Ahh, yes--I'm a bit inspired by the same post. For me it wouldn't be about "forcing dormancy" as it is about doing some clean up and preventative before they wake up! But I'm honestly clueless as to the practical realities of how you actually do it since I don't typically spray much of anything.

Am I right in assuming that the horticulture oil/dormant oil/sulfer oil would still be "organic?" (It's not that I care about an organic designation--I have 4 hives of bees I have to not screw up!)

I know when I was just starting to add roses to my gardens I found a thread about winter spraying and I think it was Anne Peck and another TN poster who thought a good winter weather year was when they could get a couple sprays in between Jan and mid Feb. I will have to go dig some more...

Karen, if you run into any good info please pass it on!

I have not done this as of yet.... I am zone 10 in Florida. I have learned from our rose society meetings that most rosarians here do this in February here. They have had great results. I plan on doing this, this year because I am hoping to get rid of Sri Lanka weevils and chili thrips.... or at least help to get them under control.

Just want to add that just because something is organic doesn't mean it can't hurt you. Lime sulfur is harsh stuff and can damage your lungs. I once wore a bandana instead of a respirator when spraying it and my lungs were very irritated afterwards. I would use a respirator like you can get at Lowe's for $30, and goggles. I am not sure they're still selling lime sulfur.

The horticultural oil would not be good to breathe either I think. Lime sulfur can stain things. I plan to spray the oil sometime when weather permits. Will be spraying some of the soil as well .

I'm not sure this spraying is needed in dryer areas but I plan to manually remove old leaves if I can easily.

Sheila.... I remove leaves often... well not often, but probably more often than others. I live on the intracoastal in Florida. I get a lot of salt spray. Mostly after a extended periods of 45 to 60 mile winds.... or after a hurricane. I had always been told that roses need the leaves to make their sugar and taking off the leaves would hurt them. But after having Geoof Coolidge from Cool Roses come and look at my roses he determined that they were languishing from the salt. I now use a hose and rinse them off early mornings. But when the winds come and dry them out and leaves a terrible salt residue on them I sometimes now strip them off, even when it is not dormacy period. After hurricane Irma, I stripped every leaf off the bush and rinsed the stalks go get rid of the salt. Then I gave it some fertilizer which I hated doing because that promoted the chili thrips for us in the summer, but I figure it would be better battling an insect than the death of salt buildup. The roses bounced back.... so don't be afraid to pull off leaves. It does work..... I just would not do it all the time, because as others have said they DO need their leaves to make food, but on occasion it IS in their own best interest.

I am also thinking of spraying horticultural oil this winter after pruning.

It is environmentally safe, but I have heard that one is not supposed to spray the oil when the temperature is < 40F or > 80F. I found a pretty good article from the University of Tennesssee on the proper use of horticultural oil . Here is the link:

https://extension.tennessee.edu/mtnpi/Documents/handouts/Insect%20and%20Disease%20Control/Horticultural_Oil_Handout.pdf

I agree with erasmus_gw that organics are not always safe on plants.

A rosarian in the East Bay has advised me to spray copper on dormant roses. I suppose it is fine as long as the roses have not leaf out because copper in colder weather can cause phytotoxicity on emerging foliage.