It's April, can I still prune my Othello rose bush, or should I have done this last fall?

Question

Southwest Michigan local.

Answer 1

Roses should not be pruned in fall. The chance of frost damage destroying to much of your rose increases. Pruning should be done just as leaves break. If you are pruning early for your area, leave most of the canes winter has not damaged. A good rule of thumb is reducing one-half to one-third the height of the cane. This can be overdone with my mild Seattle winter, but the more canes you leave, the more roses you will have.

Apply a dormant spray after all the pruning is done.

Since you have Othello I got this out of Austins own book:

PRUNING David Austin Roses: (in early spring)
The very different habits of the David Austin Roses make it difficult to have hard and fast rules for pruning.
SPREADING TYPES: Remove about 1/3 of the length of all the stems to an outward facing bud.
ARCHING: Remove 1/5 of each stem to maintain the plants shape.
BUSHY: Remove 1/3 of each stem to a bud. Remove weak spindly growth.
UPRIGHT: Prune hard removing half of each stem to an outward bud.

For most gardeners if you do not know which kind you have prune them all back to 6 inches tall in the early spring.