My advice is to wait to prune until the large flowered daffodils are underway in your area. Prune all climber growth basal canes as well as laterals, until white/cream colored pith is encountered, AND the stem thickness is minimally as thick as a wooden writing pencil. At this point what's left can be further pruned to accommodate the support structure restrictions if necessary. What guidelines I have given are subject to your interpretation.

Once blooming climbers are pruned differently. I will defer to those folks knowledgeable on their pruning to chime in.

Very old looking basal canes on climbers are left in place as long as green, vigorous growth emerges somewhere ithem,, even well beyond the crown. My Lady Ashe, which recently succumbed to Rose Rosette Virus, had a 4" diameter trunk on her, from which about 4 laterals emerged which were a good 6 years old, quite old looking, and pumped out beautiful, thick additional laterals from themselves. My Lady Ashe was about 12 years old, own root.

Climbers are not pruned like hybrid teas, whose basal canes loose productivity at about 4 yrs. age, and are cut back to the crown.

I believe climbers growing in more mild climates are pruned more aggressively, but how I have found my climbers to respond best in W. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, zone 6, is as I have recommended.

Moses

Thank you Moses for your in-depth explanation. It is very helpful to me. I think my major concern is the die back at the tips of my main canes. Should I cut them off? Yet, I've often read not to cut the main canes. (This is where I am confused) Thanks again.

If the cane is black or has black sections interspersed with green sections, prune back to where green begins without any interruptions with black. Then, look at the pith, continue pruning back by no more than 1" increments, nipping away until white/cream pith is encountered, then stop the nipping away until a bud below the last nip is reached. That bud, as dormant as it may be, even if it is no more than a node, will break dormancy and become a new lateral.

What climber(s), are you working on? What growing zone do you garden in?

One last thing...don't be tricked by seeing robust looking shoots emerging from green sections of canes with black areas below the robust looking shoots. . Those shoots are doomed to either soon wither and shrivel up as the black sections extend into one another, obliterating all the green sections as the entire portion turns black, or the shoots grow a bit further, but weaken and become extremely unthrifty. Then, you eventually prune out the unthrifty growth to good green stem with white/cream pith.

Moses

Got it! Your help is so welcomed. Now that I know it's okay to cut the black off in 1" increments is exactly what I wanted to know. So, (hypothetically speaking) if I were to cut way, let's say, 2ft of black from that main cane and stop where the bud below that is reached, I'll get a lateral cane growing from that bud? Can I treat that new lateral cane to now become a main cane? (Hope I'm making some sense) lol

The climber that I have is called "Florentine" I am in Zone 8a. Vancouver, BC Canada

Thank you so much for your help with this.

The problem with the cut back to white pith advice is that it is really hybrid tea advice. A *LOT* of rose canes develop a dark pith heartwood with age. IMO, it looks quite different from damaged canes, but I think you need a certain amount of experience to know that.

Yes, yes, and yes! 😁. If that new lateral is husky, that's great. If it's wimpy, as the climber gains some size, that lateral, "main cane," can be eliminated in favor of a more robust one.

Florentina is one beauty, and will grow magnificently with good care, especially in Vancouver. In its early years it may seem slow to show what it has, but as most climbers do it will make up for its slow, less than robust/hardys tart.

Moses