Prune/deadhead to a point where the cane stands up strongly and will be able to support further growth above. If the plant tends to spread more than you want, prune at an inward- or upward-facing bud site rather than outward. Standard pruning instructions usually assume roses = hybrid teas. Shrubs generally need a firmer hand, unless you want arching growth or unless they have a twiggy habit. BD is one that I would prune to stand up. If the plant is young and weak, I might choose to stake some of the shoots rather than cutting them back.

Expect Belinda's Dream to prefer going wide rather than high. It's just her nature. And that will make a huge bouquet looking mass when she comes into her own.
Forget the cutting back to first five leaf; that's for HTs and their growth habit and that's not the way that BD puts out new growth.
For now, let her grow (esp after last spring). And put out growth to build her roots. Any cutting you do in this drought may not be replaced by fall- and late fall growth may not make it through winter.

I recently read an article by Anita Clevenger called something like, "Rethinking Deadheading." I think the gist of it was that instead of deadheading, (pruning, I think is meant by that) she just bends and snaps instead the rose. I'd thought this was pretty much limited to teas, but do you think that shrub roses would benefit from this also?

What do you all do to deadhead? Or do you? Sorry if my blatant ignorance is showing. Annie

PS, Thank you very much, Michaelg and Ann, for your input. It makes sense, but the deadheading question is one that rattles around in my head a lot. I've just been experimenting, seeing how the various roses respond, but I'm curious about what you all out there in rose land do.

Thanks, Annie

Annie, I do both. Most of the time I finger prune but if I am needing to control the bush size or shape I will deadhead with my pruners. Michael and Ann both gave you good advice about pruning Belinda's Dream.

Carol

Annie,
You really want to learn how to snap a dead bloom off with a single motion.
We need a SE fall get together just to do this sort of thing because it works so well on all the roses that need deadheading
Ann.

I would really welcome some kind of get together to learn from you all. Name the date and place! Let me know how I can help.

Thanks for the encouragement, Carol.

Annie

Annie - my belinda is in a sorta shady location, and grows taller then she is wide. I cut her back over the winter following some advice in an old rose book - the outside canes I cut low, then the second-to-outside canes I cut medium, and the center canes were left higher - sort of a wedding-cake effect. Belinda put out the best blooms I ever saw on her, and looked great peeking over the fence! As a matter of fact, since the fence posts are close enough that you really cannot see through them very well, I only cut the rose so the part that could be seen would be covered with blooms, and the part in back I didn't worry about.

she is a tough old bird, whatever you do to her she will likely be ok!

I snap off the blooms with shrubs and OGR that have a twiggy habit. I also snap modern bush roses until they get as tall as I want them; then I start deeper deadheading to maintain an appropriate height, cutting back to 4' or 5' above the ground. With shrubs that have a spreading or arching habit, I've started following Olga's example of pruning harder through the season to make them stand up and branch rather than sprawl around. It seems to produce more flowers per square foot. I think it's a long-term learning process to figure out what's best for different types. Certainly I'm still feeling my way.

You definitely need to treat Belinda's Dream as a shrub rose. She gets sturdier as she ages, i.e., thicker canes, but many blooms will be on twiggy ends regardless.

Mine was pruned by a falling wild cherry tree last summer and languished the rest of the year. She started coming into her own again this spring - once we got past the whole late spring freeze bit. I expect she'll be really beautiful next season. Right now she looks very good inspite of the heat and lack of rain.

My BD was very spindly at first and took her time about growing, but she has definitely come into her own this past year. Strong canes which go sideways and up--perfect for that spot. Right now, she's about as wide as she is tall. I also snap off her blooms rather than prune. Here's a pic of some of the show she's put on this year--you can see how she leans over rather than reaches up with her blooms, a trait of hers which I love:

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I think Pagan's right, she is a tough old bird. But a beauty, for sure. Thanks for the picture and advice on pruning. I very much appreciate it, all of you.

We should accumulate all the advice and postings on pruning floating around here and put them into a book or something.

Incidentally, other than the advice here on GW, what are the best sources for pruning info you've found? I haven't bought the dvd from Ashdowns on pruning yet, as my teas aren't old enough to prune, but I plan to ... are there any written materials you've found helpful?

I know this is something you learn as you go - but anything resembling a primer? I've read S. Scanniello's book on climbing roses and his advice for some of them - but other types? Annie

Annie...I really really like the DVD from Ashdown. I tried that on some of my roses that seemed ready for it (i.e., they had enough growth in their early age), and the results were great. I, too, am learning very much as I go along. I don't grow the HTs, so I don't whack any of my roses down to 12-18". I'm finding the best learning is coming from personal experience...just plant the roses and have fun with them. Then, pay close attention to those who grow your roses in your zone (but, the disease issues of a zone 7 on the West Coast is going to be significantly different from the zone 7 on the East Coast). I'm avaoiding pruning anything but dead/non productive canes from Teas and Chinas at this point.

Robert

The best pruning guide I've ever seen is in the American Horticultural Society's spectacular book, Pruning and Training. The rose pruning guide is broken down by class (rambler, LCl, Floribunda, Once-blooming OGR, etc). In addition to informing you how to prune and why, it also has a wonderful section on training roses on various structures.

The information on other plants is unsurpassed. Once you master the general concepts, you'll be a better rose pruner for any rose, whether you've seen it before or not.

You will learn how to make topiaries, how to prune fruit trees...I can't say enough about the book. It will completely demystify the process, assuming that's why you want.

Thank you both for your comments and recommendations.
I plan to check on that book. Annie

Annie, about pruning Belinda's Dream. I have two well established bushes both at least 6 feet tall and even wider. I've found that if I don't remove a good portion of the stem when I deadhead the new growth will be real floppy. Even with this rather drastic deadheading if it rains with the bush in full bloom the new growth can't support the massive wet blooms. Of course I haven't had the problem with 'wet blooms' very often this year.

Hamp, BD flopping after the rain we got the other night is what started this ?. I cut BD a lot for my kitchen table vase and so have a lot of new thin growth. As you note, when it rains, the wet blooms weigh the thin new branches down.

I think I'm getting an agreement here that BD needs to be cut or deadheaded to where the cane is strong to control the weak floppy growth that can't support the large blossoms, especially when they're wet. That's what I've noticed, too, but hadn't connected the dots. I'd thought I was cutting too much of the branch when I cut them for the table, but I guess I am not cutting them enough.

Well, I'll try it and see what happens. If you're out there, Berndoodle, I found the book you recommended at the library and am anxious to read it. Thank you, everyone. If there are more pruning thoughts, please chime in.

Hamp, I truly hope you all get rain soon. It's rained here three times in the last week, and I am so grateful. Annie