The old adage is to prune roses when the forsythia blooms. Since it's been at full bloom for a couple of weeks here, I'd assume that where you are, it was doing the same a month ago. We had a mild Winter and early warm-up, which typically has people afraid to get started early, in case there's a late freeze. Well, it's April now, and I think that chance has passed. But keep in mind that's the EARLIEST to prune (well, for most modern roses.....many old roses and species can be pruned earlier because they simply WON'T wake up early from pruning). You can get to it a little later -- all you'll do is delay the first flush a bit.
BTW, what I suggested in my first reply is actually how I attack basically any rose when I set down to prune. It all begins with removing the stuff that's one of the four Ds -- Dead, Dying, Diseased, or Damaged. It's just that under "Dying" I include stuff that's still alive, but clearly on its way to being replaced by a newer shoot lower down. I find that by approaching pruning this way, I end up much how "the books" say you should finish, but "the books" didn't explain WHY certain canes were removed and others were kept.
So when I prune a Hybrid Tea, I find that there's typically so much damage and disease after Winter that all I have left are the three or so strong canes -- that the books say is what you want to have -- and then I cut them down to an outward-facing bud eye. When I prune a shrub, there's typically less damage and more vigor than on Hybrid Teas, so I end up with more canes that are also longer.....and again prune to outward-facing bud eyes. I've also come to find that, usually, when you see crossing canes, at least one of them is already on its way out. It's as though the rose is no longer getting a strong signal that there's something there, and so sends something new to replace it -- even though the older bit is still there.
With climbers and ramblers, same thing -- after untying them, if possible. The extra point there is that I shorten flowering side shoots to about eight to ten inches first, to make things less chaotic, and snip ends of growth shoots (from which flowering shoots emerge) so that nothing is thinner than a pencil. What I have left is then tied back up how I want, and I snip laterals again to leave the last bud facing where I want. That's why I leave them a little bit longer before tying back up -- I don't know if I'll have to snip again in case the bud is not pointing where I want.
One last bit of advice -- when you set down to prune, begin from the bottom. I suggested seeing the dead bits and tracing them down to you so you can get a feel for what's on its way out and what's the replacement. But before you make any cut, clear the crown, and start from the base -- anything dead or damaged or diseased lower down will not result in something healthy and strong above. If you're concerned about taking too much, or that the rose will "heal" the diseased/damaged/dying parts, don't worry. There will be a replacement. And when you start from the bottom and see a strong new shoot emerging from low on an existing cane, you'll be able to see how the new part is much nicer than what is above it -- and how what's above it is likely getting in the way of other new growth. That's how you learn what to remove.
:-)
~Christopher
