1. Is it correct to cut above or below a location where there are 5 leaves?

2. What do you do if there is not a location with 5 leaves? What if the location is really, really far down? Do you cut all the way down to the location where the 5 leaves are?

3. At what point is it a good idea to cut the roses? Is there some visual indicator or an amount of time after it has come out of its bud?

Thank you in advance!!!!

2. If the rose is big and strong and well established, you can take off a lot of stem. If the rose is small and young, take off as little as possible.

3. It varies by cultivar, but usually if the sepals (the green cover on the bud) drop, then the rose will open in the vase. A half-open bud is also a good time to cut.

I think the "cut above a leaf with 5 leaflets" rule is a canard, just like most rose "rules". It is OK to cut the stem above any sort of leaf - the idea is that where the leaves are is where the little buds are that can produce more growth. Sometimes you can see the little bud eyes on the stem - they might not even have a leaf. OK to cut just above those, too. Remember that the new branch, if any, with go off in the direction where the bud eye is, so you might want to keep that in mind.

If your rose is a hybrid tea ( large flowers, upright growth, sort of scraggly looking bush), you might want to cut the flowers when they are buds - they will open in water and last longer.

Main point - do not worry too much about the "rules" - most of them have been proven to be wrong lately - just use common sense, and watch how your rose bush reacts.

When you cut off the dead/dying blooms (that is called dead-heading) do not cut a long stem - the rose bush needs the leaves to make food. Just cut off what used to be the flower.

Post here about any questions about anything - that is why this forum exists -

Jackie

2. The term you are lacking is "deadheading." Traditional advice for deadheading hybrid teas (the familiar florist-type roses) is to cut above the highest 5-leaflet. In practice, this is usually the second leaf down. This rule is nonsensical for other types of roses that may have varying numbers of leaflets. Anyway, the growth bud doesn't know how many leaflets are on its leaf. My practice is, if the plant is smaller than I want, then remove only the flower--just pop it off. If the plant is getting too tall, take off a long stem. There need be no mystique about deadheading. I shear some of my roses with hedge clippers, and have been doing so for 25 years.

3. If your plants are small and weak, don't cut long stems, as this reduces the plant's ability to grow and bloom for the rest of the season. You can cut very short stems. Or is your question about the stage of flower development? This varies from one variety to another. For a typical hybrid tea, you would cut after the sepals have dropped and as the outer ring of petals have loosened or opened. Thin buds with fewer petals usually may be cut as soon as the sepals begin to separate. But you just have to learn the behavior of the roses that you are growing.

But you don't HAVE to cut to a 5 leaf set. You can just snap the spent bloom off just below the hip. Even if you do cut to a 5 leaf set the rose will determine next where it will grow from. You can only encourage it to grow from the spot you cut at but they don't always chose to do so.

If a rose is getting too large deadheading is a good time to take more off of it to bring it back into shape. But remember that what ever height you cut at it's going to get bigger from there.

As far as dead canes or crossing canes, you can take those all out completely at anytime. It's a good thing to keep the center open to some degree too so that there is good air flow through the plant to help the leaves dry quickly to prevent fungal diseases. So if the inside of the plant has grown thick with twiggy growth you can take some of that out anytime too. Most of the small twiggy growth will not produce blooms anyway.

On new plants or ones that don't seem very vigorous you do want to leave as much cane and leaf as possible to keep the plant fed though. It takes at least 3 years for most roses to mature completely so do cut sparingly on new plants. But that doesn't mean you can't cut blooms to bring inside to enjoy!

I have a few follow-up questions.

1. In the included image, what are the 2 small leaves coming off the stem located next to the red middle arrow? Is this a location I should use for cutting?

2. Based on the three red arrows, if I cut at one of these locations, will it continue growing at the same location where it was cut? OR do each of these locations change the direction the rose will grow much?

http://i.imgur.com/58olz.jpg

Thanks.