Could you post a picture or a fuller explanation of the circumstances? Is the plant dead?

I'm not clear on what Zack means, either. I don't think he is talking about hybrid tea roses. They can be pruned to any height in spring and still bloom. You can cut tall hybrid teas back halfway when deadheading and they will still bloom again. But old tea roses and some shrub roses bloom more freely if they are allowed to grow to some size that they want to be.

Michaelg,

I can't seem to get my camera to work this am and I'm
getting ready for work. I will post a photo this afternoon....
And no!,,,, it's not dead.

thanks for answer,

ak

Michael,

Here is a photo of Pristine. I think she looks healthy, just not very leafy on the bottom.

Thanks,

ak

That's normal and looks fine. Roses will have some bare knees unless they are pruned severely every year.

Michael,

I am becoming a little nervous about pruning. Should I prune 'hard' just to make her a little more green on her bottom?

andrea

No, that would waste stored energy unnecessarily. That plant looks good. You expect to have some bare knees. If it is excessive (like 3'), make a note to prune harder next spring.

Wil do...

I and my babies thank you again. In approx 2 weeks I will have 7 more:

F. Meilland
Brandy (another)
Firefighter
St. Patrick
Sugar Moon
Stainless Steel
Peace (I grew up with this one)

Sorry I'm burbling, I'm just so excited about the new ones.
andrea

Hybrid Teas and Climbers are a little more prone to having those bare knees because of the way they tend to grow. Climbers for sure like to be tall but so do HTs and they will drop the bottom leaves in order to feed the top better. And the bottom leaves get less sun so they produce less food and are expendable so the plant drops them. You'll find that floribundas and shrub roses are less likely to to do this because they're usually shorter and more bushy in growth habit. It's really nothing to worry about. That rose looks very healthy!

You can plant low-growing stuff around roses, to sort of hide their "bare bottoms."

Jeri

Jeri,

I had thought of that, sort of, but I also thought, how could I compost and fertilize with plants underneath?

me

Andrea, you can still mulch, etc. if you plant the under plantings a little away from the bottom of the rose. You don't really want anything right up against the base of the rose anyway. Just plant something out a foot or so away and it should be fine and mask the problem. I use mini roses sometimes to do this but you can use anything, perennials or annuals for that matter.

That bare part is fine with me. Less leaves to get problems off the soil. Growing something in front of it will hide it. I like to have something casting shade on the root area anyway to keep them cool and moist.