wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a climber too, "Forth of July" but I did not cut this nearly so
low, left about 3" above the knot. I planted it last summer but had a
lot of troubles with rabbits eating the leaves, so I put 3 foot high
chicken wire around them. The roses took a lot to recover from the
rabbits and whatever did bloom was hidden by the fence. Bummer. I like
the roses they look nice all summer. I just need to learn and read
more.

I've had rabbits go after some roses and ignore
others. I'm on my third copy of a Bourbon (old
garden rose) called Souvenir de la Malmaison.
The first two copies were eaten by rabbits, which
left the other roses in the same bed alone. Finally
I did as you did, put a chicken wire fence around
it and left it for two years. Now it's doing fine,
even without the rabbit barrier.

If your Fourth of July climber recovers from
the severe pruning it should be ok (rabbit proof)
once it gets bigger.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8