I recently learned that these dark brown stems may have been caused by frost damage (or cold weather damage, at the least). I had left such a branch on my rose bush to see if it could still have growth in the spring (since I didn't realize what it was). The strange part is that it keeps working itself down the stem, so cut it off as soon as you can, otherwise, you may lose the entire branch and I don't even know how or if it would affect your main rose trunk.

Brown or black--dead. Prune off below at a point where the inside of the cane is all white, not tan or brown.

Kate

Yes, that is winter kill and if you don't take it off it will continue to die down the cane. As Kate said, cut it off down to where you see a good clear greenish white center pith. If possible you want to cut it off about a 1/4 inch above an outward facing bud eye. The rose should start to grow from that point then.

It was a very harsh winter for a lot of people and I'm sure we're all going to start out with very short roses this year. Not to worry. If the rose is healthy it will bounce right back and bloom beautifully!

Seil,

Some of my roses have canes that are black/brown on top but green closer to the ground. Should I prune them now? I am waiting to see Forsythias, but should I do it now to stop the death march?

Thanks,
Mark

Farmer--I'm also in zone 6 (different region, evidently) and the forsythia have been blooming for nearly 2 weeks here. Unless you are getting some exceptionally low night-time temps or they are forcast for the next week or so, I'd go ahead and prune at this point.

Kate

Is your soil warm enough for the roots to start sending food up to the plant to support new growth? If nothing else is blooming yet then probably not. I know that the forsythia thing is considered an old wives tale BUT it is a good indication that the soil temps have warmed up to about 50 degrees and the roses will begin to grow.

I'm also in zone 6 and my forsythia buds haven't even begun to plump yet. I know my soil is still frozen in spots so I haven't pruned anything yet. You have to go with what's happening in your area because, as you can see, not even all zone 6's are the same.

Thanks, Kate and Seil. The 10 feet snow pile at the back our house (snow from the roof and deck) has been gone for about two weeks now. The buds on most of my roses have swollen. One of my bands, Carefree Beauty, have two leaves already. I saw that, for the next 10 days, nighttime lows are forecast to be above 35 F. It sounds like that I should get the pruner out this weekend, if it is not too rainy. Thanks again.

Shelley -- sorry if I hijacked your thread.

The forsythia just started blooming down here in Monmouth County, farmerduck.

I pruned all the dead canes back on my roses yesterday; most had to be cut back to only 2-3 inches, the miniatures even less. But, nearly all of the plants are showing some buds and even leafing out close to the base -- only one I think is completely dead, but I will wait to see.

I was wondering if it would be useful to feed them now or should I wait?

They are all in raised beds, but even so, it is still very soggy out there and more rain is coming, if that is a consideration. TIA