I have a new garden and mostly own root bands, so I didn't prune either. Some of the roses kept their last year's old leaves and probably need more ventilation that pruning could have provided. My hybrid musks got some mildew this Spring from cold, wet conditions. I also have some blackspot and don't spray. All in all, I know what you mean.

If you prune early for vigorous growth that gets killed by the polar vortex or some other freak weather event in the early Spring, is that plant done for the season (or worse) or do you get basal breaks like roses that weren't pruned?

You will still get basal breaks, maybe delayed, so give the rose time. That is unless the rose is out of energy to make any more effort.

I never know when I get basal breaks, doesn't seem to make a difference in my garden. I haven't pruned, it will be an interesting year.

I have a short season so if I have a mild winter and little die back I leave as much green cane as possible when I prune. The roses always bloom a little quicker that way because they don't need to grow back all that good green cane that I would cut off if I deep pruned anyway. No, I probably don't get as long a stem as I would if I deep pruned but I get lots of bloom!

There are some exceptions to not pruning, but for the most part I think the roses I pruned look much healthier. I generally prune my roses moderately, no heavy pruning unless it's necessary

This has been a really mild Winter/Spring here. I found it difficult to prune healthy green branches, so I pruned moderately, if at all. The blackspot came early, too. A couple of weeks ago, I pruned pretty hard on some plants that blackspotted and defoliated. It's all an experiment for me. Prune and learn.

Seil took the words out of my mouth that in a cold zone I just can't sacrifice surviving cane in the first bloom in June. Once that is done, I'll do the 1/3 of the cane prune for shaping and that's where the successive blooms may pick up if the rose starts out a little sluggish. In my experience though, surviving cane does a LOT toward the first bloom cycle being much better than if pruned to the ground.

Cynthia