let James do what James wants to do.
Grow him as a large and beautiful vase shaped shrub with abundant blooms.

There used to be a lot more roses to choose from-for pillaring. Roses with the lax canes that go back to the wichurana in their heritage often are more bendable (but there are also Wich. hybrids that have such strong canes (American Pillar) that they can put up a thirty foot cane that reaches until it finds a tree limb to conquer.

Ann- I'm not sure what James wants to do will work for me! Right now, he's about 12 ft. high, and those long canes are bending over my walkway, slapping everyone that dares to come up to my front door! lol

Guess I should just tie him up to a trellis against the house?

I got lucky with JG, I chose a spot against a fence with plenty of room, so like Ann, I do next to nothing for him except fertilize in spring.

I'm guessing the trellis idea might work, it's worth a try before moving it. I just can't imagine having to move mine.

dennis - I can't imagine moving him, either!!! I'm not sure either one of us would survive the move! lol

Now, about a trellis - is there any 'secrets' or tips for trellising a rose against a brick wall?

Holly,
Where the canes are so long that they are bending over and reaching out and touching someone, you may want to cut them back (so that your taller visitors aren't touched).
You can, I think, count on JG giving up new lateral breaks along the upper surfaces of the bent over canes. Those laterals should rebloom as well, after their first bloom.

Consider using JG as a massive rose equivalent of a monster shade giving crepe myrtle.

Thanks, Ann! I wasn't sure about cutting him down. Didn't know if I would ruin his shape and was afraid to do that without someone giving me permission. :)

I wanted something tall by the corners, and there's room to get bigger around, but the canes bending down is the big problem. Guess I'll start whacking!

Thanks for the advice - I was just a little nervous about cutting him down to size. :)

I just put my Teasing Georgia on a Iron Pillar. She was on an umbrella trellis, but that was destroyed in a windstorm last spring. I had to cut her down to the base, but she did sprout a dozen new canes. Unfortunately to get her on the pillar I had to sacrifice all but 4 of those. I left the ones I could wrap a bit. I didn't really bend them, just arranged them around the pillar and tied them down. For the first year, I figured the laterals would pop out and bloom and then they and any new canes that grow could be wrapped more easily around the pillar.

buford - that was kind of my plan with JG. I had just arranged the canes around the obelisk and tied them to it. But the canes are really hard to get to bend and the more I did, the less I thought that this would work.

Good luck with your Teasing Georgia. I still want to pillar a rose, just not sure JG is the one to do it with. :(

I may have to cut him down quite a bit jut to get him free from the obelisk I have him tied (mostly) to now. I thought perhaps as the canes got bigger, they might bend more, but the truth was just the opposite (of course(!), now that I think about it). That's why I have some canes hanging over people's heads (well, it hangs over my head and hits DH on the head!). DH is very anxious that I do something with this rose! haha

I love James.

Rather than cutting him down quite a bit, why not leave the obelisk where it is?

The obelisks would probably look good there in the winter, but since part of him is tied, and the other part is not, he doesn't really look good that way.

DH told me not to buy those obelisks, and I have moved them a couple of times trying to find a good location for them. I really thought this was going to be perfect.

But, alas, I think JG will look much better without the obelisk, so I'll have to think of some other place to put them! Maybe I can still pillar a rose on them, in another location. Is the trick to find a rambler? Are their canes pliable? Or are there certain roses that pillar well?