Question
QUESTION: Hi..I live in the greater Seattle area. We have about 20 roses planted that are all about 6 years old. Nearly all of them this year started out early and went just fine. Then we had a late frost. Now nearly all of them have gone dormant..lots of blackspot that I am treating, but very little sign of renewed growth. Also have a huge climber that has always been beautiful and strong..now it is nearly bare. Any help would be appreciated. Thnx Jim

ANSWER: I too garden in the PNW and many of my roses looks like someone has used a blow torch on them. The leaves are blackened, crispy and even bare.  I would check and see if the canes are alive by just scraping the bark and if it is green then they will in time come back. You may even have to prune some of the tips as they usually do get killed. Roses are able to put out three sets of leaves before it effects their vigour. Yes, this is going to be a bad year for black spot. There are about eight different strains of this disease floating around in the air but this year we are experiencing a nasty one so be prepared. It also doesn't help that the roses had to go under a lot of stress by the cold snap and will be more vulnerable. Some years a gardener can't win. When roses are under stress I find that using a foliar spray of fish fertilizer every three weeks on the leaves, seems to perk thump as they get the nutrients right away and it also discourages black spot a little. 3 tablespoons of fish to 1 gallon of water. Try not to apply in the sun as it will burn and evaporate most of the fish before the leaves can use it so morning or late day is best.

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QUESTION: Lynnette...thnx so much for the expert advice and quick response. One more...should I hard prune the big climber?..it has bee very strong and a great show for years, but now it is 10 to 12 feet of bare sticks with a few dry leaves full of blackspot at the top, but it is very much alive...thnx again..Jim

Answer
There are two types of climbers. The first is a sport of a rose bush that has reverted back to a climber in it's bloodlines. These are the most vigorous with tall, lanky canes. The other is man bred and is usually shorter and grows more like a pillar. This one can be pruned back hard. The first one if cut back too hard, can stop growing as a climber and become  more like the bush rose it sported from. If that is the type your climber is I wouldn't prune back more than a third. Roses are able to re-grow three sets of leaves before it effects the totally vigour of the plant. The usually rule of thumb is if the rose is growing and happy and you aren't, leave the rose alone, it doesn't care about your feelings.
Yes then go ahead and cut the climber back to where it is growing the best leaves and canes.