Outstanding climber for zone 5. Got thru the winter with no die-back and it's in a raised planter. Admittedly, last winter was mild for zone 5. It blooms in flushes, the second flush is now finishing in late July. I expect one or two more bloom cycles before frost. The initial bloom in late Spring was spectacular. The flowers were large with well-defined pink edges on the white flower. The second bloom cycle was during a heat wave, and flowers were smaller and with more bleeding of the pink into the white, but still attractive. NO DISEASE!
My Kiss of Desire climber was a brand new plant last year and I don't think it bloomed even one time. Is this a climber that needs to bloom on old wood?? I covered all my climbers with burlap for the winter so I think even though we have had a very long and bitterly cold winter with tons of snow that it should be okay. Hopefully the canes that started growing last year will be green and I won't have to prune off much if any winter die-back canes. JOhn
John, I don't know if your Harlekin/Kiss of Desire has started to bloom yet but up here in Des Moines mine has started its show again. This is one of my favorite climbers I grow. My plant started blooming the first year I had it so I'm surprised yours did not. Because I still haven't found a better way to winter protect my climbers in the area where I have this one planted, I get a lot of die back each winter (trying a new method next year so hopefully this won't continue). This year was better because of the snow but I still had some dieback. Despite this dieback though, Harlekin/Kiss of Desire sends up the strongest canes (expecially after the first flush). If the plant gets established and likes its home, I'm sure you will get a lot of blooms this year - it blooms its head off (I counted over 100 blooms on one branch last year in the heat of summer). So long story short, no this one does not need old wood to bloom. Good Luck.
