I don't know if this will help since we're in different climates, but mine are both stiff. One is oddly shaped with a shrub on the bottom and long canes shooting ramrod straight up out of the middle. I didn't get to them soon enough, so when I did try to bend them where I wanted them to go, they would hardly budge. I wasn't trying to get them to bend at a 45˚ angle or anything that severe. Just wanted to tie them to the fence, kind of splayed out. So, I'm doing it in increments, a little at a time. There's no way this rose would drape or spiral around a post. At least not mine. But, I'd hate to be without her. I think you will love her.

Wow flowers thank you very much. I was afraid of that after seeing some of the pictures here with super thick canes. I was hoping to wrap some columns with it and spirit of freedom but I might have to reconsider.

You have seen this but it shows some close-ups of quicksilver's canes and a good discussion of it. There are also great pictures of BayArea's on HMF also.https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5757899/quick-silver-a-beautiful-lavender-climber

Thank you Vapor. That’s the original thread where I fell in love with Quicksilver and the couldn’t find it. It was those thick canes that made me question my choice of placing them on the columns. It is a shame as I was in love with the idea of lavender climbers all over. I will. Adjust and change my plan since there is no point on struggling trying to force the rose to do something different.

My grfted Qs has thick canes, my 2 OR QS have thinner canes. I imagine with time they would all be thick. If you can train them when the canes are younger, they may wrap. I will be training all mine on arbors.

Thank you Sultry. I can’t wait to see your arbor. I got my own roots quicksilver from Heirloom today and since my columns will be kind of thin I decided to place all the Quicksilvers along a wooden fence separating my property from my neighbor. I think It will be easier if I can find some other climber that is more flexible for the poles. I guess I could have tried it while the canes were young but I would hate to have to dig them up if it didn’t work. I broke the tractor’s connection to the agar on tree roots today before I could get them all planted, but I’ll try again soon =)

OMG! It sounds like you go all out on planting equipment, dianela!!! I think we need some pics of these arbors everyone is talking about! Have you considered the climber Victorian Memory/Isabella Skinner for your arbour? It has much to recommend it, although mine isn't yet planted to personally comment. It's a beautiful colour with fragrance, health and few, if any, thorns. Plus it's hardy enough to climb. Sheila has posted some love pics in the past. If I don't acquire a grafted QS this year, I may just plant my VM/IS in its allotted space instead.

Wow Vapor I am not familiar with the rose you mentioned so I am going to go look into it. :) We leave out in the county so a tractor has been very handy for keeping our property clean and specially for digging good rose holes. I wish you or anyone from this forum were my neighbors, I could come over and have a hole digging party during planting season. Going to go investigate the rose you mentioned now. Thank you!

As excellent a climber as it is, it has stiff canes for me. They can snap if pushed to even reasonable limits. By no means is it a constrained climber as its Arborose designation states. It will grow 6' in either direction on a 4' fence very easily here. No black spot issues, and tip winter hardiness are its other great attributes, along with the abundant, large, heavy petaled blooms, of moderate+ fragrance, and excellent repetition.

Moses

Hello, Daniela! Here is a link that has good info on Victorian Memory as well as a link to another post that has excellent information on it. Take a look at the picture at the bottom of the first post. This is what convinced me.https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1712134/victorian-memory-isabella-skinner

Thanks, Vapor, for the link. I had not seen that thread. Reading good things about Victorian Memory makes me happy. I planted an own root band last year on the arbor entrance to my garden. I had just purchased mine when I saw Sheila's photos last summer and my heart beat a little faster. That close up of the tousled, every-which-way petals makes me so anxious for mine to grow. I like climbing roses that nod so they can be enjoyed looking up at them. Sheila, I'm eager to see how yours has grown this year.

I'm glad I reread it myself cuz there's no way it would fit on my metal fence with all the other roses! I'll just have to work on getting my Arbor. :-)

Im sooo disappointed for your dianela that it won’t grow the way you need it too. Because SOF blended with quicksilver sounds like actual heaven !! What a color combo !! I hope I remember this when mine bloom so I can put them in a vase together.

Wow wow Vapor I absolutely love that rose. I love when the roses nod also and I can see them looking at me for their support. I am going to get this one wow :) thank you thank you. I was a bit bummed when quicksilver turned out to be stiff but now I think this rose would just look great with SoF also and James Galway which is my other rose so far. You definitely need to get an arbor going and get this beautiful rose in your garden. I haven’t posted pictures of my arbor because it doesn’t actually exist yet lol. The guy who is replacing our windows at the lake house is supposed to built me a pergola, but the windows have been a 5 month project so the arbor may be for 2021 at this rate. Of course that doesn’t stop me for buying roses for it :).

Thank you very much Moses for your post. I am so glad to hear that it reblooms well besides being healthy. I love the health of most of my Kordes and my only complaint has been the lack of good re-bloom (Cityscape is the exception). I am going to plant the quicksilvers along a long fence where I have already Charlene de Monaco, Flamenco Rosita (thank you lilyfinch for this one), Laguna, Raspberry CT and Mel’s heritage. They should all be relatively healthy.

Lilyfinch :) thank you for all your garden support and ideas. I am so glad we were able to get Spirit of freedom this year. I really hope it blooms well here with all this humidity it could be a disaster, but fingers crossed. You know I am taking boards in May and I was supposed to not plant anything this spring lol instead I already planted 3 flamenco rositas (super excited for this one), 7 Chalene de Monaco, 3 Peggy Martin, 2 MACs, and still have the quick silvers and a few from Palatine and David Austins. I am so obsessed with roses it’s a problem. =) I guess It could be worse and I could be into lots of expensive purses or something.

Wow Sultry reviews like this one you just fuel my obsession with this rose =). This rose is spectacular and I just LOVE the name. Being a refugee from a Communist country =) probably makes me very susceptible to names like that and the gorgeous globular cool pink is just too much to resist.

Dianela, Spirit of Freedom is in my perfect rose category. Helen

How interesting dianela ! If you ever feel comfortable telling your story I’d love to hear it . My college roommate was named Anya . She came from Serbia . Her families story of escape was incredible. She was an amazing person !

Dianela, SoF is also flexible enough to go around a post (see pic). Helen

Lily, I was gonna say the same thing but chickened out and erased it lol.

Helen...♡♡

I think now I need SofF also. : (( Dianela, I already have VM in a pot, but seriously need to release her this year. Maybe I'll try to coax her up a dead pine until I can clear out the "back forty" for the arbor. I have a lot of major projects and hoped to do the arbor next year. I may follow Peter Schneider's advice and plant the roses first! : )) I just need to remove some trees and determine its placement. Lilyfinch, I think dianela is from Cuba, but I've never heard her story.

=) Helen your picture is perfection, I just want to see those blooms in person. Rose gardening is such an amazing hobby. I love taking a little base full of blooms to my neighbors homes and seeing the ladies so happy.

Lily and Sultry it is not a problem at all to talk about my story. In truth it was my parents who had an epic escape from Cuba and a crazy new beginning in the US. I was just lucky to be their child. My parents left on a raft made out of inner tubes and water turbine when I was 7 years old. They we’re caught by the Cuban government and put in jail, but as soon as they were let out they tried again. They tried multiple times and finally the 5th time after 4 days in the ocean they were found by the US coast guard instead of the Cubans =). Back then in the early to mid nighties Cubans were welcome to the US if they managed to leave the island. After that it took them over 7 years to make money, and the required paperwork to bring me here. At the time thousands of children had been left without parents in Cuba and the system was overloaded, so I was not by any means a special case. I arrived in 2001 and a week later my mom took me to start the 9th grade in Miami on a high school of over 2000 students. I only knew the colors and how to count to 10 in English, so those were interesting times lol. It was definitely a big change for me. I feel very grateful to have gotten to live in this country full of opportunities and freedom.

Vapor I think such a beautiful rose growing up such natural trellis like a dead pine tree would look glorious. I man made structures, but being able to grow roses on real trees is even more special. I planted a Mel’s heritage under a pine tree here to see what it does.

From what I've seen, you've certainly made the most of your opportunities! From where did you get your love of roses and gardens?

Thank you Vapor. I grew up with my grandparents, and my grandmother had the most beautiful garden growing up. I think I definitely got it from her. I wish I would have known the name of her roses then, but no way of knowing because she doesn’t remember.

Dianela, your parents were very brave and obviously wanted the very best for you. I'm glad they had their dream realized. It is sad that you had to go so long without your parents.

I was partially raised by my grandparents too. I feel like I learned a lot from them and have a different outlook on things than a lot of my friends who had more "normal" upbringings.

I also learned to garden from my great grandmother and grandmother both who had large veggie gardens, fruit trees, and lots of roses. My grandma taught me to sew, raise chickens, and 'can things' lol. I hated canning stuff then but its a valuable skill if you need it or if "TSHTF" someday lol. My grandpa taught me to work on cars and fish.

Thank you Sultry =),

being raised by loving grandparents is definitely something special. I am sure mine spoiled me a bit too much, but they definitely made sure they taught me many useful things. I certainly gained an affinity for older friends and ended up having more friends than were my grandparents age than my own. Lol I smiled reading your post about your grandma as she sounds much like mine :). It is great to have such wonderful memories from our loved ones.

What a story of hope. Your parents sacrificed everything to gain what many of us take for granted. How courageous and brave. I can only imagine the horror of being sent back to prison again and again, of the fear of getting caught in their escapes, of leaving you behind and being adrift on the sea facing the unknown, and the hardships upon arrival here. You must bring them such joy having fulfilled their dream for you to do whatever you choose in a free country. I am filled with awe and respect for them and for you and for your grandparents who prepared you for what the future held. How they must have suffered saying good bye to the ones who meant everything to them.

Thank you Flowers! They have some crazy stories of everything they went through and I am very fortunate to have parents and grandparents like them.

Oh, Dianela, your story is just wonderful! And one of my best friends in high school had a similar story; her family had a difficult time in Cuba, and left under the pretense of a family vacation, leaving everything behind. It gave me such an appreciation for these kinds of sacrifices. Her parents spoke no English when they got here, but did everything they could to make sure the kids did well in school. Both of the kids went on to college and started families of their own here.

What a wonderful way to remember this rose, now! I’m going to have to find one for myself. :-)

Wow dianela !!!! Now I will think of your lovely family when I see my SOF bloom. Oh how wonderful they made it and you too. On a raft for 4 days ! Unreal . It must have been so frightening for them . It’s amazing the sacrifice and choices that have to be made for a better life . Your story brought tears to my eyes, for joy for you and sadnsss for so many who may not get the chance . And also made me remember my roommate and how lovely she was too. The world is made up of so many beautiful lovely people and I’m so glad we get to “ meet “ each other here over the love of roses!

I would love to hear about roses in Cuba!
Do they grow lots of older roses due to lack of trade for so many years ? (kind of like so many cars there are from the 50s and 60s)
Or are there mostly European roses?

Carla in Sac

Amazing story indeed, Dianela, and you are always so humble about your achievements. I’ve been enabled into a Spirit of Freedom now, too.

Thank you Perma, Lily, BenT, Flowers, Sultry and Vapor. Its been very emotional to read all these friendly and super supportive posts here after my post. This is a wonderful country full of wonderful people and having rose friends here has been a great pleasure =) Thank you!

Sautesmom I am sorry I can't be of much help regarding the roses grown in Cuba, unfortunately we just didn't know their names. They probably were some of the older ones as I remember some being once bloomers only. We also have a strong Chinese community and they probably brought lots of specimens from China. If I ever get to go back (not likely unless things change) I will love to go take a closer look at all the roses grown there.

Dianela,

All your fellow Americans are the fortunate ones to have you and your parents make it to America, and enrich our country in many ways, especially by possessing those rare attributes of dogged determination, and love of freedom. May all the generations of your family keep up your noble aspirations in all their endeavors.

Moses

Thank you Thank you =) Moses.