Patience! Remember first year sleep. second year creep. third year leap. Have fun!

Consider yourself ahead of the game in at least one respect. So many people can't get Cl America to produce more than a few stingy blooms, which is a tragedy (boy did I love my regular shrub America HT flowers and perfume). I envy yoooo ;-)

JC can get rust in spring.
JC can fade fast.
But nothing can compare to a JC that is established and in full spring bloom, IMHO. Mine has declined a bit and I pruned it way back this year. It bloomed alot but instead of the red/orange colors I loved, it was all yellow/pink--still pretty. I have no idea why. I have had mine for many years and wonder if it is time for a change.

America is wonderful here, with lots of big, long lasting blooms. It's counterpart, Pearly Gates, a pale pink, is equally wonderful.

As was mentioned, it takes 3 years to assess a climbing rose. Be patient if you can.

What they've all said. Unless they're established, large canned plants, I've never had a climber take off and perform as you've described. Joseph's Coat can be spectacular. The best Americas I've ever seen have been fifteen gallon, bud and bloom plants. They've never been AS good planted so you're already blessed! Royal Gold isn't as much of a "doer" as Royal Sunset, but it's still a classic, great climber. Kim

Climbers take time to mature. If you got good bloom on them this spring you're ahead of the game. They should all do a little growing this year and next year they should start to take off for you.

I'd just like to add that I've seen JC with the bright, bold orange and red you described, as well as the paler yellow and pink. I think it has something to do with temperature or the intensity of the sun but I'm not sure. I finally got my JC's planted in the ground and they gave a much bolder bloom for me this year, last year they were in pots in part shade and had paler flowers.

Thank you so much for your responses. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. I am happy to be patient. And do feel extremely lucky. cl. Blaze from body bag last spring is about 6' high x 5' wide and absolutely covered (maybe 200 blooms?) cl. America is as high, and a little less wide, with about 100 blooms (huge gorgeous blooms). And St. Josephs and Royal Gold were so amazingly stunning in their original flush - Royal Gold looked like full HT blooms in form and size. I got a little nervous this year seeing my first year of rust and quite a bit of it. But I'm going to pamper the heck out of these guys and keep them as healthy as I can (still not spraying ...).

well feh! 6 foot high and 5 foot wide in ONE year - are you feeding them mashed up babies? Or is it true - everything is bigger in the US? I am expecting to hang on for around 4 years for that sort of growth (although I have only myself and my lazy mean ways to blame) but I have friends (honestly) who are much freer with fertiliser and water than me and theirs don't do that either. For me it is first year sleep (like a teenager), second year sleep(like a normal person) third year, reluctantly raise their heads above the parapet, 4th year, start to get the hang of it, 5th year , well hello, big boy.

OMG Campanula, I about peed my pants with "mashed up babies"! No, in fact these have even been a little ignored - not as much manure mulch as the others. Now, the other side of the fence has Cypress trees, so there's lots of Cypress needles in the soil. (?) And there is something about N. California!

But, regarding your first question! My Honey Dijon is really just nuts with blooms. It is the bloominist rose on the ranch. I bought Honey Dijon as a "make me feel better" after I lost one of my beloved felines. And I buried him about 2 feet under Honey Dijon. Lots of schmaltzy things going on there with that rose and memories of my cat, but bottom line - I think there is something in your comment!

NO - I am not suggesting what it might sound like!!!

Looking at them as a whole, guess I probably am spoiled.

Cl. Blaze, body bag planted 3/2011:

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Row - closest is cl. Royal Gold, then 2 St. Joseph Coats, then 1 cl. America, 1 cl. Pink Don Juan, then the 1 cl. Blaze. All planted 3/2011 - all body bags except America which was a 2 gallon pot. You can see the yellowed (from rust) leaves on the first 3...:

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