Hi @User! I doubt the rose isn't flowering due to suckering. Either it's receiving too much nitrogen or it isn't getting the correct type of climate triggers it requires. It likely requires more cold and less heat to flower well than you can provide. You can increase the winter cold it receives by icing it during winter, but that won't reduce the hours of heat it will receive which reduces the chilling effect. The only way I could get Charles de Mills to flower in my Zone 9b garden was to ice it several times over winter. Otherwise, it provided one or two flowers, though it suckered over many square feet of area. Cardinal Richelieu required no suck treatment to flower reliably. I finally hacked Mills into many pieces and donated them to a rose sale.

Thank you, Kim. The rose in question is also in one of the many neglected areas of my garden, so being overwhelmed by weeds and poor soil may well have a lot to do with the problem. Still, I'm glad I asked, just for the knowledge. You see, I have another potted Souv de Lucie (a sucker I dug up) and am undecided about whether its worthwhile to plant it out in my garden or ditch it. If suckering DID play a part in preventing a rose from blooming, the choice would be obvious.

BTW, this discourse about Chas. de Mills/ Card. Rich. reminds me that one day (once I get my present pot ghetto under control) I'll have to start a thread on Gallicas. Every time I see photographs of those flowers, I want some, but never have taken the plunge for fear of lack of winter chill. With global warming, this is ever more an issue. I need to know which Gallicas (if any) can handle a lack of true cold.

bart, Gallicas love my garden and flower fine here. Rosa gallica is native locally and is a lovely wildling. Do fruit trees like apples and cherries grow in your area? Do people have tulips? If so, I would think you could grow Gallicas. They're one of my favorite classes of rose, and perhaps the one that's most at home in my conditions.

Re 'Charles de Mills', however, mine has never gotten over a foot and a half tall, suckers madly, and doesn't bloom. Go figure. Don't know what ails it. Its neighbor 'Violacea' is madly prolific in both growth and flowers.