I would prune it as a type III. In zone 7 doing so will only delay its flowering until later in the season. All the type IIs in my garden get treated as type IIIs every year and they still bloom. I even can cut them back severely after they bloom and they rebloom in late summer/early fall.

Thanks..sounds good to me. Do you prune them all the same just to make it easier or is there a reason for that. Sure sounds like it would make everything simplier...bobby

I agree, if you don't know you can always prune as a III.

It is easier, can encourage more stems up from the crown, and won't harm them.

For those of us in the warmer zones, we can get away with it since it the season is long enough that we still get blooms once if not twice on the type IIs. Jeanne in Texas is able to get three flushes of blooms on type IIs by treating them as type IIIs. The only exception to the rule would be if you have some of the type IIs which bloom double only on old wood. If they are treated as type IIIs, then you would miss the double blooms but still get the single blooms. Pruning the way I do is just easier on me and that way you can plant type IIs and IIIs together and prune them at the same time.