Liezel: I've also read some bad reviews about Claire Austin, but the one we planted at Humpty Dumpty House has been our best performing rose this year. It's planted in a very well amended bed, gets underground drip irrigation as well as a hose blasting once in a while, and is spiraled around a pillar. I've only fed it once so far, for lack of time. Unfortunately, most of the roses here get morning shade and blazing afternoon sun, and our summers are very hot and dry. Claire was always blanketed in a dozen or more elegant blooms till early autumn when her blooms got smaller and eventually decreased in number as well. Since blooms decreased on all the other roses in the same garden, I'm guessing that shade was the culprit. With the autumn sun lower in the sky, tall hedges, and overgrown trees, the roses were pretty much in bright shade all day long. We're chipping away at the trees and hedges to bring in a bit of sunshine, and I'm curious to see what happens to the roses next. By the way, another elegant climber that's ecru with the slightest blush of apricot is Wollerton Old Hall, in case you have access to that one and don't need a pure white. Wooly has a deeper cup than Claire, and holds its blooms even in strong winds. Have fun with your choices! I am so happy with our new David Austin roses, and hope you will be too. Our Claire is shown below. jannike

Vap, I did look into Bolero. It is beautiful but I need to see about the heat wise. I am not sure but I think I am on borderline of zone according to Dave's garden. I will check later again. Vap, that is so cool what your husband did . Surprised, surprised :) SoFl, your husband is awesome also. I am glad mine is awesome too. All he did was here my credit card have fun . He cooked dinner and all. SoFl, I did order Lichfield Angel.. Thought, it was lighter color but turns white due to heat/sun. It is white ,duh...haha. I keep forgetting it is white. How is Scepter'd Isle and Tess of the d'Urbervilles ? Lavenderlace, thank you . I think magenta is ok. I might put Ebb in afternoon shade- maybe. I had this feeling , I am moving all the roses as Not plan in my garden due to heat, burn and what not. What do you guys recommend for BS during rainy seasons? Jin

@Ann Marie, I have a few climbers and ramblers on a trellis and my best advice is to make sure your rose is hardy for your climate by choosing ones that are atleast one or two hardiness zones below yours. That’s the best way to ensure cane survival through winter (right plant, right place). If the rose is near a wall that retains and reflect heat, then I do zone push and have had success with climbers my zone or one zone above. For example, I’m in zone 4b and I have no problems with New Dawn and James Galway surviving winter without protection on a northwest and southwest wall, respectively. As for training the rose, my approach is to tie the canes tight against the support so that it is secure and doesn’t whip around or rub. I do this in the late winter / early spring when the rose is dormant along with pruning so that I can see the rose’s framework. It also means that I’m working with only hardened canes (I never tie soft or semi-hard canes). I use simple garden twine and tie tight double knots. I don’t skimp and make sure the final rose frame work absolutely does not move. I tie the largest, most established canes to the support first, then the rest. I may even tie smaller canes to the bigger ones. Yes, it’s “crossing branches” but so long as they are tied tight and not rubbing, I find it’s totally fine. Key is no movement of any of those framework canes. I intentionally use twine because it blends in, is cheap, and will eventually degrade (since I do this all over again every winter/spring). If the rose cane is really old and has a tough bark and I know it’s not going to expand, then I tie into the support with black zip ties (gasp!). I’ll also mention that optimal blooms form on canes that are positioned between horizontal and 45 degrees. Here’s a pic of my William Baffin climber last year on a wooden trellis.

I saw someone's photos of Spirit of Freedom - possibly bayareagirl? And fell head over heels for that full, globular form in pretty pink. I planted it in February in a prime spot on my front step trellis to hopefully mingle at the top with Veilchenblau which is on the other side. I thought I had seen where it gets to 10-12 feet (which is what I want), but then somewhere else said 8-10 feet. I hope that's wrong. For once I want the DA rose to grow big! It's got a long way to go...just leafing out now at 1 foot tall.