Hello there,

Sorry your climbing pinkie is not performing as expected. When you say it gets "some" sun in the morning, do you know how many hours of sun does it actually get? I grow a lot of my roses with an eastern exposure where they get unobstructed sun from 8am until 1pm or so, and they do great so I would expect yours to behave similarly in GA.

If the rose gets 5 hours of morning sun I would give her more time to get going in that spot. Also to my eyes the rose in your first picture appears to have been pruned, I would just let it grow with zero pruning for a couple of years while it gets some height and slowly train its canes horizontally so you can get lots of blooms. Climbing pinkie is a good size climber and it might take a while to get going. Don't get discouraged, some roses just take longer to perform well. If she isn't getting over 4 hours of direct sun, I would move her.

I am going to offer a differing opinion based on my similar experience. Not all shade is the same (obviously), but I previously felt so long as the rose received sun it was fine. However, tree shade and house shade combined with low air circulation can really affect my roses here in stagnant Cincinnati. It's difficult to gauge your actual sun exposure.

I planted Cl. Pinkie 2017 at the bottom of a North-facing wall where it received full pm sun for multiple hours a day, but was in shade throughout the winter. I now feel that being at the bottom of this hill may have put her in a slightly lower zone as she experienced a lot of die-back. However, she never really rebounded during her three summers of growth and was heading downhill. I saw maybe 10 flowers total with BS. : (( I mover her near the end of July 2019 to full sun and she has EXPLODED in growth woth ZERO BS, so much so that I'm reconsidering her placement! It could be she just needed more time, but based on multiple roses in this bed, I'm guessing not. They all rebounded when moved to more sun. From these experiences I'd say MOVE HER and don't look back! Also, I would just let her canes fall naturally over that gorgeous fence.

As a replacement rose for the decking, Pink Pet, HM Belinda, Bubble Bath, Ghislaine de Feligonde and Chuckles have survived and thrived in my shaded beds.

You could give her another year, but if you have a better spot I'd move her and find a more shade-tolerant rose.

Ok. I have a question based on both these answers, plus previous replies to questions like this.

Why does winter sun really matter? I get it if you’re in a place where you get winter blooms but if you are farther north I don’t see that it plays that big of a part. Everything is pretty much sleeping anyway?

Oursteelers, I am sorry I don't actually know how much winter sun really matters. My question regarding number of hours "assumed" summer hours would be at least the same at winter hours or more for the person who wrote the original post.

I am growing roses on my north wall where an addition to the house also blocks the west (only summer morning sun here), so it can be done without winter sun. I am also growing a climber under a huge oak tree, this climber only gets direct sun during the winter, and blooms in spring before the oak leafs out. It makes me think it may get energy from that winter sun. A lot of my roses keep their leaves during the winter even when they aren't blooming so I don't think they are fully dormant.

Vapor I agree that some climber just really need more sun and some times their performance is very different when you move them. I moved some crown princess Margareta around last year to an area with just a tiny-bit more of sun and non-amended clay soil and they just loved it. I also moved a monster dark desire like 10 feet on same exposure and it has refused to grow after that. I guess there is no way to know unless you try it.

Subk that is a gorgeous rose =),

It seems that this one just loves the sun.

Wintersun may not matter I was just commenting on the situation so the picture was clear.

dianela,

To be honest, I am not sure it even gets 5 hours. I just know some sun falls on it in the morning. It is very hard to gauge sun in this spot because of the tall deck behind it and trees further around. Our property was built in a woody area back in the early 80's where they cleared off some tall trees enough to build on it, but left others around the back yards.

The flower bed faces E to slightly NE.

I do remember a landscape person saying once that a rose would be unlikely to do well in this spot due to not enough sun.

Here are some pictures of the surrounding area for this bed to give you an idea.

Pinkie is in the narrow bed along the raised deck.

Vaporvac,

Your enthusiasm literally makes me want to move it now. But it's January, rainy and dreary and the project obviously needs to wait. When do you think would be a good time to move her?

Oursteelers,

My concern is not with the winter sun. Right now it doesn't matter, everything is sleepy indeed (except some crazy bulbs who were tricked by some warmer weather we had and are now pushing their heads through the bed).

I am concerned that even in the middle of the summer Pinkie is not getting enough direct sun. I am afraid it gets all the humidity of the South but not the sun.

subk3,

I didn't know the Pinkie could do without a trellis in the new place. Even better!

If you think it could drape nicely over that fence, that sounds great.

The abundance of blooms you have is exactly the kind of romantic dream I had in mind

(so jelly... ...but in a good way :) )

I imagined it would climb all over the tall deck. It never did but I had no trellis and didn't know how to train it up the deck without.

Regardless, this deck shades the roots as soon as the sun moves up in the sky at noon.

I am quite excited to see what it will do this year if I move it to Rose Bed Land. That is my one prime spot - sun all day.

Granted, it does get some brutal southern sun in the afternoon, but if roses order sun - sun they shall have. :)

She will be in the company of Good as Gold and Dick Clark who will also be in their second year after one year of complete neglect. They evidently looked terrible when I returned from overseas and I pruned them all the way to the ground - but I will see what they do this year when we will be around. If not great again, I will have to consider replacing them with other South-friendly roses, like...maybe SeaFoam.

So based on the answers here, I think MOVE it will be.

Any advice about what I should keep in mind for the transplant would be greatly appreciated too.

Thank you SO much!!

PS: Yes, the Pinkie was pruned.

LOL! I have to say before even opening this thread I was chomping at the bit! Once I read your description and saw the pics I knew my advice based on my experience. Mine was even more pathetic than yours and I really wondered if I'd made a mistake getting her at all, but now I know better. I had to actually build a new huge bed in my front yard to acomodate all my "mistakes", but at the time I just needed someplace to plant them and the north-facing hill was already cleared. It's really amazing how many basals she put out in just a few months. I forgot another rose that might do well in this situation and look similar to Cl. Pinkie ... Peggy Martin. I have two in dappled sun and it seems to be happy and healthy. I'd be inclined to give her a try. She's SO vigorous, you'll know soon enough.

I have had a couple of Pinkies. The first two were pillared up two posts in front of my horse barn. They would bloom in spring and make a spectacular sight. I have two huge oaks in front of it - they got filtered afternoon sun, decent morning sun. But they seem to be a rose that has a huge flush in spring and sporadic bloom the rest of the time. They faded away for some reason and I didnt replace them. I tried another on a tall trellis that got much better sun. It was a wimp, barely bloomed and when it died I didnt mourn or replace it. Could have been my care, but I watered it and fertilized......I have found other roses I like better so didnt replace it. I have an Aloha in almost the same place the first Pinkies were and it blooms wonderfully well. By far, superior to Pinkie. But Pinkie may bloom great for some - it was gorgeous when in full flush but blah the rest of the time.

Was that you Alameda who had that beautiful picture of the Rose growing up your horse barn with the horse peeking out?

I think that was me. That's Tate. His poop fed that rose! Same rose as above but a few years earlier:

alameda,

I'd be happy even with a big splash in Spring only - mine did nothing so far.

After all, my azaleas do the same thing. One big show in Spring only - green the rest of the year.

At least, it's something to look forward to.

My Pinkie looked like subk's except it was trained up a piller - one on each side of the entrance. It was indeed a gorgeous sight but I came to look at it as a once a year show. I then put Blush Noisette there and it was a far better bloomer. I would try Pinkie again maybe - put in full sun and just consider it a once bloomer. Kind of like "when she is good, she is very very good.......when she is bad........"

Thank you subk! That's the picture! Just heavenly. : ))

I remembered Tate...haha. Yup ! And i do remember that rose by the horse barn. Vap, even i could not remember who was the owner ..... but that pic was gorgeous with that horse. Good memory, Vap :))

Mike Shoup at Antique Rose Emporium recommended Climbing Pinkie as his best rose for shade. I bought it and Buff Beauty. Jury is still out on my Dallas Pinkie it has taken 2 yrs to settle in but should perform well this year. I had it in Houston and it exploded in its 3rd yr. Blooms once a year are not enough for me so that info is disappointing. Cant judge my Houston pinkie bec moved to Dallas that year. Antiq Rose Emporium catalogue says hard to find it without a bloom after established which is why I planted again in my shade prone rear bed. Sure hope you’re wrong about bloom cycle but suspect you are right.
Does anyone have experience with blooms after spring?

Austin, I could be wrong about Pinkie, but for me........it had a big spring flush then sporadic. Its been awhile since I had it so could be mistaken, but one thing I will say is that it never repeated its glorious spring flush. I prefer Mel's Heritage, Jeanne LaJoie - they come to mind and am sure there are others. I am trying Cl. Pirouette from Palestine this year. I might try Pinkie again in the future......but wont expect blooms all year. Maybe it does for others......would be interested to hear about that.

My issue is shade which is the only reason Pinkie was selected - get at most 5 hrs after May/June. Do any of those u mentioned handle that much shade.

Planned on clematis at that spot with pinkie but will reconsider as pinkie may go away... no matter how spectacular once a year doesn’t work for me -
—posted a question to you last night about clem on rose forum. :)

Just saw your question and answered it............I mentioned I have a Violet Charm [I think, lost tag] under a big oak for years and it blooms like a champ a couple or more times a year. With our hot Texas sun........you dont think 5 hours of sun would be ok? Did you need just a climber or would a shrub rose do? Unless someone says otherwise, even with full all day sun I dont think Pinkie is going to bloom more than once with sporadic bloom. I would try Aloha - mine does not get that much sun and it always has blooms on it. I have mine on a big trellis......been there for years - the 2 huge oaks in front of my barn block the west sun, which it faces, and it gets morning, noon light with the sun coming up over my horse barn, then shade rest of day - light is probably bright, but it is a wonderful bloomer. Need another to go along my front fence..........I would recommend that one highly.

Thank you again! Really appreciate your time in posting. I have Aloha and her Biltmore sister (superior in my yard) Aloha does fine in another area with shade also but it loved my Houston garden much more and was a blooming fool. Soooo maybe I only have 4 ish hrs in that area, it really depends on season. More in winter less in summer. Anyway the site is a struggle. Ballerina does ok, Iceberg works but leggy and leans forward, remontant iris only bloomed in early spring and were weak, etc. Keep thinking I am missing something with so many new rose varieties. Bolero is coming in Feb to try, I read it did well in shade. Clems were a thought for color interest in spring and fall. I should be an expert on shady beds because in my entire gardening career of 40 yrs, I have dealt with North facing gardens. Refuse to give up on roses in areas other would plant more obvious choices. Excellent culture has helped, along with reflected light.
Debbie emailed me she had some new seedling of unusual clems she wanted someone to try. I am not a good home for plants requiring long time care, patience, and experimentation. I have morphed to instant gratification. Which explains my recent interest back to grafted roses... teas and floribundas.

Is there any way you could thin out the trees that are giving the shade? Sometimes taking out big middle branches will let more sunlight in. Belinda's Dream is a workhorse and might do well there........

Which Biltmore sister of Aloha do you have? Not sure if I am familiar with that one......

I would still give Cl. Pinkie a chance as TX sun is much stronger than here and as it's been moved recently, I'd it may need time to regrow its roots and settle in. When I finally transplanted mine I got 3 total "flushes" from her. Of course, they were just a few flowers on such a small plant, but she seemed to want to bloom. Time will tell. If you don't need a climber I would suggest Pink Pet or Chuckles for shade and bloom. Mine are total champs with PP being rock-solid for BS. I made a couple more suggestions above. Have you considered MAC for a climber? This is another that doesn't seem to mind some shade. I also have Aloha and agree it's a great rose as is her apricot sport Lady Ashe./Dixieland Linda. Mine need sun, however.

Lady Ashe. She is wonderful for me grows into a dying Forest Pansy tree and next to large deck. Her canes are strong and self supporting so not very bendable unless you get a young lateral but perfect for the spot I have her in. Her flowers are as pictured on Biltmore Roses website. They do not fade and stay full all summer no matter the heat the sun throws at Texas. Blooms in clusters for a long spell, rest, then starts again. Flower centers stay full with petals (not that green- that to me looks like it should be petals- that Aloha often throws). She grows fast and strong highly recommend for right spot. My backyard has no trees, shade comes from neighbors trees and houses, and my rear photinia hedge that came with house. They are 30' tall at least more like tree on ally side and vertical shrubs on yard side. They give privacy and are trimmed straight on flower bed side every year so to give no shade over bed, thus they grow tall and over toward ally. Trust me any tree that ventures into my yard does so at it's own risk. Picture of Lady is from web not my garden.

Oh super!! I have Lady Ashe in a pot! I bought a bunch of Chamblee roses when Mark was selling out for $5/gallon. It is strong and healthy - a good one to plant on my front fenceline!

If Pinkie is for shade, it had enough of it where I've had it and it certainly didn't perform at all during its first two years, the second of which was admittedly a complete neglect.

Given my brief experience with this rose, I can't form an well-founded opinion but I really do feel like it's not getting enough sun where it is, not even for a shade-tolerant rose.

Alameda,

Those trees around are virtually forest trees - very tall - and most of the shade comes from their high canopy, which I can't reach anyway.

I just ordered Belinda's Dream for March and can't wait to place it in my small rose bed where I have one more spot available all the way to the side.

After all the hoopla I read about, I really hope I will see more roses from it than I was able to see so far from the three bushes I have (Good as Gold, Dick Clark and Pinkie).

None of these have done a whole lot for me during their first two years. Maybe the first two did OK the foirst year when I was here to fuss over them; but it's not like they were covered in blooms. A few flowers here and there. Then they got black spot.

After a while, I almost concluded that roses in the South might just not be the thing for me.

Then again, some time goes by and I get another rose kick. I am crazy about them in flower arrangements, so at some point, I decided to just buy them at the store when I get the urge.

But then I discovered another problem. Grocery store roses simply do not open up for me.

They dry up in bud form. I followed all the rules for vase life/cut flowers but it looks like vendors cut them too early and refrigerate them for transporation, etc. to the point where the bud never opens in your vase, no matter what you do.

That annoys me because I love my roses mature and well open. So back to trying to produce some on my own.

Vapor,

I would try aloha instead of Pinkie but I only have so much space and budget. I will first give Pinkie another try in the new place and if not, next year, I will replace with Aloha, as long as it's known to perform well in the South.

I am originally from Eastern Europe and every time I go home to visit family I am reminded of how much more difficult it is to grow roses in the US South compared to there.

So many people seem to grow them effortlessly where I am from, without being all that much into gardening or anything like that. They get those huge-headed hybrid tea roses, in amazing colors, no black-spot, no head-aches.

Here, it is rarely that I see a garden with striking hybrid tea roses. Mainly the Knock-Out.

Unless you are an aficionado who really knows how to fuss over roses, you kind of plant azaleas and hydrangeas here and call it a day. :) At least in my experience.

We're the same here. It's a big experiment to see what survives and what thrives even with neglect. Those in sun did better that those in shade during the year I wasn't able to tend them. I've shuffled them often and am getting more of what does well since I have space in my beds. Those I mentioned above are great. Others that are very healthy for me and can take a bit of shade are Maggie, Gruss an Aachen (there's also a climbing form), and Marie Pavie. Tooth Fairy is also great if you like singles.

Here is the same Pinkie as above but on some random day this past October. That's as good as most of my other roses do for a non-flush/repeat. .It does get a good shovel full of horse poop--literally fresh stuff right out of a stall--a few times in the course of the growing season.

subk3,

Honestly, I'd take that even as a first flush.

My Pinkie bloomed so little that I can only remember 3-4 little flowers max in 2 years.

I barely know what they look like. The flower taken on its own is rather disappointing. Small, kind of raggedy, a washed-out pink. It's a meh.

But I love the look of the overall bush when it has a flush - from other people's pictures :).

Mine is yet to do any of that.

Plus I was attracted by the reviews that characterized it as an excellent performer for the South.

I think that during the first year I may have fertilized my three bushes less than other growers.

But as novice, I followed instructions I received on this forum which said fertilize twice a year, once with cow manure after planting in spring, then one more time in Summer with some rose fertilizer, then stop.

So I only fertilized them twice during the first year. The second year I did none because I wasn't here.

Only later I read that many people do monthly fertilizing, not just twice a year.

It did sound a little sparse to me, but I followed the instructions.

The plan is to fertilize more often this year - maybe I'll get better results.

The individual blooms on Pinkie are nothing to write home about!. Kinda used up tissue-like when you look at a single one! But the mass effect is works well!. You can see in this picture how un-uniformed and loose they are individually. I was not a fan when someone gave me this rose (I was too much of a snob to appreciate the laxness of the blooms) but it has definitely changed my mind over time.

(Also just a note: this photo and the one I first posted above were taken in the lae afternoon during the "golden hour" and it makes the flower color a bit more intense than in real life!)

I love the natural charm of flowers like this.

@Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA, did you move your Cl. Pinkie this spring? I hope so. Mine gave a spectacular first flush earlier than all my other roses besides Setina and is putting out new growth and setting buds AGAIN already. Of course, there's no way to repeat that Spring show, but I'm thrilled she's thinking about blooming again.

I had one growing on a dead weeping cherry stump. Then I planted one near a semi dwarf apple tree and it covered the top of the tree. I cut down the tree and cut the cl. Pinkie way back. This spring it sprawled a long way and bloomed like crazy. Now it is about to do it again. It is getting a lot of sun now, and has had unbelievable rain this spring. It's a rose with unspectacular individual blooms but lots of them.

Here's my old one.

Sprawling along this year with Madame Alfred Carriere..this is a small part of this plant.

I have had too much shade as some of my trees got bigger and bigger, and I ended up cutting down a big maple last Dec. and limbing up some others. I can already tell a difference in these beds growing and blooming better with more light. I also think blackspot is less with good light. So yours might take off in the new spot..there's not much to lose in trying unless you just find the blooms blah. In mass they're not blah to me. It is an easy rose to train...flexible canes. Is happy going sideways.

Here it is again with Madame Alfred at the base of the apple tree:

Climbing Pinkie is an enigma to me. I have had it in 2 different cities and in Houston it had very good sun, Dallas about 5 hrs. . Both were spectacular in spring with their masses of bloom but nothing after except the very occasional wimpy looking weak spray, i have read from 2 venters how it is never out of bloom but I have never heard that this was true from gardeners I knew who grew it. I give good culture and water soooo what am I missing? Secret ingredient?

Sorry friends, apparently I had already posted a complaint about Cl Pinkie in Jan. on this thread. Guess my brain brain does not remember that long. That rose just irritates me for its unrealized potential.

I dont know much about climbing pinkie but such good information about placement, sun, shade, and performance of roses.

erasmus: I could just scream and jump with glee when I see your roses growing and I know they are real life. How do you get them growing so big, so rich with leaves and blooms and so close? You are presumably in a humid area too. I love the look of your garden. I wish, gradually my garden could become like that.

Sheila, try some Lilly Miller organic granular fertilizer for acid loving plants to help with the chlorosis. It really makes a difference for my Ballerina, a hybrid musk, which dislikes our alkaline soil. Diane

Thanks Diane. My roses are not chlorotic but I have other shrubs that are and have not been able to correct it with standard products so will search out Lilly and give that a try.
Shelia my climbing pinky is robust and healthy, 4 yrs old. I give Mills Magic in Feb., Bloomcote first of June. Alfalfa, epson and fish a few other fun things in between and..... water water water. In my heat water always does the job. My dirt has so many earthworms I have to move them out of way to plant... in general my dirt would probably grow rocks after all my years of adding compost a amendments. Now surly that is enough to get blooms after the spring flush!

Erasmus are those beautiful pics in spring?

Thank you, Diane. I'll try the Lily Miller Magic!

Thank you, Katyajini. Am pretty sure these are all spring pics. I think a lot of my plants are big, or you could say overgrown, because I'm usually not a very assertive pruner. I like big plants but I also like some degree of order and neatness and am pruning more and at any time I want, not just before spring. I cut back some one cane wonders really hard and for the most part it was a good decision.

This year we are having so much rain and my early bloomers are starting on second flushes now. Some of them look as full of blooms as the first spring flush, and I think it's got to be because of the rain. That and letting in more light by tree removal and pruning.

Our soil here is easy to dig, so it's easy for roots to spread out in. The bad thing is that it drains fast and in summer the soil can get awfully dry. But since the roots have spread out a lot, they take in whatever moisture they can find. But in a drought, I feel like my garden is way overextended...I can not keep it watered, we just depend on luck with the rain.

I am late responding to Vaporvac - but no, I have not moved it.

I decided to leave it where it was as I realized it is getting enough sun after some tree removal.

Well, it did bloom nicely this spring, much better than last year - but it's just one flush and then nothing. It's a meh.

The rest of my roses (Good as Gold, Dick Clark, Julia Child, Love Song - in the ground; Rosy the Riveter, Belinda's Dream in pots) are only OK.

Many are getting black spot (Julia Child does best), the Japanese beetles are going to town, and the blooms I get are smaller in the heat of the south than what I get in Spring.

Roses in the South are clearly very challenging but I still love it when I can bring the occasional bloom inside, to combine with other cut flowers. It's tough though.

Thank you also Austin. I want to be a rose under your care.