Sounds like you have a once a year blooming Dr. Huey, the root stock used by many commercial rose growers. I suspect when the previous owners planted the bush it was a different rose which died and the root stock took over. Once a year blooming roses should be pruned after they bloom. Prunng before it blooms or in the fall removes the buds which are set in the fall. Without a soil test, I question your use of Ironsafe. I'd use an organic fertilizer like Rosetone or just simple horse manure. They don't change the chemical composition of the soil like chemical fertilizers or an iron suppliment. They do enrich the soil and add organics to it.

Hi Jeannie, I've been thinking about MAC for a long, long time. It might work in that spot if we were younger here and more able to stay after the rose all the time and if we were willing to let it work on the obelisk without too many horizontal turns requiring much bending. The problem is that MAC isn't very flexible once a cain gets some age on it, and will do its own thing, sort of set in concrete, if you don't keep at it. We'd have to train it frequently to avoid the walk path beside the camellias as well as to keep it from totally taking over the obelisk and choking out the Mortimer Sackler. We're probably not up to that much rose work nowadays, though I do love the rose and want it somewhere where it wouldn't have to share a limited amount of supported climbing space with another rose. I've thought about it more strongly for one or two other spots where its own growth ideas might line up better with ours and not take too much work on our part. The same considerations apply to Lamarque, but the difference in flexibility might be a real difference. Once or twice a year of pulling the rose away from the camellias would probably work for Lamarque, but might come too late for MAC. Both roses are such vigorous growers that they'd be expected to outgrow the obelisk and start to claim other areas by year three. With Lamarque a discreet peg here and there when you get around to doing it might work? With MAC, my thinking is that perhaps you'd better get around to doing it now, or perhaps get handy with a saw later. That said, I still do keep thinking about MAC. What a wonderful rose it is! Thanks for thinking about this, Jeannie. Best wishes, Mary

I've been given a La Follette for the cemetery so there will be another one here in Northern Cal - it's also on the Santa Clara fence. It is huge, with hips that look like pears. I'm a little afraid of it! We planted our fence roses ten feet apart and some (especially Arcata Pink Globe/Moser House Shed Rose) want to spread twice as far. I plan to put La Follette at the end of the row along the fence where the cane can go 20' or more if that's what they want to do. BTW, Bill Grant says that the orginal name of this rose is simply 'Follette.' Just like it's 'Reine Victoria' not 'La Reine Victoria.' We have 18 roses on the fence bordering the north edge of the cemetery. Santa Clara University has 250 of them on half a mile of fence! Anybody who wants to study ramblers/climbers should look at them. It's an incredible display. I've been there three times and learn (and enjoy) new things each time. Anita

"I don't see how you even get the rose into the soil beneath a tree. Most trees have roots that would make it hard if not impossible to dig underneath them...don't they?" You are correct: you can't plant a rose directly under a tree. That's one reason you need a big rose that can support itself with stout canes, because you don't plant it next to the tree, you plant it out of the direct root zone but under the canopy. Getting a rose to grow up a tree can take a long time and requires a rose that is already growing well. Roses do not do well in the shade and will never overcome a tree if entirely in the shade. Notice that I stated I will plant my 'Long John Silver' by a Yew. The Yew is a multi-stemmed large shrub that grows slowly into a tree. I will plant the rose on the south side so it gets enough sun to power it up the tree. As already mentioned, it can be successful to start the tree and the rose together so that neither over powers the other. I tried this with a rambler and a lilac which, again, makes a large shrub rather than a tree. I should have given the lilac a head start as the rambler is overpowering it already. Other shrubs I am using to support ramblers are Prunus maritima (Beach Plum) and Myrica pensylvanica, the Northern Bayberry. Both these shrubs are slow growing so need a head start before planting the rambler.