Pruning roses

Is it too soon?  Should i really wait until the end of March or is the threat of a killing frost past?

TIA


You want to prune when you see the start of the (nubs/leaves) on the stems.


You should prune roses the weekend where the forsythia blooms.

Some years the roses already have 1-2" long new growths by then.  It is OK to prune a week earlier if you think that the roses have made the early start.   

When you prune, cut each cane down to 12-18" max.


Is pruning roses in mid May a bad thing? I missed my Marc h window apparently.


I only know when you are supposed to do it.  I don't know what the consequences of pruning late are.

My guess is, that with the plant already having spent a lot of energy on spring growth, you won't get much growth or blooming if you prune late.  You might want to wait till next spring?


It's more about the bush growing way of out proportion and leaning way too far over.



I couldn't guess why this happened but I doubt it's related to trimming?


Look up rose rosette. It is a disease specific to roses. Your pictures do not look like the rose bushes I've seen with rose rosette but the excessive thorniness is concerning.


I think it is Rose Rosette because it looks like freaky growth in one of your pics. 


Apparently it has a name: "Fasciation" according to Michigan State University Extension.


Observations on Rose Rosette Disease (University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture)

Increased thorniness and flattening of stems (fasciation) is often observed (Fig. 2. C), but may be absent in symptomatic tissues (Fig. 2. B).

http://counties.agrilife.org/williamson/files/2014/08/Rose-rosette-handout-March-11-2014.pdf


This from Michigan State University



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