Question
Hi Carlene,

We moved into a house in the San Francisco bay area last March, and "inherited" a few nice, mature rose bushes.  When we moved in, the bushes were cut down to their woody stalks, maybe 2 feet tall.  Over the course of the spring and summer, they grew to a height of over 4 feet and bloomed several times.  During this period, I pruned according to the advice of my mother-in-law, who said to cut just above a "5-leaf" shoot.  Sometimes this led to new growth, sometimes not.

Anyways, it's December now, and the bushes seem to have produced the last blossoms of the year.  So at some point, I suppose it will be time to prune them down to their "stumps" again, but I don't know when that should be done.  Should I prune them down now, or wait until there is a general warming trend in the late winter?

I think we're in a similar climate zone to you.  Winter is the rainy season here.  We've already been through a significant cold snap, with frost for about a week.  That's pretty unusual.  After that cold snap, I noticed that the leaves of the roses have turned yellow.  Should I cut away the discolored leaves now?

Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.  Please let me know if there is a reference book or website you could recommend.

Thanks,
Leland

Answer
Hi Leland-

You should check the historical weather data for your area to find out when the last recorded freezes occur (internet search) or ask an oldtimer in the area when the last freezes usually occur, then prune after that date.  It might be sometime in February, I'm guessing.  I have heard the pruning advise you stated above, but recently read a study that stated the roses were not pruned above the five-leaflets and they did just as fine and bloomed just as much.  Personally, I prune just above a outward facing "bump" on the cane (where the leaf is beginning to bud on the cane).  I angle the cut at a 45 degree angle so the water will run off.  Anyway - this forces the rose to start a new branch just below the cut, and it will be outward facing, so as to increase the air circulation in the center of the bush, to help prevent fungal disease and blackspot.

Go ahead and pull off the yellow leaves if you want, but either way they will end up falling off on their own.  Around pruning time, rake up all the yellow or blackspot leaves to help prevent the spread of disease.

I have some hybrid teas that respond well after being pruned to 2 ft. high stumps, but some of the older hybrid teas seem to take a long time recovering from this drastic pruning.  On these rose bushes I will probably keep their height to about 3-4 feet after pruning this year.

I have read just about every book on roses published, so I can't really recommend any one book.  The American Rose Society puts out a good book so you might start there.

Good Luck-

Carlene