On 14 Jun 2003 16:16:33 GMT, (VRB300) wrote:

Would love to hear others' stories of The Wrong Roses

I purchased what was clearly labeled as a climber (Don Juan) and also planted
at the back door. The plant appears for all intents and puposes to be
a"regular" bush since the 4 canes each have a flowering bud at the tip. I
thought climbers bloomed on laterals(I am not a rose officianado). Am I barking
up the wrong "cane"?

Vince

Yes, I think you are. My newly planted Don Juans are doing the same
thing. I think you'll find that its climbing growth is more of a
"profusion" thing, i.e. as you take the blooms, it will branch and
branch and branch from the lower part of the cane. And as it grows,
the length of the original canes just gets longer and longer, which
allows for exponentially more canes. At least, that's how the growth
pattern seems to be for me.

I could be wrong about this though, as I've just started growing them
myself. Give it some time and show how vigorous the growth is. I'm
anticipating good climbing coverage based on what I've seen so far...