Kimberly , I’ve seen his climbers beautifully wrapped in obelisks, here in so cal where things never stop growing really. So if you stayed on top of it , you could keep them nice . These were giant obelisks tho , bigger than a ho hum purchase but still not too hard to find I’d imagine.

these are pics from the san diego rose society president , Bob Martin. it was a joy to visit when i moved here . I came two years , then once for the clearing out of literally everything when he passed and his wife had to sell . They were the sweetest couple !

James galway

colette , the only pic i have that shows the actual obelisk

for fun , crown princess margaret .

@Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca Lily, nice pictures. Thanks. That black round obelisk, looks a good 8' tall? I've got three obelisks that are 18' wide and 8' tall. I wonder how much width those gorgeous roses took up at the bottom... James Galway looks like it wants to shoot out the top. lol. Colette is beautiful too.

By any chance do you happen to remember if he planted one or TWO roses per obelisk? I just read in David Austin (Sr.)'s English Roses book, that he recommends 2 roses per 8' obelisk for what he calls complete coverage. Here in zone 10b, I'm told the roses will grow bigger... but, I have only 5 hours of direct sun... so maybe it will 'even out'. lol.

In zone 7, roses get lots bigger, too, and growing two big Austins on a single obelisk will never work. A lot of Austins aren't true climbers either, and though big, aren't flexible. My Jude and Brother Cadfael are about 9 feet tall, and I'd never try to make them into climbers. Golden Celebration is big but much more flexible and could be used as a true climber. Diane

Colette and Golden Celebration

Yes that actually seems like the size if i remember correctly! And I would only do one rose , for sure . If you had to do something else I’d pair with a clematis even though they too will take over ( dosnt stop me ! Haha )

He definitely only had one rose per obelisk .

The Austin’s were his wife’s favorites. She loved them so ! He had all the hybrid teas in the back yard . It was such a beautiful garden and beyond sad seeing it cleared .

Just a note about the height for you and your comment about sunlight.. sometimes my roses grow even taller to reach for more sun if it wants . My spirit of freedoms hate the part shade and really just grow grow grow and push put away from the fence and then bloom only in the sun . They are ridiculous 😂

Ps Kimberly , would you say I should call K and m personally? I emailed them last week and still haven’t gotten a call or response back . I hate to be a bother but I see the owners number listed .. I really just want to know if they have what I want , if not I’ll order those jalberts from chamblees but I can’t have both .

I can't fathom that anyone would want to "clear" those gorgeous roses. If nothing else why not keep the climbers that don't take up much garden space? Oh well, we've seen that so often.

@Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca, Yes... go ahead and call the K&M direct. You might have to leave a message. It does take time for him to call you back, as he does it himself. I sent a 2nd email order in and I likely won't hear back until he's ready to fill it. He won't send out a plant that's not up to his standard. Edit: I heard back from him in 3 days, over the holiday. I already had one order come in from him last week, and I was very clear in my email that 1. the 1st order came in great, I was happy. and 2. Here is my short list of 6 roses, when he gets them - can he send them?. He called to narrow it down to 4...

@Ingrid_vc zone 9b, San Diego Co. inland - THATS kinda what I'm wondering. If I grow everything that can climb... as a climber..... can I fit in one more rose? lol. Hence my question about spacing on climbers.

Kimberly, I used to grow mainly old roses and only had one or two climbers, but I tend to think that left to their own devices many roses will want to grow as wide as they're high when they mature, assuming they're happy with their spot.

James Galway is very, very stiff and tends to have a habit like a giant Hybrid Tea; i.e., flowers at the top of those 2-meter-long stems, facing upward where you can't see them! very frustrating . Mine seems to have improved a bit with harder pruning, but it would be great if I could get it up on a pillar as in the photo shown on this thread. There is absolutely NO WAY I could get two of them on one pillar.

I have Teasing Georgia, she's starting her third year here (z11). When I bought her the DA tag claimed she was a shrub or short climber... Lies! Now DA have revised her stated dimensions to bigger.

 She grew taller than me in her first year. I am now barely able to contain her on a 2 × 2 meter trellis, and that's only because our very strong winds often damage the ends of canes so I have to prune often. Without wind damage she will become a giant in a warm climate. There's a user who used to post here called Daisy in Crete, similar mediterranean climate, and her Teasing Georgia also was a giant beast.

Oh interesting about Teasing Georgia. I have one in a small pot from a zone 9 person, who said that teasing georgia doesn't grow much for her- only 2' in one year. I was like, really? (hum, I thought... so I took the poor rose). I also have a TG on order from DA USA (If I get it... we will see). it will be interesting to see the two roses compared. If they BOTH turn into beasts... I'll have some huge yellow roses taking over my yellow house. Thank you for the heads up, @seasiderooftop, I'll make some contingency plans for them. She'll get some late afternoon shade... so that might help the growth, but might negatively impact the flowering I suppose.

@User, I've got a James Galway coming too. Thank YOU for the heads up on stiff canes. I'll add that to my garden notes, and maybe swap out a rose to put him on the 9' inground trellis or on the arch instead of the obelisk. I'll just have wait, see, and learn. I so appreciate everyone's input!

Jackie, that G. Thomas is beautiful. I have several Austin English Climbers coming (including the afore mentioned J Galway and Teasing G), but I've also got a Noisette "Sarasota Spice" (small 6' CL), a hybrid musk "Moonlight" (4-8'H x 8-12'W); and an 1871 tea called "Marie Van Houtte" (3'-9'H x 3'W). No ramblers. (I love ramblers, but my space is small, and I have no fences or walls for such roses to drape across.)

It was Moonlight that challenged the way I had been thinking about spacing for this new garden area. I noticed that Moonlight was listed as up to 8' high, but 8 to 12' wide. I had been thinking that winding canes around and up an obelisk, pillar or arch would somewhat shorten the width or space needed for each rose. Moonlight sounds (to me) like it might ramble a bit. So that may be a rose I'm destined to give away.