"Eyebright" wrote
[snip to a Eureka! moment:]

oh and its said don t hard prune very young climbers as this can lead
to reversion back to bush rose.
[snip]

Okaaayyy. That explains that! When we moved into our
present house ten years ago, my husband hard pruned
what he believed were shrub roses, and which turned out
to be climbers - America. They have mostly ok (one
died several years ago), blooming ok, but never put
out much in the way of longish canes, or anything
resembling a climber. So now I know why. :0

I don't blame him, really. Before I learned much about
roses, I managed to kill off quite a few. I'm doing much
better now.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8