I'm another rose novice, deciding during a torrential rain storm this winter that this would be the year I'd plant my first roses. I learned A LOT during the first week that I spent educating myself. Most importantly, I kept asking questions...and still do. My first advice is to share your climate zone and a general idea of where you live. Growing roses on the Pacific Ocean, where I live, is very different from mountains or desert, and even from someone's backyard 5 miles inland from me. The best suggestions will be those specific to your growing conditions. This is what helped me most to get started: - read/skimmed back 20 pages of this forum, an excellent source of a wide variety of knowledge - read articles on the ARS website (someone gave their link above) - looked up two local ARS chapters (using the ARS website) and contacted their presidents via email for help and advice. They were tremendously generous with their experience and knowledge. I eventually attended a chapter meeting for each, one of which had a great talk about organic rose gardening from a well-known rosarian. - volunteered to help care for roses at a local ARS test garden to learn skills like pruning, etc. - read the "organic rose growing" forum here because I only do organic gardening - called rose vendors recommended on this forum and asked them questions Through my initial research, I met three individuals (one here on the forum) who know my area well and volunteered to answer questions on an on-going basis. All three of them were able to give me very specific information, down to nitty-gritty details, for my micro-climate. Their advice, encouragement, and warnings are invaluable. Finding someone who knows your area from personal experience is probably the best way to wade through the overwhelming amount of, and sometimes conflicting, information about rose growing. Here is a link that might be useful: USDA zone map

If you can post a photo, or even describe it in more detail, we can probably give you a lot more help. Even if it doesn't have blooms, we can tell something by the size and shape and even the leaves and thorns. For now: Many old roses bloom only once, so that is nothing to worry about. Most of these old roses don't need much, if any, pruning. Just cut out the dead wood. Also, allowing it to grow out will help us identify it. If you haven't fertilized it, you could trowel in an organic fertilzer, or aged manure, or even some good compost. I wouldn't use a chemical fertilizer this late in the season until you know what it is. Finally, put an inch or two of mulch around the base, but leave a few inches bare around the base of the rose. If it has already been surviving, it will probably continue to do so.

You say it could be 30 or more years old? Then I'd say you have no need to worry about saving it. It's proved it's a survivor! I have no idea what rose it is but it looks like a modern climber of some sort. You can prune off dead wood any time of year. To tell if a cane is alive or not snip a couple inches off the tip of the cane and look at the inside. If it's a greenish white color and looks moist it's alive. If it's brown or tan snip off a little further down and check. Keep doing this down the cane until you see that clear, healthy center. Clean up those broken canes at the base. You want clean cuts that you can seal with glue or nail polish so pests and diseases can't get in. Make your cuts at about a 45 degree angle just above a leaf node if possible. Otherwise I would not prune it any further now. Roses store their energy to come out of winter in the canes. Early spring is the best time to do any kind of hard pruning on a rose. When it comes out of dormancy it will be raring to grow and will fill back out quickly. When it blooms next spring get clear close up pictures of the buds, half open blooms and fully open blooms as well as the leaves, canes, thorns and whole bush. Then we might be able to ID it for you.

LOL, for a minute I thought this post was referring to my age! :) I have a couple of old roses that belonged to my great-aunt and were neglected for many years. They still bloom every year and occasionally I throw some rose food their way. They have lasted this long without my help, so I don't want to overdo. They seem quite hardy. The antique/heirloom roses I purchased several years ago have done quite well here, but I do mulch them and am careful to water well in summer. Have just had my first successful rooted cutting from one of them! Yay! I have been terrible at rooting roses until now. Would like to get rooted cuttings from the very old ones. . .stay tuned. Amy, good luck with yours!