A question about roses and one about squirrels!!!?

I have a rose bush that grows tall as well. Last year I was so careful to cut just the spent blooms and just down to the limb with 5 leaves. Well, this year I have cut back as much as a foot off of the stems and the bush has had stronger healthier stems. I think you will be fine to cut it back, just make sure that you do it at least 6 weeks before your first frost (which would be now in our area.....zone 7). That way you won't have any new growth to be killed off.

LOL on the squirrel. They do make kinda a barking/chirpping sound. This is usually when something or someone is in their surroundings that they don't like. Basically they are fussing. I don't know that I've heard one shreik though. I would think this is a sound they would make if they were hurt. Hope that's not the case.

Hope this helps! =o)

It sounds like you bought a rose bush for the blooms, not the "identity". Some rose bushes grow up to 30ft in less than 10 yrs. Others stay small, with small blossoms.

I recommend you either take a photo or a bud sample to your local nursery and identify the rose name. Then you can research that one and find out what you have. Continually pruning back the new growth won't alter the plant's DNA - you'll just have less blooming and poor growth.

We have over 60 roses bushes in our yard - each has it's own identity. We grow them well with TLN - tender loving neglect. We rarely prune them back, use no fertilizer and always have roses in December...

u can cut the rose, look for a spot on the bush where there is a 5 leaf branch, cut above it, this will support growth next spring.....as for the squirrel, that is a warning or distress call.......if u run a squirrel up a tree, step back and soon enough he will start making that call.....my little dog ran one up a tree and the squirrel was calling like mad.....

Cut the extra height off the rose in the fall, I think that if you do it when it's sprouting in Spring it could effect the number of blooms you get.

Squirrels make warning noises, and they "bark" to each other. If you don't really like this noise then I can also tell you that they taste good fried in bacon grease.

I'm not really a rose person, but I'm guessing next year you should prune more in the dormant season. But I doubt it would hurt to trim it back now.

Maybe the squirrel was calling his or her babies.

Squirrels do make warning sounds.

He thought he was being attacked by a giant mutant rose bush.