MichaelK wrote:
And hopefully, a knowledgable person can clue me in.

We've got a Climbing Shot Silk, and it's right around the 10 foot mark, but
we've only had about a 2 week bloom cycle, and then no more. We live in
Seattle, and it's been a great rose year, but not with the shot silk.

The Question: Is this common? is it a solo bloom, or a serious repeater?
We installed some New Dawn at 2 clients, and the first year, nothing. But
the second and consecutive years after huge constant blooms, and I'm
wondering is this something to expect from Shot Silk, or.....???

Michael,

I grow Climbing Shot Silk, and it has been with me only a couple of
years. I have been a little neglectful lately of many of my roses, with
Cl. SS being no exception. Even so, this rose has given four distinct
flushes out here, and is about to go into the fifth flush, which I
expect will be quite good since it would be the beginning of the
official fall flush (the weather has been on the coolish side lately,
which greatly helps with this).

One thing to keep in mind is that Cl. Shot Silk is a climber that is
reputed to get very big (at least they say in SoCal just plain Shot Silk
gets to be some 12 feet tall, so I don't know what Cl. Shot Silk does
over there; there is a gentlewoman who posts here from SoCal who grows
this rose and may be she would respond and tell us), and usually, big
climbers take a while to establish themselves with a huge root system to
correspond to the top growth. This takes time, and during this time,
they might not put much energy into blooming. I do not know how old your
Cl. SS is, and perhaps, if it is young, this might be part of the reason.

My advice would be, since you have already got a 10 feet growth (mine is
only five feet tall about now), keep doing whatever you are doing. This
rose has a reputation for being a fabulous bloom machine according a
very reputable SoCal Rosarian.

Also, where are you located? Has it been very warm or ver cold where you
are? I have noticed that out here where the cool and hot cycles in the
summer normally last about 10 to 15 days each, C. SS tends to set buds
when the weather cools down.

Good luck! Remember, a little patience :-).

--
Radika
California
USDA 9 / Sunset 15