It does speed up the formation of more leaves and stems--moderately-- but OK either way.

Nicholas, yes.
Removing the buds, at least for one bloom cycle, would spare the plant some stress.

Now, you don't need to CUT them off.
Just keep your eye on the plants, and as soon as you see the little tender buds form, just snap them off with your fingers.
That way, the plant doesn't put much energy into them, and it will use that energy on growing roots.

Jeri

When I asked this question a while back I was told it didn't affect the plant one way or the other and advised to leave it alone basically. I did and my 3 tiny September Morn plants are still putting out blooms like crazy even though they are about 10 inches tall.

Since I just purchased a Lady of Shalott & an Evylin Rose from David Austin Roses, I was told to snip off the newly formed rose buds off the plant to encourage a better deeper root system for the plant to make it through our cold winters here in zone 5a

Pinching off the buds seems to matter more for those of us in cold zones, since we need more than anything to have a strong root system established before winter. Second to that is a strong cane or two, and blooms are not necessary in the first year except to establish that you have the right rose. People in warmer zones don't necessarily have to pinch off buds since they have a much longer growing season and a less harsh winter, unless they want to pinch buds to build strength to survive the hot periods. In zone 6, it will help your roses build strong roots if you pinch off the buds, but for stronger cultivars well suited to your zone it may not matter as much.

Basically my philosophy has become to pinch off buds of anything that looks weak or is less than knee high with several branches, even if it's a year or two old. I can stand to do that because I have a lot of roses. Once the rose wants to bloom faster than I can pinch off the blooms (like Southern Peach or most of the Easy Elegance roses this year), I don't bother pinching and figure it's already strong enough.

Bottom line is it's not necessary but it can make a difference in relatively marginal or small roses in your climate.

Cynthia

Whenever I've advised bud nipping in the past, it was because I grow own root roses from bands or gallon size plants. It is a particularly good practice for young own root roses.

By the way, it should have been and always should be understood that I'm discussing own root culture. It is my only knowledge base. I gave up grafted roses very early in my gardening life and have not and will not return to them. That divorce is final, lol.

So, whether bud nipping makes any difference with young grafted roses I don't know. Logically, it would also help, but it may not be as critical as with young own root plants.

I would also recommend bud removal for any roses (including grafted ones) of any age that are demonstrating obvious weakness or stress.

In my area I recommend grow roots first, then leaves , then blooms.