Let 1 flower open so you know you have the right rose, then nip them off as you see fit. It probably helps in zones with short growing seasons, though 8's isn't that short.

I never have disbudded my bands and I'm in Zone 5. I haven't noticed any discernable decrease in vigor.

The blooms won't damage the tiny bushes but they will take energy that could be used by the plant to make roots and top growth. I do what hoovb does. Allowing the buds to bloom only lengthens the time the plant will take to grow larger, but not by that much.

In our relatively cool climate, many roses grow slowly.
So I also do what Hoov does.
One bloom may be allowed to open (at least partially) the rest are removed.

Jeri

Yes, the Hoovb way, let one open to make sure it's the right rose. But, I do let them bloom late in the season here without dead-heading, so, the rose knows it's time to go dormant.
Your in a warmer climate though.

September Morn does make some large heavy flowers so watch them so the little bushes do not get damaged. I do let mine bloom once also to make sure it is the right plant.

Lance

I've got a bad habit of letting them bloom. You have to see that first flower, and then there's the second for confirmation, and then what's a few more?

I have reached the stage in life where I know there are never going to be enough roses to satisfy my desire so I just sort of let mine do what they want to do. I really don't think in my part of the world it causes much of a slow down in development - and truthfully, since I have always done pretty much what I wanted to do I feel some obligation to let my roses do the same.

My concern was the size of flower to plant ration, but I will watch them and see how they go. WISH they would open this week but they look like next weeks blooms and I wont be here....the plants are itty bitty! I will have the peson watching my roses take photos if they open and mind him of the importance of those new fragile plants NOT getting crushed....

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Those stones are going to do more damage than any bloom will. If you have to have them, get them away from the bush. Stones reflect heat and invite spider mites.

I put those on when we are cooler, to keep in moisture and heat, and in fact, ALL of my roses have stones on top of the soil in their pots. I do have the small pots actually in the shade of the larger roses in the hedgerow right now. They still get sun but not tons of it.

Spider mites have not been an issue that I am aware of here...I didn't see any last year at all and none this year. Only powdery mildew. I will take it under advisement however.

These roses are coming home shortly to go out by my fence at the road but I wanted them MUCH bigger before I do that with them. The size they are now my hubby would kill them.

Thanks so much!

Lottirose - love your attitude :)!

I let mine bloom...guess I am pretty much with lottierose! I have not seen any negative effects at all.

Lottirose, another 'love your attitude." I stick my bands in the ground as soon as they arrive and, besides watering them, I let them do their thing. 95% of them survive.

Well, I got back from vacation, they have ALL opened up and they are what I wanted (YAY!) BUT the huge blooms DID break off one cane, almost totally, because it rained hard one day while they were opened. HOWEVER I am thrilled to see that they are what I wanted and that the blooms are as spectacular as I wanted them to be!

I bought two band size hybrid musk roses last spring and let both bloom. The bud to plant ratio looked about the same as yours at that time. The really heartbreaking thing was of course having the chipmunk eaten half of the first flower as soon as it opened! This year, both band size have gone crazy, each with close to 50 buds on a much bigger plant. So I say do whatever you like. As long as the growing condition is favorable your bands will be just fine!

Sean McCann, the irish hybridizer and rose lover, used to send a friend of mine some of his new minis to test for him. She asked him the same question. His response was that since the rose had already expended the energy to produce the bud, why not go ahead and enjoy the bloom? Sounded sensible to me (and Lottirose too apparently).

I like the blooms too much to not let them bloom. The only time I take them off is in your scenario where the blooms are too large or heavy and threaten the canes themselves. Other than that....bloom away.