Cl Crimson Glory. It is a climbing HT from 1925, before they took all of the fragrance and disease resistance out of the HTs. Lovely deep red (fades towards purple), romantic flower shape, and amazingly strong "old rose" fragrance. I have one growing up a large arch with Sombreuil (and a purple clematis), and they look great together. Jackie

I don't have DJ so I can't say what is typical but that looks like it's a new rose and the first blooms on any new rose are usually smaller because the plant and the root ball is still so small. It takes a rose several years to mature and climbers, in particular, can take at least 3 to 5 years to reach maturity. Besides time weather conditions will also have a lot of affect on bloom size. So if you've had a cool, damp spring that may be another factor. Your plant looks wonderfully healthy and happy so I would not be worried about the bloom size at this time.

Basals (primaries) come from the graft or the ground. Laterals come from leaf joints in the basals or previous laterals. The only big concern with tying climbers is that you not break the canes. With some varieties, the young shoots are glassy and brittle. You shouldn't try to bend them much until they become somewhat fibrous. Other varieties have canes that become quite stiff and unmanageable when fully grown out. I would bend the first canes a little further down than you have done, to leave room for other canes that will be tied into those spots later. Build the fan starting almost horizontally.

Congrats, Joe! Good find indeed. Most of my minis are in about 12 inch pots to begin with. If I see that the plant is getting too large for that size, particularly if it's getting top heavy, then I'll move them up to something larger. I would not use a clay pot though. Unless the inside is glazed so it doesn't absorb water it will actually steal moisture from the rose. Besides, the plastic ones are soooo much lighter, lol!