First Winter Pruning of Climber Cane?

Rose Care
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This will be the first winter for a climber that has grown very nicely. In Sept it pushed out one main cane about 4 ft. tall with 3 blooming flowers at its tip right now. The rest of the bush is about 24” high. N. NM had it’s 1st freeze last night and here at 7000 ft, we can expect -10F by Feb.
Questions:
1. Do I leave the lone 4 ft cane to be arched over to produce lateral branching next season or cut it back with all the other branches to 6” or a few eyes, and mulch with pine straw?

  1. Will that lone cane gain more height or will the bloom at the tip stop its upward growth?
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Leave the canes be - don’t prune. However, you want your main canes to be horizontal come spring. Flowering shoots will grow upwards from every leaf axil provided the main cane is horizontal. This will maximize your bloom. There are several YouTube videos on the internet as to how to prune/grow climbers. In Spring, prune only the dead wood and force the main canes to be horizontal.

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