Every spring is different up here in the mountains of Nocal. I no longer prune by the calendar, but follow the rule of waiting until the forsythias bloom. I've noticed that in some years they bloom two weeks ealier than others. If I wait, I don't see as much blind growth. What I find interesting is that the forsythias will bloom at different times ... by a few days, or even weeks, in different parts of town, which says something about the microclimates. We had a warm January this year and a lot of people went ahead and pruned their roses, but since my forsythias hadn't shown any sign of blooming, I waited. I am glad I did because February and March were unusually cold for this area. I see very little blind growth since I started following this old rule. This timing may only be true for the colder climates, but it seems to work for me. I usually wait until the estimated last frost date for this area before I feed the plants to encourage any new growth. It's kind of a conservative approach, but it seems to protect the new growth. Smiles, Lyn

You can plant them and most will develop fans, in my experience. I'd like to see a photo of all of your blooming irises!

Anna: The pics. you posted recently are all blind-shoots. Now it's evening time so I can see better. Also the 1st pic. you posted this morning is a blind shoot, same with the picture preceded by "And the other stem" title. Also Sam's suggestion of rose midge is good .. I never have rose midge in pots, but I had rose midge one time in the ground (wet spring & partial shade & loamy soil on top). Rose midge doesn't like it too dry nor flooding wet .. with your roses in pots, in CA hot weather .. and IF it's always dry on top like my pots .. the chance of rose midge is slim. Some pics. of rose midges from the Internet: Another reason for blind shoots: Manganese deficiency as black dying of new tips: "Manganese: Symptoms of a deficiency can include necrosis spots on leafs and black necrosis of new tips." http://www.cannaversity.com/cannaversity/article.php?id=101 Manganese is rampant in my alkaline clay (pH near 8) and alkaline tap water (pH near 9) .. folks in CA report the same alkalinity. Manganese is just as important as iron for roses. Manganese is abundant in decomposed-pine-bark. The most flowers I had seen was a rose in a pot at Home Depot, filled with composted pine-bark chips and lime to neutralize its acidity. Foods high in manganese are: pecans & nuts ... that explained for a recent report of pecan-shells was fantastic for roses. What helped me with flowering for pots was "Bloom formula" high in phosphorus & low in nitrogen, plus trace elements like Manganese, copper, zinc (all are needed for flowering) .. but I use only 1/2 dose to avoid phosphorus overdose, then supplement with sulfate of potash/gypsum. There's an inverse relationship between manganese and iron. UP the iron, and manganese is less available. Also UP the boron, and manganese is less available. For that reason I no longer use molasses (at 20% iron, zero manganese). Molasses is great for soil deficient in iron, but my soil is deficient in manganese. I did cause a bunch of blind-shoots just like the 1st pic. you post, and the recent ones .. that's when I tested fermented alfalfa-tea, plus UP the molasses in watering. That greened up roses in alkaline clay, but caused blind-shoots in my 2 roses in pots, these shoots got infested with rose-slugs, so I pruned them off, and a healthy shoot with a bud sprouted (will post a pic.) The most blooms I achieved for my alkaline clay (deficient in manganese) was when I mixed pine-barks with alkaline clay. I got 40+ blooms per flush on Firefighter, Liv Tyler, and Frederic Mistral. Didn't use molasses whatsoever, just alfalfa meal & sulfate of potash & gypsum. The second most bloom is when I put cracked corn in the planting hole, at 25% iron and 40% manganese, plus zinc and copper for flowering. The ratio of nutrients is important. Re-post what U. of CA found in rose-tissue: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7465.html "For low-ratios, it would be 3 Nitrogen, 2 Potassium, and 0.2 Phosphorus, plus 1 Calcium and 0.25 magnesium. For ppm it would be 50 iron, 30 manganese, 30 boron, 15 zinc, and 5 copper." From Straw: Magnesium is needed in 1/8 the amount of potassium, and 1/4 the amount of calcium. Phosphorus is needed in 1/10 of potassium. Manganese is the second most vital trace-element after iron for flowering in roses. Manganese is least available in dry & hot weather and with alkaline tap water.

Oldrosarian, do blind shoots always remain blind? In your post you say " The other reason is that in a warm climate, when the weather is extra warm in the spring, the soil is rich and the rain helps things along, roses may make too many canes for them to support a flower. So they just don't make a bud. All you have to do is cut the cane back a few inches to the base of a leaf. Then the rose will make a bud." Now,in my garden, in my climate, in the very, very rare years when we are blessed with a rainy spring or better yet, summer, some of my roses just grow fantastically well and get huge, which I actually want them to do (I have a very large garden). But of course I want them to be able to flower well the following year. So, when it's time to prune, could I get away with just cutting back the youngest canes a bit? Or would you recommend a harder pruning?