Flora - I live close by Dan in Central Illinois, snd here's what I do for my fertilizing program. I personally like Rose Tone, which is a granular fertilizer. Some folks use Mills Magic; Miracle Gro; etc. You might do a search and read the different threads about fertilizers. It's simply a matter of personal preference. It takes a lot of energy and food for roses to bloom, so I always start fertilizing May 1. Roses are heavy feeders and need lots of energy to produce those beautiful blooms we love. I quit feeding September 1, which gives the roses a chance to harden any new growth before winter. I fertilize monthly, which is according to the Rose Tone directions. Newly-planted rose bands get only LIQUID ROSE FERTILIZER at 1/2 strength for the first year so it doesn't burn their roots. Next year after they have had a chance to establish a healthy root system, they will graduate to Rose Tone fertilizer. I too winter protect with mulch. I checked my roses last week, and they were green under the mulch but the top canes were black. When I prune in a couple of weeks and uncover all the way, I'll prune until I find the white pith. And yes, do cut off below the cane if you find canker. Hope this info helps. -terry

Having been the victim of severe early spring freezes several years ago, my roses had to undergo an equally severe pruning to get rid of damaged canes. Definitely cut them back about an inch below the black part. But check and see if the center of the cut area is a nice healthy white. If not, cut back more until you come to that clear white center. That well could be back to the soil line in some cases. However, new growth will depend on the rose having a healthy root system. If the rose does not have good roots, I would start looking around for the reason--eaten off by critters? poor drainage? burned roots from multi-chemical fertilizers like Bayer (any of those all-in-one, 3-in-one, etc., products). Newly planted roses should not be fed until they have produced significant growth in their new spot. Since you have already potted the rose, I'd guess the best you can do now is prune as I indicated above, water regularly, and keep it in semi-shade for about a month. Maybe it can be babied back to health. Good luck, Kate

Never prune the main canes (the ones that grow from the base of the rose), unless it's to remove dead and damaged wood. Only prune the "laterals" that come off the main canes. And, you usually prune those when the forsythia's bloom in spring for you. You may want to check out Paul Zimmerman's video on utube about how to prune and control a climber. It will explain the concept of main cane vs laterals. Are they going to be tied up on a trellis or fence? Mine are on a trellis and all I did, besides mounding the bases of the bushes with leaves, is I draped and tied burlap over the trellis to cover the canes. I worked like a charm for me! I didn't loose any canes over winter. In the photo you can see (under all the snow lol!) that I draped the burlap over the trellis to cover the canes. I may work for you. Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning and controlling a climbing rose

Buford, The one time I'll go in and cut lowest is when the cane is mushy. This hasn't happened often, and I don't know what the disease is, but sometimes the cane has leaves that don't look good, and I'll wiggle it to see if it's broken and it's not broken, it's mushy. Then I will cut lowest possible, usually in stages and I follow the cleanliness regime that Cass recommends (sometimes with adding bleach in between cuts to the secateurs if I think the disease has a real lethal potential.) The cleanliness that Cass talks about is so important. About rugosas: We visited a garden Wednesday where we'd watched two beds that were primarily Pink Grootendorsts with a few interplanted forsythia. One bed is gone, replaced with grass. In the eight years we've watched these, only one plant had gotten Rose Rosette, and we'd pruned the sick canes off; that bush is still RRD-free. But with no care, another plant is a RRD mess now and forsythia is taking over. The remaining five Pink G's are mostly dead canes. In my part of the world, have have seen this dead cane thing on rugosas in my yard, I try to cut them back as far as possible and it makes a better looking rose. But I've seen some mass plantings of rugosas up in the mountains (clear zone 6 cold) and many of the rugosas are mostly similar dead canes. Down here, the rugosas aren't 'no care'. The cause? Sometimes you'll see a swelling on the canes. I've sent some of those to some plant pathologists who couldn't find any boring insects or other pathogen. I'm afraid we may learn more about rugosa diseases as northern Europeans consider ways to fight and kill rugosas which are becoming known in parts of Scandanavia as invasive alien species.