Based on my experience you can prune gallicas, damasks, albas, mosses, rugosas and other really hardy roses. I usually start in December and prune continiously through Jan and Feb. They don't mind it at all.
Olga

Thank you, Olga, that's what I wanted to know. Now, out into the garden, pruners in hand!
Melissa

The one caveat I have to that is if you have a lot of snow on the ground, and you are pruning for bush shape, it's impossible to see what you are doing because too much is buried under snow. I have run into problems when I think almost all of it is gone, then later find out the snow has drifted into the crown of the rose and is covering a lot more than I thought.

Winter's a good time to take out dead canes on any roses. On some, when I need to get under growth, it's easier to use chairs to hold the canes up (and frozen ground beats sopping wet ground.)
I have some problems with cane borers that can go down six to eight inches in soft pith. I've found on modern roses (the kind that depend on lots of growth and lots of pith) that winter pruning means the pith will harden off and I'll have a lot fewer bore holes. Even without sealing the canes.

Only be more careful as you move the canes around as they can be more brittle if it is very cold and snap off where you dont want them to.

patricia

I usually wait till later. We go through cold - warm - cold - warm cycles here and I've found those warm spells will spur too much new growth that will die when the next freeze cycle comes along.

Even with the older roses I've seen significant damage by these cycles that I don't touch my roses until later in the year - when the forsythia start to bloom.

Is there a chance it may get warm for a while and then a sudden freeze again? Even temps of 20 can do damage on new growth.

What types of roses have you seen this on, Paul? I always thought the older roses - gallicas, damaska, albas - use daylength triggers for dormancy.

My observations are similar to MG. Old European oncebloomers are samrt enough NOT to start growing during warm spells. It takes more then warm soil or warm temp, they will not grow until time is right. I also agree that this must be day length that triggers their growth. I see what Paul describes all the time with repeat blooming and more tender roses.
Olga

I prune now; in fact I'm running quite late, though I have begun finally. December is a smarter time to start in the SF Bay area if one has a lot of roses to prune, as I do. However, I rarely get a hard freeze here in Sunset 16/USDA 9, so cold damage to rose canes is simply not an issue I need to consider. Plants I grew up thinking of as annuals in western Pennsylvania are perennials here.

My guess is that you could safely prune the OB-OGRs, that is, Once Blooming Old Garden Roses. That is what I would do, if I had your situation. But I am basing this solely on theory, not personal experience. It is at best a guess, and subject to the hazards of guessing.

What ever you decide, I'm sure you'll have a glorious garden come spring. I can't tell you how much Tom and I enjoyed our visit to your wonderful hillside garden last year.

Rosefolly

Paul,
We're quite far north, on the same latitude as Maine, and I think that what Mad Gallica and Olga said is true, day length is the trigger for new growth. Also, as I wrote recently in a different thread, we generally don't get the big, abrupt temperature swings that characterize much of the U.S.: here it gets cold and it stays cold. I'm pruning my once-blooming old roses, and also the Bourbons, which strike me as being sensible about dormancy. Teas, Chinas, Tea-Noisettes, Noisettes, and my few English roses and Hybrid Teas, will come later. I'm also pruning most of my Hybrid Musks now, except for 'Francesca', which has always seemed to be a very Tea-ish rose to me.
Paula, thanks! Perhaps you can come back for another visit and see how our garden has developed, and at peak bloom. We're hard at work on it.
Thanks to all for the input.
Melissa

I doubt day length is the trigger for new growth. It doesn't work that way with the rose family fruit trees. For them waning day length triggers dormancy, but then there is a cold requirement (of varying length depending upon species and cultivar) that must be met before new growth will begin. Once the cold requirement length is met new growth will begin once the weather is warm enough to stimulate it.

My guess is if we all tracked the same cultivar of old rose dependably hardy once bloomer you'd find in Paul's or Olga's neighborhoods it would start growing well before it would start growing in Celeste's or Mad Gallica's gardens, yet their day lengths would all be proceeding on the very same schedule.

I am pruning all my old European roses and ALSO pruning my Austins, Portlands, hybrid musks, climbers, bourbons, and hybrid perpetuals. I do this every year. I don't grow many chinas, teas, hybrid teas, and noisettes here. The only roses I keep to closer to spring are my token noisette and tea rose, and some dinky little roses that get winter damaged (there are 2-3 Austins that do this, and some smaller polyanthas,etc).

Sorry to be late in responding.

Mad Gallica. I found this on all kinds of roses from old to new. It sounds pretty specific to our area because of those temperature cycles we get.

When I first got here I did some pruning in December/January and the plants really suffered - including the old roses. That's why I've moved it till much later.

Melissa. I would love to come over again and hope to do so!

Paul, you'll be welcome! I love talking roses.
Melissa