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I know it is hard to see...sorry.

I made your picture brighter so it was easier to see and I think you could easily start spreading the canes out along the fence. You should get more bloom that way. A lot of people combine clematis and roses and they do very well together.

Thank you! (and what a great idea to lighten/brighten the pic!)

So, do I tie the canes along the top of the fence? I'm picturing using loosely tied twine.

My back fence has passion vine (p.incarnata) on it...I have a giant rose back there that was duking it out with the passionvine by the end of the summer! I was a little afraid I might have a rose v. the vines fight on my hands :)

This is that rose in May: (I asked last year about this rose, I think it might be Georgetown Tea)

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This is the passionvine (same area) at the end of summer...

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Does the passion vine run all along the fence, including the stretch behind Gertie? She might be able to tough it out if tied to the same fence. Twine works but stretchy is better than nonstretchy so the canes don't suffer binding as they grow. Old pantyhose work well when cut in strips (if anyone still wears pantyhose these days).

Or you could peg her using U stakes/landscape stakes. Arch her canes out like a spider and tie the ends to the stakes.

Wear tough, gauntlet gloves to prevent bloodletting!

Carol

Self pegging might be an idea. I do that with two Rosarium Uetersens that sit in front of a chainlink fence with lots of non-rose plants climbing onto it (jasmins, trachelospermus, plumbago, lonicera). I self peg them and also peg them to each other.
Nik

Gertrude was beautiful for me each year one time. Later towards the fall it might give me a bloom, and might not. Those long canes almost pegged themselves if I was not vigilant. I think it would be great for pegging especially if she will bloom more than once for you.

Sammy

Gertrude does well on a fence. It will put out a lot of laterals, and the laterals will want to reach for the sky. I cut back the laterals. My Gertrude plant blooms heavily in spring, has some bloom in the heat of summer when many plants are not blooming, and has a moderate fall flush.

I have two Gertrudes and I fanned them out on my fence and they did wonderful. Also knowing she had a reputation for being stingy with her blooms I bought earthworm casting and gave them to her and she bloomed nonstop for me last year

Grace e

Thank you! I have panty hose...lots of panty hose :) I will tie the canes to my fence with them.

The fence behind Gertrude is my side fence. It has mostly clematis on it, although there has been a passion vine there, but it is not nearly as aggressive as the one on the back fence.

Thanks for the help, I am hoping to get out there this weekend and clean that corner up some. I've been avoiding it :) Grace's pic inspired me!!

(on the viciousness of the thorns....nothing in my yard is as vicious as my "The Fairy". I have two and both of them eat me alive if I get within a foot of them.)

Lisa

I personally dislike pegging. I tried it with Deuil de Dr Reynaud and it looked good at first but left me with a maintenance mess afterward. Also weeding is difficult.

I have two GT plants in my garden. I am growing one as a freestanding shrub, pruning hard after the spring flush, and training the other along the fence just as Erasmus did. Doing that is new this year and I will be very pleased indeed if mine looks anything like Erasmus's does.

Folly

Yes, layering is a good way to root difficult roses. That is an advantage.

Wandering a bit off topic here, I have wondered it might not be a good way to root apple trees if one wanted to experiment with growing them as own root plants. Apples and roses are somewhat related.

But back to the original question. I would fan out on the fence. Much easier than pegging, and based on the photo, very effective indeed.

Folly

Hi, just like to follow up on how everyone's GJ is repeating after the experiments above. I am in zone 10 hot and dry climate and GJ had a good flush in Spring but nothing in summer. I hard pruned it in summer again and just got more long canes. I am now sick of waiting so I have strapped half the canes horizontally like a climber and the rest of the canes I wrapped them round and round stakes like a vine. Hopefully this will shock it into some autumn blooms. Hi Erasmus and Grace, your GJ seems to repeat well for you. Can you tell me about your climatic zones and growing conditions please? Thanks.