Dandy, If you're in Southern California -- most of the western half of it anyhow -- you can really prune any time between Thanksgiving (which, yes, is past) and maybe Valentine's Day. Lots of range there.

If you want to, you can spray the plants BEFORE you prune, and wait a week or so for the leaves to all fall off, and THEN prune. Again -- lots of range, there.

Now, if you're off somewhere way inland, like Riverside, or up the Ojai Valley or something, that might be a bit different, for for most of us, there are no hard and fast rules. But even here, near the coast, the bit of cold weather we've had means that many roses are already losing their leaves.

I'm actually up in NorCal--Sacramento.

What if I spray and the leaves don't fall off?

Generally speaking, that stuff you're going to spray with kills foliage. When it is dead, it falls off.

FWIW, the roses in the Sacramento City Cemetery were pruned last weekend.

Accidental double post.

Climbing Rose pruning class 9/17 in the Sacramento City Cemetery:
http://www.cemeteryrose.org/

1000 Broadway, Sacramento, CA

This post was edited by jerijen on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 12:16

Dandy, I am just south of you a couple of hours. I generally prune the week between Christmas and New Years. I take the leaves off my roses so they get a rest before they start to bloom again. In essence, I force them into dormancy. Unfortunately a back injury has stopped me (as well as too much work), so I hope to get them done in the next week or so. I generally start to fertilize about the first part of Feb to the middle of Feb. I garden organically, so I put a good organic down then and usually get great blooms the first or second week in April, depending on how warm the weather is.

Isn't pruning too early an issue in case we get late frosts though? I know the trees forum was highly suggesting I wait before bud break, but alas roses and trees aren't quite the same thing :)

I'm thinking I'll spray now, wait a week and prune.

JERIJEN - I WISH I had seen your post sooner. I would have LOVED to come to that pruning class! I've emailed several times about becoming a volunteer at the cemetery. Do you volunteer there? Or know how I can get in?

I live in the Bay Area and I completed pruning last week.

I started pruning the day after Christmas here in Livermore, as usual. The frosts we get are not likely to be severe enough to damage roses though they will knock down unprotected, tender plants like nasturtiums and pelargoniums.