? I prune mine every day. I go out every morning and clip every finished bloom back to fresh growth, sometimes it's 4" sometimes fresh growth is clear back to the main stem a foot or more. It's getting near the end of the season now so the plant is yellowish but at least not straggly. "SNIP! snip! SNIP! If you have left it 'till now it's likely gone into seed-making-mode and I'd think just leave it make seeds. But if you have a couple more months of warm weather; "WHACK! whack! WHACK IT BACK!" GH-

Hmm, I just googled this the other day. I told myself THIS would be the year that I would finally prune my roses, and that THIS would be the year that I would not let pruning intimidate me. I read a few sites on pruning, tried less successfully to find tips for climbing roses, grabbed my shears, marched out the to garden.... and proceeded to snip of the dead ends of the branches. Yes, ends, as in one or two inches. Sigh. I am such a wimp. I did cut out the dead branches, and there is one bush that is really weak and so I pruned that back fairly hard (not that there was much left to prune). I'm hoping it comes back with a vengeance if for no other reason than to help me get over my pruning fears. I was at a loss with my climbing rose, though. I'm going to go take a look at the links Molie provided, and maybe go back out there with the shears.... :) Dee

Pruning is not the problem. It's keeping it in the house that's causing them to die. Roses are not house plants...EVER! These little gift minis are grown and sold as florist roses and the growers actually mean for them to be disposable. That's not to say they need to be. They're regular roses and if planted out in the garden and given proper care can and do grow for many years. For right now you need to just remove all the spent blooms, nothing more. Put it in the most light you can find in your house. Find a tray of some kind (I've used cake pans) and fill the bottom with pebbles. Put water in the pebbles to just below their tops and place the pot on top of the pebbles. You do not want any water to be touching the bottom of the pot. This will raise the humidity around the rose without over watering it. Be careful to keep it just damp and never soggy wet. Hopefully you'll be able to keep it going this way until spring when you can get it outside. It will do so much better out there.

Thank you everyone! I've pegged them and keep my fingers crossed for more laterals! This is my second year with my Generous Gardener. Last year she didn't bloom much, but this year she's the best bloomer in my garden!