Hi Johnnie, welcome to the rose forum! Where do you live? How large is your Westerland? When it does bloom, are the flowers the right color for Westerland (big and orangy not small and dark red)?

Hi Cecily,

Thanks for the response! Carlsbad CA zone 10. Yes, the 1 bloom I had last year was definitely a "Westerland" big, orangey and beautiful! The plant looks quite healthy and has not put out any Dr. Huey shoots yet!

I am going to give it very heavy fertilizer (I use Knock-out natural rose food) staring mid-Feb. ...waiting for about an inch of new growth! Can I feed a cup every 2 weeks?

Should I start fertilizer sooner? I guess if It doesn't form blooms by end of March, I should consider shovel pruning but I hate to give up as it really is a very healthy looking plant!

Patience is a virtue. I have had climbing roses which did not bloom at all or a lot for their first 4 Springs, then exploded in bloom the next year, and every year thereafter. Some climbing roses just do not think about blooming until they think they have achieved the correct height - go figure. How tall is it? HMF says it gets up to 12 feet, but their numbers are usually way low for warm climates, so perhaps it wants to be taller - the rose will decide (if you give it a chance).

I think feeding it is a good idea - in your climate, I might even feed it now, but be sure to follow the directions so that you do not burn it. Then you need to WAIT. It would be a shame if you shovel prune it in March, having wasted 3 years, when you only had to wait one more...

Assuming it is getting enough sun and water, you will eventually be rewarded with bloom, and it will be worth it!

Jackie

Yeah, I agree with Jackie -- go ahead and feed it.

It may just be that it's not going to bloom much until it gets to be as big as it wants to be. But I've also had very tall Shrub Roses that just NEVER produced much bloom, here at the coast, because they stubbornly require a bit more cold than we can offer them.

Jeri
Coastal Ventura Co., SoCal