tdavis81, if you haven't seen Ashdown Rose videos on you tube they are great and entertaining. The climbing rose vids are really helpful. Basically your are shown how to get the most blooms out of your climbers. Your climber looks healthy! The link to Ashdown rose video is below. This one is about training on a trellis but you will get the facts of training climbers. It really helped me to see it done. Allison Here is a link that might be useful: Asdown training a rose on a trellis vid

Taking cuttings of big plants in early spring or autumn often sacrifices bloom on the big plants. However, if the cuttings root quickly, they will often bloom instead. This is especially true for late blooming sages. Long-day blooming sages are not as susceptible to temperature effects on the timing of bloom as short-day blooming sages. I've seen season momentum like effects on blooming, which seem to happen when the jet stream stalls and extended abnormally hot or cold patterns occur as much as two to three months previous to the anticipated bloom time. I haven't seen a "normal" blooming season for many years.

It is July 25th and there is no sign of a blossom on my Zauschneria. It was planted from a nursery last year, and it was blooming at the time. It is about a foot tall now and has only leaves. Anybody know why this might be?

Under the right conditions, many varieties of African violets will bloom year round. If your violet hasn't bloomed in a while, it may not be getting enough light. Try moving it to a brighter window or growing it under florescent lights. Your violet may also need some fertilizer to bloom. Fertilize each time you water, using one-quarter of the strength recommended on the package. If you violet has been in the same pot or soil for a while, repotting may give it the boost it needs to flower. If it looks like there is more than one African violet in the pot, it probably has suckers (baby plants growing off the mother). Removing the suckers will help the mother plant bloom. African violets bloom best when they are rootbound. The pot should be one third the diameter of the plant. For example, if your plant measures 12 inches across, it should be in a 4-inch pot. Join us on the African Violets forum.