Kathy: Nice photo of CIM. I did notice that MARGO REED INDEED is listed as SEV but I noticed yesterday it is dying back like the dormants do. Anyone else that grows it notice the same thing? mantis:Thank you for the offer of HAI and we shall see next year how MRI does here before I add another. swontgirl: I'm sure someone grows CIM in your neck of the woods but not on the list you mentioned. Good point on the Stout Medal but if a winner had to get votes in all regions, I highly doubt any of them would have won. BUT then we don't know for sure since AHS doesn't publish the breakdown by region for this particular award. Julia

I'm with Mad Gallica - you may always be wrestling with the weight of that rose, and I'd hate to see it damage your house. You might look into a freestanding arch to let it climb over, which means you can possibly contain the monster without having to cut all the canes back. If you want to reduce bloodshed and hassle, by all means it shouldn't hurt the rose, but you may not get much bloom in the next spring as a result. Michael is quite right (of course) that we aim under normal conditions to cut no more than 1/3 of the canes in a given year, and not to prune the main canes of a climber much at all, but stretch the canes sideways on the support. Obviously you're not dealing with normal circumstances however. My experiences with a freestanding Quadra may help you envision what you want from this rose. Quadra is another monster growing, very thorny climber that is hardy in our zone 5 (and beyond). I was lazy about setting up support in its first couple of years, so mine grew into the very wide bushy shrub like yours appears to be. I finally wrestled an 8' metal arch on top of Quadra and attached all the branches I could to one of the side panels without being too systematic (this took several hours and thick gloves and clothing, so brace yourself). You'll still need something to anchor the arch to the house, or the whole thing will tip over in the wind, wrecking that work tidying. However, now that I've done that work, I don't ever have to wade into Quadra to prune it other than clearing out the dead wood (if any) and encouraging new canes to fit into one side or the other of the arch. After a couple of years, it looks more like a traditional climber, once I pulled new canes to the sides, though there still are canes in the middle that fill in with blooms. Your New Dawn looks like my Quadra did when freestanding, so it's likely to work if you're game, and you can get it tidied up now. Of course, the severe pruning will save you bloodshed now if you want to go that route, but I'd still recommend something like this as you think about supports. Here's what Quadra looked like when I first wrestled it into the arch. You can't see, but it's anchored into the brick corner behind the arch with some supports my husband drilled into the brick. You can see on the left the green velcro-type strips I use to secure it to the arch in strategic places. These are available in most garden or hardware stores. I don't have a good "before" picture, but mine looked a lot like yours when I started. Good for you to be willing to work with this rose rather than just getting rid of it (not an easy prospect either). We're happy to help with ideas. Cynthia

Junco, we're in pretty similar zone 5 regions as I'm just over the border in Nebraska, although I think you have a bit more humidity in your region than we do. I agree that Karl Ploberger was a nice rose but wasn't hardy in zone 5 for me - the difference between zone 5 and 6 can be rather dramatic for some roses. Similarly, Light of Day and White Licorice have both died at least twice in rather warm zone 5 winters for me. I've just this year planted April Moon and Prairie Harvest so I can't comment on their hardiness but they do fade to cream pretty quickly. Most yellows don't stay yellow for very long, with a few exceptions. I have had absolutely no luck overwintering South Africa even in my virtual zone 6 spot, but maybe it's my yard since some folks colder than me have done OK with it. I also can't seem to keep Golden Celebration alive in about 5 tries, though it's supposed to be hardy here. Good well-established yellows that are at least root hardy but relatively infrequent bloomers: Golden Fairy Tale Happy Child (VERY stingy for me) Charlotte Graham Thomas Elina - this is the closest hybrid tea-type yellow rose that's hardy for me Sunny Sky - only a bloom or two now and then Rose of Hope (mine tends a bit toward apricot) Sunsprite - this one stays a nice lemon yellow even in the heat Sweet Jane - a phenomenally hardy large bush (5' each direction) that has a terrific spring flush but still doesn't rebloom very often later in the year Good well-established yellows that are extremely hardy (to z4 and beyond for me) but fade to cream quickly Teasing Georgia (relatively small blooms, floppy growth) Yellow Submarine - pretty reliable and totally cane hardy Lim rose Yellow Brick Road (the less hardy of these two Lim roses) JP Connell (a Canadian rose that's mostly cream even to start out) Lone Star (not actually long established but mostly cane hardy after its first year) Good yellows that are hardy and stay yellow or gold Doris Day - surprisingly hardy and frequent though not profuse bloomer that stays yellow Tupelo Honey - I've been very impressed in its first year Golden Zest - ditto, it's a very full Austin-type bloom that stays yellow Ch-Ching - hate the name, love the rose and it doesn't fade much if at all Julia Child (not yet a frequent bloomer for me, but youngish, also can fade to cream) Too soon to tell about hardiness: Henry Fonda Hotel California Solero Vigorosa (phenomenal one year then didn't come back after a couple of years) Winter Sun Morden Sunrise If I were to narrow this down to two or three, I'd recommend Tupelo Honey and Golden Zest (if you like the fully double OGR look), or Doris Day and Ch-Ching (if you really want the golden yellow look) with Julia Child to go with either pair as a backup. Most of these hover around 3-4' for me, with Julia probably being the shortest so far. Cynthia

Hey Vapor, for you in zone 6, you will need to dig up the bulbs of tuberoses. I started with three little bulbs in three pots three years ago. At the end of each year, I've been able to divide one pot into 2-3 divisions. This is what I do. I plant them in pots because it's much easier to winterize the plants that way. I would wait till the leaves start to turn brown from the cold night time temperature and cut all the leaves down to about 3". Then I would upturn the pot to get the entire root ball out and use two garden forks to split it into either 2 or 3 divisions, depending on how big the plant has grown. Each division is then placed in a gallon food storage bag. A little water is added into the root ball/potting soil so it feels moist, but not soaking wet. Then I would use a piece of twine to loosely tie the bag around the remaining dried up leaves to help keep the moisture in the bag longer. I then place all my divisions in the section of my basement which is connected to my unheated garage. The temperature there in the dead of winter goes down to about 45 degrees F. But I suspect refrigerator temperature (~ 38-40 degrees) will work as well. The only thing in winter you need to pay attention to is to periodically feel the potting soil in the bag and make sure it doesn't become too dry. If so, water it with a spray bottle. The bulbs will wake up in spring by sending fresh green leaves up the tied neck to tell you they're coming out of dormancy. If you pot them up in late March/early April indoors then transition them out when it's warmer, they will bloom for you in early July. Tuberoses really are super easy to grow and very disease-free, and they will reward you with that amazing fragrance, quite unlike anything I've smelled. --Lin