The Best Time to Prune Roses

UPDATED 2024

When you live in a hot climate, proper timing for rose pruning can be a little confusing. Plants can continue growing year-round and it's not really the cold weather that's a problem for our plants - it's the heat! So just as my students often hear me say "it depends!" When to prune your roses will depend on your local gardening climate, when it gets cold and when it gets hot.

Here in North Texas, and similar climates, the prescribed spring pruning date for roses is February 14th, or Valentine's Day! The problem with sticking to that pruning date is that it's usually TOO LATE due to our climate and temperature conditions. By the middle of February many shrubs and trees have already broken dormancy or are pushing out new growth (roses don't technically go dormant here). If you wait to prune until that's already happened, then you're just cutting off all the new growth that plant spent a bunch of reserve energy on creating. That means it's going to have to spend all that energy again to push out new leaves and flowers, which may not be as bountiful, and you may delay flowering.

In fact, many of my roses already have small flower buds on them by the middle of February. If you don't want to prune those off, then you're stuck with the size and possibly old straggly growth from the previous year until its time to prune again in summer.

As with many other garden pruning and planting activities, I usually find that I need to prune my roses here several weeks early. That means mid-late January. Same goes for most groundcovers, perennials, and grasses that need to be cut back before spring.

Rose 'Abraham Darby'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose Pruning Times Depend on Your Location

The best time to prune roses is just before bud break; meaning before the new leaf buds start pushing out and growing. That will vary depending on your location.

If you live in a slightly cooler location, or further south, then you'll need to adjust your pruning times later or earlier.

Ideally, we wouldn't prune until after the last average frost date. Well, here in Dallas that isn't until late March. If you waited until then to prune your roses, you'd find that many of them might be fully leafed out and already starting to bloom! So that's not going to work. If your roses are already budding out (you'll see small leaf buds beginning to swell and turn a reddish color) , that is a signal that it's time to prune. That may happen before the typical target dates, as is happening in my garden right now. I've found that for the last three years in my current garden, if I'd waited until Valentine's Day to prune my roses most of them would have already been leafed out; so it would have been too late. I'm often pushed back to the 3rd to last week of January on my pruning, and that has been effective.

Typically you'll be pruning away 50% of growth on roses such as hybrid teas, floribundas etc. Climbing roses require more modest pruning of just the lateral shoots, and you may find that some of your more sturdy China roses may only need 20-30% pruned away before spring. Remove all old foliage that is diseased, damaged, or otherwise unattractive.

What About Pruning Roses for Fall?

If you live in a warm climate, late-winter isn't the only major pruning date you need to add to your gardening calendar. Fall in Texas and similar hot climates, specifically October, is one of the most beautiful months in the garden. Most of our garden plants, and roses, take a beating over the extreme summer months. August is the best time to go ahead and do a second significant pruning on most types of roses. While you may prune off about 50% of your roses ahead of spring, your summer pruning can be a little more modest. I usually recommend pruning off about 20-30% of the growth, depending on how stressed your plants are. Remove any damaged, diseased, or severely nutrient deficient foliage. Fertilize plants at this time when you prune them.

Doing so will provide you with a beautiful fall flush of rose blooms.

Location and Micro-Climates can Change When You Prune Your Roses

Pruning times depend on your specific location, micro-climate, exposure and types of roses (don't prune climbers until late-spring after flowering). Some types will bud out faster than others. My hybrid English roses are a bit slower than the others in my garden. Different classes of roses require different amounts of pruning. The closer you are to the original rose species, the less hard pruning you'll want to do. Whereas modern hybrids that bloom most prolifically on new growth will need heavier pruning.

There are standard "rules" to follow in gardening...but climate changes and your individual situation varies, so these "rules" aren't always black and white. The micro-climate in my back yard, which is south facing, is significantly different than my front yard, which bears the brunt of a much colder northern exposure. There is often a good 10-20 degree temperature difference between the two spots. You may find that the roses on the southern side of your home need to be pruned earlier than those on the north side. Or your home may be buffered by many surrounding homes or structures that keep your garden a few degrees warmer than the neighbor across the street with a large open property. Gardening is very local. The art of gardening is learning when to follow, bend or break conventional "rules" based on your individual situation. You must spend time in your garden to observe growth patterns of your plants year to year. You can't just follow rules from a book, or any one person. Good guidelines are what folks like me can give you. But you have to put in the time in your particular garden to learn its nuances and unique characteristics.

If you're worried about pruning you roses too early: If plants are not showing any new axillary bud shoot development (those little tiny buds between the stem and the leaf) then don't prune them yet. Pruning before bud break, which is too early, will push your plant into early budding making the new growth susceptible to cold snaps. But, if your roses are already budding out, you can't stop them. You may just have to cover plants if we get another hard freeze. If cold temperatures return and the bud development stalls, then wait to prune. But if plants keep pushing out bud growth, then you may need to go ahead and start pruning. If you wait to start pruning until after they leaf out, you risk losing the opportunity to clean/shape them properly, encourage the most possible blooms and potentially damage new growth.

Rose pruning is always a bit of tricky business. So I'm not telling you when exactly you should prune yours. Watch your plants and monitor the weather. Gardening is a verb folks!

A Note About Rose Rosette Disease

UPDATE: Over the last decade, Rose Rosette disease has ravaged and killed most of the roses in the DFW area. And many other regions where the disease has spread like wildfire. I actually lost most of my rose plants, and have waited for several years after the last die offs in my area to plant any new roses. I was left with about 3 rose plants total that were not infected. As of 2024 I've only just now added a few new roses to my garden. We'll see how it goes!

D Magazine: https://www.dmagazine.com/publ...

Greenhouse Management: https://www.greenhousemag.com/...

Plantgeek Chic Blog: https://lesliehalleck.com/blog...

I know, it's cold outside. Most of you aren't really that interested in getting out into the garden. BUT, if you plan to be tiptoe-ing around your veggie garden this spring picking homegrown tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and any number of other veggies and herbs, now is the time to start your seeds!

That's why I like to call January "Pajama Gardening Month". You can get your gardening fix indoors, all whilst still in your PJs. Starting seeds indoors is fun and rewarding. You just have to get the timing right and have a few good tools. If you're in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, here are some things you should be starting from seed this month indoors:

Cole crops: You can start your last succession of cool season crops indoors now. Broccoli, cabbage, kale, chard, collard greens, kohlrabi, cauliflower and more.. Seeds need supplemental light so make sure to use a good setup. After 5 or 6 weeks you can transplant these seedlings outdoors, in February.

Warm season crops: Start tomatoes NOW, then you can start peppers, eggplant inside starting now through February. These crops take a bit longer to get to transplant size, about 8-9 weeks. In the DFW area, tomatoes can be planted outside late-February through the end of March for a June harvest. You can continue planting peppers and eggplant through April and May. If you want to start a second fall crop of tomatoes from seed, you’ll do that indoors in May.

Herbs: Start seeds indoors of warm season herbs such as basil, oregano, sage, thyme, chives etc.

Salad greens: You can still start salad greens both indoors and by direct seeding outside right now through February. Remember that lettuce seeds need light to germinate, so don't cover their seeds with soil when you plant them. Simply press them into the surface of the soil and keep moist until germination.

Indoor seed starting equipment: I use the Jump Start system from Hydrofarm because the lighting is perfect for seeds, the lamp can be adjusted to different heights, and it's a good for small spaces. You can use small trays with a seed starting soil mix, or the little compressed pellets from say Jiffy. I use those a lot and they work great. Make sure you have a humidity dome (plastic cover) for your tray. If you're using posts or pellets, make sure you have a water tight seed tray to set them in so you can cover them with the dome. The picture at left is only one example of the many different options available. Sometime you just have to experiment to find the option that works best for you. Also, a seed starting heat mat is necessary once you get into fall and winter, and you're starting seeds for spring planting.

If you'd like to find these products for purchase, visit your local independent garden center. I picked up my supplies for today's Good Morning Texas segment at North Haven Gardens in Dallas.

This is Texas for you. A few days ago we were having frosts. Yet I came back to Dallas from Cincinnati on Sunday to 86F degrees, sunny skies and blooms in the garden. One such plant that decided this return to warmth was permission to get it's bloom on was my dwarf Bulbine. I believe this is 'Tiny Tangerine', but I'll have to dig around in my stash of labels to confirm.

Bulbine are a beautiful and easy to grow upright fleshy plant that is a cousin to Aloe and Kniphofia (red hot poker). It thrives in hot, dry conditions and can often excel where other plants wither in the Texas summers. I like planting it alongside other succulents, grasses and lavender; all plants that appreciate full sun, good drainage and less frequent waterings. This is a great plant for a waterwise garden.

In a climate with a 365 day growing season, do miss out on the benefits of fall planting!

If you've ever complained about how hard it is to keep plants happy in the summer, then you need to shift your focus to fall. Us plant geeks keep telling you to plant now...and we promise we're not blowin' smoke! Get your booties out into the garden! Planting during fall and winter gives your new plantings lots of time to put down new roots before the onset of summer heat and drought. Really, you'll be doing both your plants and yourself a big favor!

Autumn is an especially great time in the vegetable garden. In fact, in Texas and similar hot climates, our cool season gardens are much more productive than our summer gardens. The weather is cooler and rainfall more plentiful. You’ll find that maintenance is much easier during the fall and winter months.

September - November are prime planting times for many vegetable varieties. You can plant transplants of Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, Collards, and Kohlrabi starting mid-September through early November. Direct seed any of the salad greens from September through October and continue planting transplants through November.

October is the best time for Texans to plant garlic cloves. You can purchase garlic for planting at your local garden center, where you’ll find the best varieties for our area. Split the bulb up into individual cloves then plant about one- to two-inches deep and about three- to six-inches apart. Cloves must be planted in the fall in order for them to receive the required chilling to form bulbs. Garlic bulb formation occurs in response exposure to one or two months of soil temperatures between 32 °F and 50 °F followed by the lengthening days of spring once shoots have emerged. If you want to grow onions, you can start them from seed during fall. You’ll wait until January to plant onion slips or sets (transplants).

Fall is also a great time to plant cool season herbs, such as chamomile, chervil, chives, cilantro, comfrey, dill, fennel, fenugreek, lemon balm, parsley, and many more. These herbs will continue growing for you all the way through winter and the following spring. Don’t forget that some evergreen herbs, such as curled parsley and blood sorrel make great ornamentals in the Autumn & Winter garden. Mix them with pansies, violas and dusty miller for a striking combination. Make sure to amend your vegetable and herb beds with plenty of organic compost before planting.

Be sure to fertilize your veggies and herbs with an organic vegetable fertilizer. Typically, you’ll fertilize plants at planting time, and then again once plants begin to flower or fruit.

We can’t forget about fruit! Autumn and winter, when berries and fruit trees go dormant, is the best time to plant. By planting when it’s cool, or when plants are dormant, you’ll give them plenty of time to establish before the onset of summer heat. Fruit trees that do well in our area include fig, pear, peach, plum, and pomegranate. While apples and cherries don’t fare quite as well in our climate, there are certain varieties that can be grown with some extra TLC. Citrus trees can also be grown here but usually require some winter protection. Blackberries are probably the easiest of berries to grow, followed by strawberries, raspberries and grapes. All of which perennialize for us.

So you've tackled the veggie garden and after some practice you've started to get good harvests. Once this happens, you'll often find yourself with the task of figuring out what to do with all that harvest! There's freezing, canning, pickling and so on and so forth. Of course the goal is to always eat as much of the seasonal veggies fresh if you can. But with busy schedules, it's easy to get behind on all that cooking.

Recently, I started experimenting with a program called The Fresh 20. Now let me say, I'm not being paid to write about this, I have not been contacted by the author of The Fresh 20, or any such thing. I'm just a paying customer like any other who happens to LOVE it! I've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the years on cookbooks; downloaded hundreds of recipies online; subscribed to any number of cooking magazines. But it's still hard for me to get my kitchen act together because I work all the time. For what was not the first time, I set out online to find some sort of cooking program that would help me organize my shopping list (or garden harvest list), provide easy recipes and suit the varied eating habits in my house (veggie vs. meat eater).

What I stumbled across was The Fresh 20 Cookbook. The description of the cookbook led me to further investigate the website, which offers up subscriptions to weekly shopping and cooking plans that are built around seasonal ingredients. I purchased both the Classic and the Vegetarian plans (when you buy the first one, you get additional plans for 1/2 price). It' AMAZING and the price is more than worth it. The author, Melissa Lanz, has done all the work: Created the recipes, which are tasty and easy, built the shopping list and provided all of the nutritional info. I swear, this is the easiest meal plan I've every tried to use. She also gives you a ballpark of what the week's shopping will cost you (but you should probably go ahead and double that if you shop at Whole Foods, lol). Simply substitute your garden harvest for veggies in the recipes (or sub the veggie completely for something else you have in the garden).

Each week you get 5 dinners worth of recipes, your shopping list, and panty staples. If you're a household of two, you'll have plenty of leftovers to cover all your lunches. If you have a family of 4, you should end up with just about the right amount for dinner. Some meals you'll still end up with extra. Food is great, easy to make and really makes the week of cooking so much easier.

Anyhoo, if you're a veggie gardener and are looking for an easier way improve your kitchen time, grocery bill and use up that garden harvest, check this program. It's just been too good not to share!

You may or may not know that when you plant a hybrid cultivar, and you allow that cultivar to go to seed, that those seeds will end up growing into progeny that may look nothing like the parent plant. Heirloom, open pollinated varieties will come "true from seed", however. 'Green Zebra' tomato for example is an open pollinated tomato variety. When you save seed from the fruit and replant them next season, you'll get 'Green Zebra' tomatoes. Not so if you save seed from 'Celebrity' tomato, an F1 hybrid. Your resulting seedlings from 'Celebrity' seeds will exhibit charactaristics from the parents of 'Celebrity', but may look nothing like 'Celebrity'. Such is the case with my rogue melon seedlings, which planted themsleves all over my garden from last years dwarf hybrid 'Faerie' watermelon.

These super cute teeny tiny watermelons have been producing in my garden all summer long. They came up anywhere and everywhere, all over my front garden. The vines only reach about 3' to 4' long, an the melons are palm-sized. The flesh is yellow when mature with pink flesh. Now these little buggers have a lot of seeds, but the flavor is great. Hmmm...wonder what will come of their seeds next year? I call it 'Too Cute'. LOL

Now that night temperatures have dropped and it's starting to feel like fall, many summer veggie plants in the garden have started kicking back into gear for fall harvest. Peppers especially move back into high gear right about now, along with summer squash, zucchini and others.

There aren't many perennial veggies we can grow, but the Chili Tepin (and Chile Pequin, which looks very similar) is one that returns reliably for me in zone 8a. It does go dormant in the winter, then re-emerges in late spring after soils warm. It will even tolerate some shade while still producing prolifically. Plants are also referred to as Chilitepin, Chili Tepin or Bird's Eye Pepper. Love it!

Oh yeah, it's decorative gourd time! And yes, I even color coordinate my gourds to my house, pots, dogs, car...you name it. So I have a color coordination compusion...at least I admit it!