dan, you'll love your Carefree Sunshine...hardy and bloom all summer (unfortunately, Japanese Beetles love them too, be forewarned).

I prune the dead tips and any crossed branches after they start greening up. You can prune alot. I've had these die down almost to the snow line, and come back blooming by the middle of the summer.

Thanks for the tips, Kathy :)

I'll agree with Kathy. Any dead bits can be pruned off at any time. Do you know if these are grafted roses? I assume so since they're from Bruce Co., so check and make sure the graft is planted below the soil line. The graft is kind of a knob on the plant where the canes come from. If the plants are own root then you don't have to worry about this. I think the Bailey roses are own root so if you have a Bailey's tag then it will be fine.

Oh, and you paid too much :) Bruce Co has beautiful plants, but their roses are at least $10 more than any other nursery.

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But he didn't have to dig the hole and wrestle with the shrub (licking my wounds from moving roses).

I honestly don't know if these are grafted or not - I'll have to check when I get home. I never heard of that term until now! Always something new to learn with gardening :) Grafted or not, is there a difference in pruning technique?

And I probably did pay too much :) I had the Bruce Company install some of the plants, but I'll do the remaining myself. I didn't want to do all of it myself, but then again, I don't want to pay someone else to do it all either. Had to find a happy medium :)

The difference with grafted plants is that the graft is tender and needs to be protected. That's why I said it might need to be planted deeper if it had a graft. Most roses will die back to the soil over the winter, so if the graft is exposed the rose you wanted can die and only the rootstock (which is a different rose) is left. There isn't any difference in pruning though, other than not cutting into the graft.

I can understand paying someone to plant for you. I've got quite the jungle on my back porch because I haven't had enough time to plant it all. But I've got a husband who is good at digging holes for me if I promise him we can go see a movie afterward.