Michael's advice is very good. Your only other choice is to start training those canes sideways or peg them downward in the hope that she will send up more lateral shoots and give you more bloom.

Ok I'll give it a shot. I didn't intend for her to be climber in the section that I planted her, so I really hope she can be more of a bush. She can be 8ft tall if she likes, but not all crazy looking.

She really is all over the place now! Michael's advice sounds spot on, get her back to where you want her to be.

We grew 'Evelyn' the first year she was released in the U.S. -- Really, the first year she was available from Canadian nurseries.

She refused to bloom until she reached 12-14-feet. Then, she would produce a cluster of blooms 14-ft. up.

Cut to a "reasonable" height, she simply hunkered down and grew back to 12-14 ft.

Had we had a low fence on which we could have espaliered her, she probably would have sent up many lovely blooming laterals, which we could harvest -- but we had no place like that. After fighting with her for 3-4 years, we dug her up, dried her out, and used her roots as kindling.

A suggestion: If it is still available, 'Emanuel' is an Austin that is in the same color class, has a similar fragrance (not QUITE as good) and makes an arching shrub of some 4-ft. x 4-ft. We grew her for many years, and enjoyed her greatly. (She did not survive our transition to no-spray, but no one is perfect.)

Ugh! That's what I'm afraid of Jeri. I tried cutting her once before and it seemed to make her want to shoot out more long canes. I'm going to wait for the few buds she has right now to bloom. If by then she hasn't sent out any laterals I'll try pruning her again.

I am in hot and dry zone 10 and my Evelyn is also on Fortuniana in the ground This rose does want to get very big. In Spring it produced many flowers on relatively shorter shoots. After the first flush the long basals come out and get to about 3-4 metres tall but the canes are arching so they come all the way back down and flowers at the end at ground level. I find the shorter laterals on thinner canes are the most productive of flowers and they don't go as high but the laterals will still arch. The really long ones I cut back to 2-3 feet after flowering and it will produce about 4-6 laterals at the end. and after the laterals have flowered I hack them back again but not to the main stem. The shorter thinner laterals that have not flowered immediately I do not trim and they usually will produce flowers on quite short stems with the following flush. I have heard someone else said before that if you hack everything back very low it will just want to produce more basal shoots and not many flowers. I have not tried to train this rose as a climber but I imagine it will probably produce less frequently with more flowers per flush, as climbers generally do.

I honestly think that, espaliered, or forced to arch (which it did NOT do here) it might produce acceptably. But I have neither the space, the water, or the inclination to try it again. (Tho, there ARE a few Austins I would try again. Fair Bianca is one of them. I'd grow it, next time, in a pot.)

These blog photos are my goals for Evelyn lol. I believe the author lives in AZ though, very near where I used to live and where my mom and grandma and mil live now. It is soooo easy to grow roses in AZ as long as they get enough water. Much easier than FL, I've found.

http://www.sweetlifegarden.com/2012/02/wonder-of-roses-art-of-pegging.html

Wow that was a great blog on pegged Evelyn. I think I will even try to peg her this winter. :) I have pegged some climbers before and they do flower a lot along the entire canes. The only potential problem is that they may not repeat as well. Maybe I will peg it in winter for a massive Spring flush and then cut it back...

It's a rare rose (albas?) that won't create blooming laterals when the main canes are horizontalized and the ends are cut off. It sometimes takes a season or two and some plant maturity for this to start happening regularly and reliably. Patience required (as for most things in the garden). Similarly for a rose to become a self supporting bush through repeated judicious pruning. I think that good old English gardener pruning techniques should be retaught and revisited.

After seeing that blog I realize mine looks an awful lot like it but smaller/scrawnier. I think I'll peg it to the fence and hope for the best. I hope this works.

Just counted 35 buds on my Evelyn this morning. Yeepee! I just love these flowers although the bush does take up a lot of space. This is Evelyn that's been in a vase for 5 days - still looking fresh and smelling yum!

I'm confused about Evelyn now. Were you all talking about a climbing Evelyn? Can't wait for her blooms -- just got her.

There's only one Evelyn. It has climbing tendencies in warmer climates.

I let her be. She's starting to look a little better and has given me a few blooms. She's sent out a few laterals. None have buds yet, but I'm hopeful. Sincerely100 was spot on when she said the thinner canes send out more laterals. So far all the thin canes are doing that. The thick canes have had one or two flowers on the end but have not sent out any laterals yet. After seeing her on the blog that Sultry jasmine posted I think I'll continue to peg her on the fence and see what happens.

The thin canes produce flowering laterals faster. The thick ones will still produce flowering laterals but has a longer resting period and the laterals they send out are looooong. The laterals can be trimmed back after flowering and will then behave like the thinner canes.

Wow!!! That's a GORGEOUS picture of Evelyn!!! I just love Evelyn!!

Carol

Wow, I am speechless what this rose can do. I will try it this year. Thanks.

can't live with her, can't live without her.

I already have an issue buying too many climbers than I have room for. Now I bought an Austin that I thought was a 4 ft. shrub but is actually a climber???? Wherever will I put it?

Shrub, climber...they're the same. Austin likes to confuse people. I have several Evelyns, and I treat them as shrubs. Mine have stiff canes, so I can't see them as climbers at all. Diane

I grew Evelyn for probably 8 years or so. She would grow tall (about 5--6 feet tall). Blooms were sporadic after the first flush. She was in HOT, direct sun all day and had the reflected sun of a white fence behind her. Finally pulled her when she reverted back to rootstock. Loved her blooms. Scent to die for. Really only got good flushes when the weather was cooler. I miss her but have such a small place, I need roses that rebloom more often.