Zephirine Drouhin is a re-flowering Bourbon rose. In the garden, we prune her late winter to early spring. With roses that grow on an arbor, as is the case with Clare’s rose, we find that they become too congested and start to lose their vigor. In late winter we go out and first take out any dead or weak wood. We then prune back the laterals to 2-3 buds. The large canes that you have on the top of the arbor are laterals that have been left to grow. Prune them back to a few buds.

In the Blog we spoke about apical dominance–the tendency a rose has to flower on the top of the cane. Bourbon roses have strong apical dominance and it is important to bend the canes. In Victorian times they used to ‘peg’ their bourbons and hybrid perpetual by bending the cane and fastening them to the ground with a metal hook or peg. Clare can accomplish this by winding the canes around the arbor.

With proper pruning, her rose will regain its vigor. Remember that cultural care is equally important. Amend the soil on an annual basis with either compost or composted cow manure and bear in mind that roses are heavy feeders. We fertilize with an organic fertilizer three times a season–April, June and August.

http://www.garden-share.com/photo/path-to-rose-arbor?context=album&albumId=3193295%3AAlbum%3A1866036

Those canes on the top are so thick and hard that I am unable to bend them to tie them down without breaking them. After reading a few articles, I know that this spring, I will attempt to train any new canes that come up from the ground to lie horizontally (zig zagging them up the sides the of arbor). But what can I do about those canes that grow straight up from the top? Any guidance on how to get this arbor back to its full glory would be much appreciated!