With roses of this group, I cut back winter damage, if any, and trim canes back when they sprawl into the path. Sometimes it produces multiple growth buds from a single node. If a bud is aiming in an inappropriate direction, you can just pick it off. My impression is that these roses don't need much renewal pruning. I did take a couple of the oldest canes from 'Kronprinzessin Viktoria' this year. Dangling canes on potted roses can make them more attractive, IMO, but the plant won't mind if you cut them back. You might get some weirdly angling shoots, but foliage of SDLM is so dense, the architecture doesn't show.

Thanks all for your responses so far, hopefully I haven't missed anyone. Ingrid , roseseek,Jerome,jerijen,jumbo That's where I am right now, there's so much out there, there's no reason to spend time and energy on something that refuses to grow especially since I'm recovering from a quadruple coronary bypass this January and need to lighten my load. Krista, harborrose No I don't have any pics. Michaelg, Nick I'm tending to agree that it's had enough time. Sammy,Hoovb, I purchased it from Edmunds' Roses. All of my mature roses (and even some nubies I planted last year) were outstanding this spring. I don't have any pics but it's pretty easy to describe. The leaves are pretty much HT in shape and color, no disease except some chewing. The buds are odd because it 1) produces lots of buds like a floribunda but I would think a bloom the size of SDLM would bloom similar to an HT. 2) A lot of the buds are now turning brown. The buds that do open look like they are trying to be like SDLM. I've had problems with thrips in the past and it looks like it could be a heavy infestation. It's been really hot and dry here the last couple of weeks which seems to bring out the thrips. But I'm not willing to bring out the insecticide for 1 plant. I may take some cuttings and try to grow it in a more shaded local. I have a Madame Joseph Schwartz (I'm not sure what it is because I lost the tag) that needs more space so it may go there. There are too many more important things to do than to nurse an ungrateful rose. I think I've gotten every rose I could possibly want so at this point. All I want to do are the basics and scale back a little. I think my Frau Karl Druski is getting the heave-ho too but I don't care as much about that one. I'm thinking about putting my Sally Holmes there.

It would have to be something as large as half a wine barrel, but I think it would be happier in the ground. I've never seen the climber, but the bush itself can get pretty large, so I imagine the climber will need even more room. Coincidentally, I find that I'm now having the same problem. I planted four tea roses in a row, and one of them is definitely not what I ordered, because it has two long canes with only leaves and no buds in sight, whereas the other three have all had buds or blooms and look the way a young tea rose should look. Since I don't know if the "fake" was bought as Marie van Houtte or Mlle. de Sombreuil, and they are from two different vendors, I can't even get my money back. It's not a totally bad thing since I didn't really have a spot for the Mlle. Franziska Krueger that is still in a pot, and this space will do nicely. It would have been nice to know which climber this is, but I doubt it will bloom until next year at the earliest, and meanwhile MFK will be too large for its pot.

Tangles, she must be beautiful somewhere to be so popular. When I saw Ingrid’s two SDLM’s with my own eyes, I understood her popularity immediately. My own little plant/blooms was such a poor imitation of Ingrid’s, that I didn’t even recognize her two as ‘Souvenir de la Malmaisons’. They didn’t even appear to be related, let alone be the same rose as mine! I think if you saw Ingrid’s SDLMs, “in real life”, I’d be surprised if you could still call them plain and boring. Yet, everyone has different opinions, tastes, and preferences. I myself, just cannot like a really orange rose, no matter how lovely. It might be that SDLM is just not your cup of tea. Quite honestly, I wasn’t impressed by SDLMs fragrance, either. The sheer beauty of those blooms made up for the lack of fragrance, IMO. The pink was such a unique pink, and I am a true lover of all pink flowers. It wasn’t white at all when I saw it, but a pink that reminded me of the inside of a shell. It was pastel, yet saturated, not shiny, but not flat. I’m not very good with word descriptions, so I’m having a hard time finding the right words to describe her color. I really was enchanted. Are there any bourbons you do like? I really love my ‘Louise Odier’ and ‘Leveson Gower’. I remember your post about Madame Isaac Pereire, and her tiny blooms. Did you grow to love her? Recently I was gifted a number of rare and not as rare bourbon roses, by a very generous rosarian. I hope they do well here. I know what you mean about the narrow gray foliage, Tangles. I see it much more on some of my bourbons than others, though. I suppose it depends on what other genes are “swimming around in their pool”. I find ‘Louise Odier’ to be towards the greener end of the spectrum, while my ‘Comice de Tarn-et-Garonne’ has the grayest colored foliage of any rose I have. Lisa