Like everything else about pruning, it depends on the size and health of the rose. Good leaves - even if they are on a blind shoot - are going to provide nourishment to the bush. So, if you have a weak one or young one and you're interested in getting it started out strong - be patient. There will be plenty of shoots with buds later on. If it's a strong bush with plenty of buds and the blind shoots are anomalies - then by all means - cut back to the next 5-leaflet leaf and command that thing to produce!

Three years without flowers would tell me first that the rose may not be suited to the zone I grow it in. It may require more "chill" hours. Or, it doesn't receive enough light. As for blind growth, I add to what Melissa said (they shade the canes to prevent scald), the plant "knows" what it needs. If it's pushing new growth with healthy foliage and no flowers, it's because it needs the food production. Every green part provides photosynthesis, food. If all the conditions are right for flowering, you get flowers. If not, the plant will do what it requires with the resources until the flowering threshold is met and it produces them. Your cold nights could well be one of the causes. If it's too cold at night, the pollinators may not be active. The reason plants flower is to ovulate and provide opportunities to reproduce. Flowering when there are no bees is a waste of resources. The plant knows when it is best to do what it is designed to do.

Towandazz that certainly looks like EA. If it isn't, I'd be surprised. I absolutely love that test garden. I would hike up the back way with my 4 year old son from the busy downtown Portland street of Burnside. I would climb the mile high stone stairs through the woods for exercise a couple years back. The stairs were insane, but reminded me of some old tibetan stairs to a buddhist temple or something, and then the truck through the trails, to then finally arrive at the test garden at the break of dawn. I did it everyday at around 6:00 am when there was no public or visitors yet. The only ones there were a few workers tending the roses. It was very peaceful eating breakfast up there by ourselves. I am sad they wanted to tear those stairs down, but I only assume the rich people up there probably don't want the homeless having access to their streets so easily. I wonder if they are still there today? I don't know that many people know about them except for city dwellers lol! I will check when I visit on my birthday, because my husband is taking us up there. Thanks Dave! I hope they bloom too. Both bushes seem very small though and both were ordered from Heirloom Roses. I have a feeling there may be none this year. The canes aren't even thick as pencils yet. I wonder if I got two small specimens from them. Even so, I will be patient because I love those roses!

Bart: google StrawChicago and HMF, then click on Member Profile to see my profile in HMF where I list the topics and the links in Organic Rose forum. I can't give you the link here since HMF-set-up prevents me from giving my own profile link. My HMF profile condenses the info., such as: Over-fertilization: wilting, leaves curl down. Too acidic: leaves curl up & thinner, and blackspots, crisp burn on tips. Too alkaline: Pale, leaves twisted (boron def) or crinkled (copper def). Potassium def: zero blooms, balling, thin & weak stems, and blackspots. Calcium def: less petals, stunt growth & tip die-back & pale and small upper leaves Nitrogen def: small leaves & pale LOWEST leaves Sulfur def: entire plant is pale & stunt growth Iron def: pale UPPER leaves with greener veins Ann: I checked out your link to Organic Rose gardening in Facebook. Yours is a great link for folks with questions about diseases & pests. I have known Khalid in Pakistan since 2012 when we first posted in English rose forum. That group closed, so he posted in Houzz Organic Rose forum with me, then he started his own group in Facebook in 2014 and his group Fragrant Gardens now have 2.0K members. His name in Facebook is HQ-Gilani. Lots of hot climate posters there, and roses that thrive above 100 F are also cold-hardy in my zone 5a. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1412992132360557 As to pruning off blind-shoots, I went out to check on my Sweet M., and the shortest branch which bears a bud is 6 inch. So it's OK to prune off 6 inch blind-shoots, since that will be replaced by bud-shoot once the stem gets enough phosphorus & trace elements like zinc & copper & boron (most lacking in too alkaline condition).