I think 3 years is the standard according to what I've read on this forum before. But honestly, if it doesn't bring you joy, shovel prune it and get yourself one that does. Its difficult with climbing roses because they do take time. I have been patiently waiting for my Eden to get going. It bloomed this year for the first time (3 years) and I too was underwhelmed. But I've been told time and time again that its worth the wait and the pics online keep me going. Some roses are just worth waiting for.

On the other hand, not all roses take forever to get going and if you are not willing to wait (and I wouldn't blame you if you weren't), get rid of it and get yourself something that is known to bloom as it grows (Naheema comes to mind). Life is too short LOL

Also if you have trouble killing a rose, see if you can give it to a friend. I talk the big talk but I really have trouble getting rid of a rose unless its pretty much D-E-A- Dead, but I'm working on that because I have limited space, and there are just too many gorgeous roses calling my name.

My best suggestion to you is to google pics of your climbing Bonica and see if the photos really make you swoon. If the pics online look blah to you too, its time for the shovel.

I have been impressed in my second summer here how some plants blooms have really improved the second year. I agree googling pictures could help.

3-4 years... Unless I just do not like it for whatever reason then sooner...lol... Its your happiness bart_2015 so do what you need to do... :-)

I don't have much experience yet, but I think (fear) this is the category I fall into.; I might move something elsewhere, but don't think I could ever kill it. I have a hard enough time getting rid of my lemon balm and liriope!

Thanks, all. I have a hard time killing stuff off, too,and the only near-by friend who is clearly interested in acquiring roses only grows them in pots,so I can't see offering her a lot of climbers that want to get big. I've sort-of tried summersrhythm's solution, planting Forstmeister's Heim and Hermann Schmidt with my enormous,not-very-satisfying James Galway (the idea of trying to dig out this monster-must be about 3 m x3m--is SO intimidating),but the results aren't too promising: I think I'll have to move F's Heim because it's mildewing. My soil is far from great, so this might be something to try to avoid in future in my garden. With some of these iffy roses, I end up wondering why I got them in the first place. I go back to HMF and look at the pictures and think...DUH?

I shovel prune whenever I need space for something else new that I like better. So it doesn't matter how long the rose has been there. If I can find something better to take its place, I will!

I just recently removed most of my David Austin roses after three years of battling black spot. I won't spray for environmental concerns and want roses that bring me joy. I gave away the best of these, kept only the absolute best performers and replaced the rest with Kordes roses. As SoFl said life is so short. Grow what you love and don't look back.

Have you tried Cl 'Compassion'? I tried growing her here but the winters are too cold but I did love her. My first year own root climber had 4 flushes, the flowers are gorgeous, the scent divine and healthy foliage too. She might be hardy in your zone and is beautiful if you like peachy, pink, yellow blend roses. She's a bit thorny though if that's an issue.

Sharon

Hey Sharon, do you mind sharing which of the Austins you kept and which ones you got rid of and why? I'm a huge fan of the Austins and some have done amazingly for me while others have not so just curious as to your experience. (I know we have very different climates so again, just curious).

I'm the same as Jim with three or four years. However some did not live to see a year. My apologizes to lovers of striped roses. My fastest shovel prune was Oranges and Lemons. By the sixth bloom I nearly got sick to my stomach. It was gone before another bloom could open.

Bart James Galway left here long ago. Huge tall canes, not a good bloomer here and disease issues.

I agree that three or four years is a good indication. I find that depending on the weather, the same rose can behave very differently. This year, most of my roses blooms are huge while other year they are just normal. Therefore I would say that after four years, if it doesn't impress you then it most likely won't in the future. I am one of those people who doesn't like to get rid of roses but I have started to do that this year. Some roses just are not meant to be grown in my area.

Again, thanks to all. Your comments are really helping me to think about the matter, and I hope for more!

More than three years may be needed for a large climber or rambler to get established when soil or watering conditions are not optimum. As long as a rose is not growing backwards there's always a pretty good chance it will eventually surprise you.. I have found that I can help (bareroot) roses get established when conditions at the planting spot are tough by giving them a season or two in a suitably large pot. Of course doing this makes eventual planting tougher but I have found that even if I have to almost bareroot them again before ground planting the pot time they have spent helps somewhat.

SOFL- Sorry for the late response, I've been playing in the garden taking advantage of our cool temp days. Next week in the 90's so it's now or never.

DA's I kept- Heritage, Windermere, The Generous Gardener, Gentle Hermione, Crown Princess Margarete, Lady of Shalott, Charlotte, Darcy Bussells, Munstead Woods, Queen of Sweden and St. Cecelia. Heritage flowers decent and has little disease, Windermere flowers pretty much non stop and has hardly any disease, The Generous Gardener is new from last year but so far flowers nicely and has little to no disease, Gentle Hermione also new last year own root from Austin direct, nice flowers pretty disease resistant, CPM little disease decent flower production, LOS little disease and decent flower production, Charlotte good disease resistance, DB lots of flowers but some disease, this is also own root from Austin, QOS is a bit slow on rebloom but her flowers are beautiful, but smaller for an Austin and she stands up nice and tall. St Cecelia is probably one of my most prolific producers but is a black spot magnet. The flowers are gorgeous though and smell heavenly so I couldn't bear to shovel prune her yet. Munstead Woods- great flower production, gorgeous blooms and scent but very awkward growth and quite a bit of black spot but after the first flush I'll see if I can prune her to look better before I remove her. She gets some black spot but produces tons of black/ burgundy velvet flowers and the scent is incredible so she gets a reprieve for now :)

Shovel pruned or gave away- These are all grafted. Lady Emma Hamilton- black spot and wimpy, poor hardiness; Boscobel- black spot; Tamora, possibly my absolute favorite for color and scent but she is so wimpy in growth for me even though grafted, black spots and not very winter hardy; Maid Marion- black spot, little flower production; Tranquility- hardly any flowers, awkward growth, just not impressed; Harlow Carr- very small flowers, straggly growth, just not a pretty plant; PAOK- black spot, few flowers though gorgeous, not very winter hardy; Ambridge Rose- same issues of hardiness and black spot.

None of these have the optimum growing conditions since the sunniest areas of my yard, where all of the Austins were planted get about 5- 5 1/2 hours of sun a day so I don't know if this contributed to the black spot issue. I know it affects flower production but I really wish I had better luck with the DA's since most have such beautiful flowers and incredible scent. I would be happy with less flower production if the plants were still healthy and hardier. Florida is such a different climate than Massachusetts, though, so you might have better luck. As you said others have amazing luck. Harry_shoe's Tamora is exquisite.

I have limited space and really don't want to spray so I have gravitated to Kordes Roses and Easy Elegance all own root. These have all done really well so far, the only ones that seemed to struggle through winter are Kordes Moonlight, Golden FT and Golden Gate, but they are slowly growing. The only one that looks iffy is Golden FT.

Sorry the post is so long but I hope the info helps. I know others rave about some of these and have great luck with them but in my gardening conditions they really struggled.

Sharon

Thanks for the reply Sharon. I find that Lady Emma Hamilton does much better on its own roots. I purchased 2 grafted and both failed but I managed to get myself one on its own roots and its done wonderfully so far. Very little disease and in partial shade too. I'm kind of surprised, but I had the same experience with Darcy Bussel. My DB on its own roots has grown much stronger and bloomed more often than one I had on DR. H that lasted about 3 years. I find my DA's all do better on their own roots. Except for maybe those few I have grafted on Fortuniana, but even so, I have Heritage both on its own roots and on Fortuniana and they are pretty much exactly the same. I imagine the Fortuniana grafted ones may live longer (nematoes) but I've had heritage on her own roots for about 2 years and she's gotten better and better. (She's also in a raised bed with good soil so less nematode risk).

I love my Tamora but she too gets BS for me, although I've only had her for a year and I'll see if she gets better with age. She's on Fortuniana and has stayed quite compact which is surprising. This one actually failed for me on its own roots. Its obviously not as vigorous as some of the other DA's but that's prob why it remains compact.

Here are the Austins I grow and how they fair for me:

Abe Darby (on Fort.) does amazingly. Blooms a ton but the flowers are somewhat small because of our heat. Does get BS but is so vigorous it just shakes it off. Has a somewhat ugly habit, but I don't mind because its such a good bloomer, plus its only been about 2 years so that may change with time.

Darcy B is excellent in every way. I have her own root in a pot and she's one of my best roses. Does BS a bit, but again, kind of shakes it off.

Queen Of Sweden has been a challenge. She blooms very little for me but has excellent disease resistance. I am trying her now on her own roots. I have a tiny one grafted on to Fortuniana that has taken FOREVER to grow. Its stayed super small, but its still alive so I guess time will tell. I hope it does better on its own roots for me. Bad on DR.H

Heritage is great in every way here. Does get a little BS (every rose does) but not too bad. Could bloom more, but all of mine are still pretty young. Some of the flowers can get a nice size in the cooler months.

Evelyn is a MONSTER for me on fortuniana. Mine is about 10 feet tall and just shot out like 4 new basal canes. Its been in the garden about a year and a half but has always been very vigorous. She does BS but again, she just leafs out again and keeps on blooming. This is my favorite DA rose. I'd grow her as a climber but her canes stand up nice and strong. I do try to peg them a little on the fence to get more blooms. So fragrant and such a good cut flower to boot. Just amazing. I cant get enough of her.

Pat Austin is by far my best performer. Mine is on Fortuniana and she's just as happy as can be. Great resistance to disease. I'm beginning to grow her as a climber because every time I try to cut her back she's full of buds so I just cant cut her. She knows my weakness LOL. This is pretty much a perfect rose for me. Her only fault is that her blooms don't last long but there are usually so many that a new one is opening either way.

Wollerton Old Hall: not great for me. Its only claim to fame is that its lasted for more than 3 years on Dr. H for me and I think that's a record in my garden. I bet it would be good on Fort or on its own roots but the flowers are very scrawny here in terms of petal count so I'm not too crazy about it either way.

Princess A of K has done well for me. Somewhat slow to get going but so far so good. I have 4 of these. My one on Dr. H is pretty much dead (has one branch on it) so its going to the big garden in the sky soon. I have 2 on Fortuniana that are doing well. Do get BS but keep on trucking. I also have one on its own roots that's still a baby. We'll see how she does. Her blooms stay smallish for me because of our heat but she blooms pretty reliably.

The Shepherdess is a lesser known austin but mine does really well for me. Barely any BS and blooms reliably. Mine is on Fortuniana and is actually a nice compact bush with really good form. Flowers are very nice, do well in vase and smell nice. Its been a good rose for me.

The Wedgwood Rose has done wonderfully for me. Its new to me this year on its own roots and pretty recently planted, but its taken off. It blooms a ton for me and i hope it keeps it up.

St. Swithun is growing in the garden but has yet to bloom. I planted it just a few months ago and its starting to take off but unlike Wedgwood it has not bloomed at all. Very healthy so far though.

Spirit of Freedom is on its own roots. Got this one as a little rooted cutting and its grown pretty well and bloomed a few times. Its somewhat of a slow grower but healthy so we'll see what happens. Too soon to tell.

Huntington rose is one of my most prolific bloomers. Love this rose. Its done well for me both on fortuniana and on Dr.H and I recently aquired one on its own roots so we'll see how it does.

Jude The Obscure: Unfortunately for me, this one has done dismally. It never blooms and has very little vigor. Its even on fortuniana but not much luck with her. I keep her because I'm still hopeful and she's only been in the ground for a year and half in this new spot (I moved her once already). She may be getting the shovel if she doesnt perk up next season.

Scepter D Isle has been decent. mine are all new so its too soon to tell. So far they are all pretty good bloomers, but the blooms blow quickly. Luckily there are many though. I have one on fortuniana thats been rather slow to get going and a few others on their own roots that are new but so far, doing well.

Alnwick Castle : Love it! Love love love it. I wish it bloomed more often but I adore the blooms and they make great cut flowers. Mine are all on their own roots but I'd like to get one on Fortuniana if possible.

Charlotte: New, and so far so good. On her own roots. Lovely pale yellow blooms.

Claire austin also on her own roots. Blooms are pale yellow for me and fade to white. Lovely form, good strong bushy growth. Decent resistance to disease. I'd grow it on fortuniana if I had the space (and if I could find it on fort).

Man this post is getting way too long. Others i grow are Jubilee Celebration OR, love it. Still new. Winchester Cathedral OR also great but blooms are small, Golden Celebration which is still too small to tell. Carding Mill which I love. I have one on its own roots and recently got one on Fort so I'm very excited about it. Bishops Castle, too new to tell. Got it on Fort. Geoff Hamilton, never has bloomed, just kind of sits there on Dr. H. Gentle Hermione, doing great on DR.H which is a shocker. I'd like to try her OR or on Fort. Strawberry Hill on her own roots, new, small but great resistance to disease so far. A shropshire lad on fort, brand new, too soon to tell and FINALLY lady of shallot that is already a monster in a large pot and looks very very promising.

GEEZ I sound like a DA catalogue. I didnt realize I had so many Austins! They have done so much better for me than the Hybrid Teas though so I gotta go with the flow.

Sorry this post is SO LONG. I just love talking roses. I cant get enough of my DA's, its kind of crazy LOL.

I grow tons of non DA's too but lets not get into that now or this will be a novel.

:)