize I take risks -- but how else do we learn? And frankly, considering the more tender Chinas and Teas keep blooming through our hot and humid Summers, they're worth it. :-) ~Christopher