I would not prune any more. Give your rose more time.

Thank you!

Patience is not a virtue I like to practice, but I guess this Queen is demanding it anyway.

I have a lot of comments about this rose, it's been a strange one to deal with. The growth on mine was CRAZY the first year to 6 feet on skinny canes and covered with flowers that were smaller and darker in color than I expected, and also proliferated. I had planted it in a very desirable area of very rich soil and sun, maybe too much so. Now I've moved it to an area of poorer soil, still ample sun, to see if we get a different result.

Thank you for relating your experience, Elf Rosa. I think I trimmed it back a bit because I was getting tall skinny canes, too, but no flowers.

I'll stop trimming and give it a little bloom booster fertilizer and see what happens.

I agree! A lot of Bourbons have behaved similarly for me when young. If the long canes bug you, try pegging them. RV will break into blooms all along the canes. But as others said, give her time. Bourbons, in my opinion, are slowish starters and awkward youths. In maturity, Her Majesty is divine but, alas, too blackspot prone for Portland. Carol

PS I love the Queen Victoria comics!

There's a bud on Reine Victoria! The queen has finally deigned to bloom.

That's great! Now I would just leave it alone, no trimming or pruning, no feeding for a while. It is trying to grow up and mature, which will definitely do on its own time. Old roses have their own time clock, and were not bred to burst into bloom as a first priority.

I had two once blooming roses, one was a rootstock sucker, (de la Griffaerie - hybrid multiflora, 1845) and the other was a tiny rooted cutting (Belle Portugaise - hybrid gigantea 1903). Both of them took 5 Springs before they produced their first blooms. By then dlG was a healthy 7 ft tall bush, and BP was a healthy 12 ft tall climber. I had actually told both of them that they were in danger of being shovel pruned, when BANG! This happened:

de la Grifferaie:

Belle Portugaise:

I am NOT suggesting it will take your RV that long - it is a repeat bloomer, and did not start out in your garden as some barely alive roots. Just an example of how some roses wait until they are what they think of as "old/big" enough to bloom.

Jackie

I meant to add that both of these roses are still in my garden, and healthy, and produce the same kind of amazing Spring flush with zillions of blooms every year.

Jackie

Thank you for the advice, Jackie. And the pictures. Your de la Grifferaie and Belle Portugaise are amazing. They really rewarded your patience.