Question
I have a kew rambler that hasn't bloomed for now it's second season.  D. Austin suggests using Fertilome to try to get it to bloom.  I'd love to use it now (8/25) to see what will happen.  What do you think?

Answer
Keep in mind that this rambler is VERY vigorous and will throw up VERY tall canes. To do this does requires a lot of energy. What you are experiencing is growth at the expense of flowers which is very normal for a rambler of this size. Don't use any fertilizer as that will give you bigger canes and even less flowers. This rose will repay you mainly with canes if you are kind to it. Try no fertilizer and not a lot of water and you will then see the flowers come the following year. I hope you have the space for this monster, because when happy, the canes shoot up tall and then it can grow to 20 feet. Every few years I whack mine back to make it start again. I cut out the old canes to the ground, prune down the medium sized canes to 5 feet and leave all the new growth unless it is thinner than a pencil which I cut out to the base. So if it does get out of control simply cut it down and it will gladly start over for you. Hope this helps.