On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 16:28:50 GMT, "Theo Asir"
wrote:

Thought I'd consult on my problems.

First the roses that have not
repeat bloomed for me.

Alex Mackenzie.
This is a 2 yr old plant. Its healthy as all get out and is
about 5' wide by 7' tall. After the first glorious 3 week
flush in May absolute silence. Every week I look to see
if the many new shoots are showing any buds nary a sign.
I will euthanize it if it does not put out for me.

Climbing Old Blush.
Its now a 3 feet tall six month old
shrub but it gave me 3 flowers in may
and thats it. Any ideas.

I wouldn't worry about it. It should start throwing new canes any time
now. It doesn't bloom much the first year, because it's an early
blooming plant (the first in my garden to bloom every year) and it
doesn't bloom a lot again until fall (and even then, it's not a big
blooming). Right now, my HUGE Old Bloom doesn't have ANY blooms on it
and has only thrown the scattered bloom since the first flush.

Don't worry - the second year will give you a nice flush in early
spring. You should also start to see some fairly long canes starting
to develop this year. In the second year, I had some nice 8 - 10 foot
canes. That second year will see some really major growth as well.
Everything will probably be a little slower for you in KC than here in
Nashville, but down't worry, it should grow like gangbusters.

EXCEPT, I forgot that this is that "Zone 7" plant that you were
experimenting with (or was that The Fairy Cl. that you were thinking
about trying)"

If possible, I'd try to give it some winter protection if possible.
Right now, it shouldn't be too difficult, but as it grows bigger, you
might want to experiment with some sort of canopy. I know that during
the worst days of the last winter, I draped mine with a 15 foot
plastic tarp at night to be on the safe side. I only had to do that
about 3 times though.

My problem is now with my Aloha. It seems to be reverting to its
climbing form, instead of its bushy form. It's driving me nuts. I
don't know what to do. I think it's my poor pruning techniques...but I
have some almost 9 fot canes sticking out of one quadrant of the bush.
Looks very unbalanced...