Was it in the painter's way that he could get attacked by the thorns?

Roses in good condition are like blackberry plants - you can cut them down to nubs or leave them out of the ground for awhile and they still grow. Keep it cared for (mulch, water, fertilizer if needed) and it will come right along regardless.

She will survive. I would be pissed! LOL

Peggy has no thorns, and no - she could have been moved to one side. It was easier to just hack her back though, I'm sure.

That's all water under the bridge. Will she recover?

She should be fine. Mine is over 10 feet tall. I've never cut her back and can't wait to see her bloom this year, her second year. Tell the painter not to touch your roses. :-)

bella - yea I'm just vexed because this painting projected has gone far longer than anticipated. So some of my flower beds keep on getting stamped on because the painter can't get it together to finish. (As in he should have been done last November and now he's saying July 4).

I know it's petty they are "just plants" but I've put, time, labor, effort, and money into the flower beds and I've lost 2 years of gardening in some areas because I didn't want to add anything, or fix anything knowing careless painters would be trampling things.

Vexed, vexed, vexed.

Painter was repeatedly told, "if anything is in your way, please let me know and I will deal with it."

Painter did not communicate this to underlings it would seem, underlings took matters into their own hands and went "chop, chop."

Painter has also destroyed the grass on one side of the house by just leaving their equipment there until I threatened to throw it out if he didn't come and get it (seriously he left it there for 2 months - doesn't he need it? How many ladders does he have?).

Painter also left pails of paint in flower beds. Painter should not have to be told to move it.

Painter was hired because he's a local guy who is well liked. But clearly - mistakes have been made.

To give you an example of what I mean. I once let my cousin stay with me, after rescuing him from getting himself stranded in Ohio. 12 hours to pick him up, and 12 back. He was almost 30. I fed him, cooked for him, and treated him nicely. My exact words to him. "you can use anything you need around here, but see these rose pruners? Do not ever touch them. That's the only thing I don't want anyone touching." My husband was outside, and told my cousin to find something to cut a piece of wire. He comes back with my pruners. My husband asks him aren't those (insert my name)? His response "yeah F it, I don't care" I threw him out. He went back to my family members and told them I treated him awful and STARVED him. A almost 30 year old leech, that I was going out of my way to cook for, and had a kitchen full of food he could and did eat. That's how people are. Not all, but enough to make me avoid them.

My dad pruned my moms Peggy Martin that covered a entire side of her porch and it's railing down to almost ankle length and it responded by growing back twice as large before the next spring. Peggy is super vigorous and one tough lady, yours should be fine. If she can survive Hurricane Katrina I would say she's almost indestructible lol.

I hope your roses grow back, but I think what these guys did is awful, qwertblahblah and witchy.

Yes, sad to say, there are some pretty awful people around. It is difficult but important to learn how to protect oneself yet not become embittered . Not everybody is like that! But I, too, would be furious with those painters; totally incompetant. They have no right to treat you and your garden with such a lack of respect.

The sad part is if you had the cutting, I've noticed PM is an easy one to root! However, I agree, this is horrible. I'm spitting mad just reading this!