I think Californians really need to think about how, when and why they prune roses here. Nobody should be surprised about the way roses act well here -- even without the copious watering, the fertilizing, the winter (or any!) pruning . We've simply gone along with what the Eastern rose gardeners tell us, via magazine and books from back there. It's even too bad that the American Rose Society, through its Master Rosarian program, perpetuates these regional processes throughout the whole country. Fact is, roses are simply shrubs; hybrid shrubs with the bulk of their genetics from Rosa chinensis, a subtropical evergreen rose species. Being such, it really doesn't "need" pruning in the winter time. It's actually best to prune it during the growing season, much as one would do with any evergreen repeat-blooming shrub, keeping it at a size and shape we want, mostly by cutting off bloomed-out stems. As long as we cut back cleanly to some husky wood, the rose responds positively all year long. If we do this, we have minimal pruning -- and sometimes NO pruning -- to do in the winter. We're trapped into thinking that we need to prune roses hard (to short stubs near the ground) because that's what they do back in cold country where they think it's going to save the rose tops from cold freezes. Even that's a myth. More than that, we're trapped into thinking that we need to cut off the water, let rose hips form, put on crushed ice and all kinds of silly tricks to get our roses to go into "dormancy". They won't, they can't, they're Rosa chinensis genes. Beyond winter chores, we're trapped into thinking we need to fertilize roses often and heavily. Some old cutlivars maybe. The newer ones much less. When planted in heavy soil, which contains good nutrients, roses are very happy. When planted in sandy soil, roses sulk. And amending is a myth, too. We've been convinced that roses need gobs of water. Roses in heavy soil, when trained with good soakings deeply and infrequently (once every 3-4 weeks in summer), become extraordinarily drought-tolerant. When planted in sand or put on a co-dependent drip system, they become sissies. And there are hundreds of rose cultivars that are disease-free and have self-cleaning blossoms so maintenance is lowered even more. Problem is, too many gardeners plant old problem-ridden cultivars, plant them in sandy soil, waste their time with amendments, use drip systems and over-fertilize and then tell everyone how problematic roses are. Surprised? Joe

Well, first we'll need to identify the rose. Do you have pictures? Can we have more specific information on each plant (bloom color, bloom size, approx. number of petals, plant size, thorniness, fragrance)? Here is a link that might be useful: How can I identify a found/unknown/mystery rose?

David Austin himself advises to encourage a strong bush by cutting out all frail growth leaving only the studiest canes.Then prune them as to their growth pattern. Upright ones prune back by one half, spreading, arching and bushy shapes by one third. However if they are grown for display in a rose bed on their own then prune as for a Hybrid Tea right down to eight inches from the ground.

Hi Nik, Yes, They use OP for 'Open Pollinated' seeds, in the Rose Hybridizers Association Forum, to natural hips.. without or help. Of course It should be better If The seeds were self pollinated by human hands, but I shouldn't ask so many work to a good soul. Rodrigo