We planted our first ever climbing roses last year and they blossomed wonderfully this year. The blossoms are fading and I want to be sure I do the right thing in terms of pruning. In early spring, I fastened the longest canes to the fence to get them as horizontal as possible and that seems to have worked very well. I know I'm supposed to do as little pruning as possible the first few years, but one of the two varieties we planted, "Cupid's Kisses" has a LOT of new canes growing away from the direction of the fence where the canes I attached earlier are also doing well. Should I cut back all or some of these canes growing away from the fence and leave the heavy growth that's closer to, and attached to the fence? Hopefully what I'm talking about will be clear in the attached photo.

I would. Actually, I would have cut them when they were smaller and developing in Spring. Since it is young in your garden, be aware that pruning them now will trigger the plant to go into "grow mode". If it does that in the middle of the summer, it may need extra water and you may have to cut any new canes that "show" up.

Wow, that's a beauty! Is that one rose or several? Cupid's Kisses is a climbing miniature rose, but no one would know that from your striking photograph.

zuzu said:Wow, that's a beauty! Is that one rose or several? Cupid's Kisses is a climbing miniature rose, but no one would know that from your striking photograph.

That's a single plant!

The canes are growing outward seeking more sun. As you tie the canes back they begin to shade each other so the plant send out new canes into the light. Can you train any of he new canes back toward the fence?

That is beautiful, and you've done a great job. Personally, I would advise to stick to the "less is more" attitude on pruning such a young rose. I agree with Seil. I definitely would NOT cut out any "new canes that show up"; at most I'd remove the "candelabras" once they are done with flowering, to keep the plant a little more compact,but remember you can always remove more plant, but you can't stick it back together, lol.

Hello all! We had a great season for our first year of climbing roses. The two "Cupid's Kisses" plants have thrived and are providing a subdued, but pleasant series of new flowers in early September. Unfortunately, our early bloomer, the "Sky's the Limit" plant seems to have suffered and I can't tell if it's salvageable. The stems are yellow and the few leaves look all but dead. I'm attaching some new photos, but I don't know if they really show their current state. We have fertilized and kept them well watered.