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haku84_zone9

Teasing Georgia ... Prune?

9 years ago

SoCal Inland Z9

TG (3 years in ground I think) hasnt done much blooming aside from the spring, then on bloom here and there. Mainly just a lot of long canes... should I prune her or just let her be?

Comments (13)

  • 9 years ago

    Mine has done the same. I have treated as a short climber but I'm of the opinion this rose prefers the English climate much more than my Med one... Mildew loves her btw..

    haku84_zone9 thanked nikthegreek
  • 9 years ago

    Maybe try to tie the canes horizontal like a climber?

    My first year TG is paired with Roogichi clematis which has PM all the time, yet my TG is clean. My TG is grafted on Fort.

    haku84_zone9 thanked totoro z7b Md
  • 9 years ago

    Nik for me TG is clean just massive and beyond any training at this point, unless i chop her back and try to train with the new growth.

  • 9 years ago

    In my experience in a decidedly different climate, Teasing Georgia is one of those Austins that wants to bloom on long canes and sulks if you try to cut her back too much. I have two of them, both in no more than part sun, and they still bloom rather like you describe after about 8 years. I'm sure they'd bloom with more sun, but they'd have long canes regardless. Mine are also freestanding bushes and you're right that they get large. All I can suggest is to give them some extra water (Austins love water) and maybe a little fish fertilizer to encourage her to pick up the pace a bit. In your down season (whatever that might be) you could try chopping and training her horizontally as Nik says, knowing that she won't bloom for at least 6-8 weeks after that.

    Most Austins love to get chopped and bloom enthusiastically off the laterals after you prune them, but Teasing Georgia doesn't seem to be typical in that way. Maybe that's why DA lists her as a "climber" even though she isn't really a traditional climbing habit, to encourage folks to let those long canes be long. The more horizontal they are the better and you could try pegging down a few of the more accessible ones if you want. Just in my experience, your feedback is within what I would expect of this rose.

    Cynthia

    haku84_zone9 thanked nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    So after years of getting no real blooms from TG I decided to cut her back by half. I was a bit concerned that she might not like the trim and further punish me with few blooms again this year. Well here we are spring and shes responded well to the trim, she is full of buds ready to pop open. Not sure how to get the photo to work but heres a link to the photo

    https://gyazo.com/c47212a9cff598ac8ed1554bf9b188e1

  • 7 years ago

    Great looking rose, Haku!

    haku84_zone9 thanked Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
  • 7 years ago

    Yeah, i think I'd better try that sort of thing on my James Galway. I meant to do it this year, but wimped out, seeing that there were-finally- some canes that were flexible enough to bend horizontally. But ,let me assure you , "TheShovel" is looming over James' head.I've had this rose for along time-maybe ten years-and it's never really pleased me as far as flowering goes. All the flowers,which admittedly can be quite pretty, bourne so high up on stiff canes that i can't see them,and there never are all that many. It's foliage is the thing that has saved it so far, but it makes no sense to grow it for it's foliage!

  • 7 years ago

    I try to get TG as horizontal as possible and once her laterals bloom, I trim them back so they groe and bloom again, etc

  • 7 years ago

    Though I have not grown this particular Austin, I have grown others that do this in my over-mild (for it) climate. They want to grow 14-ft or so, straight up, and bloom at the very top.

    We tried cutting them down low, and they did not bloom at all until they had managed to grow back to 14-ft in height. That doesn't work for me at all.

    It might work if you could espalier the long canes out horizontally, so they might produce laterals. I had no place to do that -- so those roses are gone.

    Clair Martin, when he was curator of roses at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, noted that if Austin's description called a rose at 4-ft. or less, it would stay reasonably compact -- say, maybe to 6-ft. But if Austin's description was 5-ft. or more, it was going to be a huge climber.

    Note that Austin NOW calls 'Teasing Georgia' a climber:
    https://www.davidaustinroses.com/us/teasing-georgia-english-climbing-rose

    haku84_zone9 thanked jerijen
  • 7 years ago

    Congrats Haku! Yours is so full of buds! Mine did not bloom first year 2017 then bloomed a lot in 2018, but it is on Fort which may be a factor. What rootstock is yours?

    I'll try to take a photo of how it looks today. Rooguchi is a monster now.

  • 7 years ago

    Wow, your Teasing Georgia is absolutely glorious!

    haku84_zone9 thanked Brittie - La Porte, TX 9a
  • 7 years ago

    haku, what a gorgeous bush! It's certainly a large one, and I can see where it would be a challenge to train.

    haku84_zone9 thanked ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9