Don't prune roses yet, nights still too cold

Happy New Year! This is shaping up to be the driest season ever recorded in California. That combined with the mild daytime temperatures might get a person restless to get out there and prune their roses, but they shouldn’t jump the gun! Nights are still quite cold and pruning too early can lead to the cold killing off the tender new growth that is stimulated by pruning. Let the rose bushes rest a little longer and consider January a chance to plan a pruning schedule.

My advice is to prune the weekends immediately before and after Valentine’s Day this year. In eight to 12 weeks, one can expect...