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I am way behind in my gardening chores and didn't get my roses pruned yet. I was wondering whether it's too late to do so. Can I trim them back now? Or should I just let them go for this season? — Judy A., Central Point Judy! Judy! Judy! (Sorry. We couldn't resist the Cary Grant reference. We are that old.) By the way, did you know Grant didn't actually say that in a movie? Grant did say, "Susan, Susan, Susan" in "Bringing Up Baby." But we digress. Weeding our way back down the garden path to your prickly problem, Susan ... er ... Judy, most of us are on watch for the Easter Bunny, and we're betting you think you should have clipped your leggy roses back around Valentines Day. Right? According to the folks at plant-care.com, spring pruning of established roses is always a gamble. If you prune too early, late spring frosts can kill all the canes. If you prune too late, some of the plants' strength will be lost in the growth of the top shoots. Kathleen Rieman, horticulturist for the Rogue Valley's Grange Co-op stores, says you're not alone, Judy. Our late frosts and lingering winter weather have played havoc with her own gardening, and she, too, is playing catch-up. Still, the late start calls for careful pruning, she added. "If (Judy) wants to prune, she should prune moderately," Rieman said. If you have hybrid tea roses, cutting them back to 18 to 24 inches would be the best bet. On climbing roses, the lateral branches perpendicular to the vertical climbing canes should be pruned to about 18 inches in length, she said. "The whole thing with pruning roses is to get prettier flowers, more flowers and getting them to drape attractively on the scaffold branches," Rieman said. Shrub and floribunda roses require very little pruning. You need not prune them at all, except to take out dead, diseased, dying or decomposing branches, she added. The folks at rose-roses.com have some advice that may help you next year. They say a good rule of thumb is to prune your bushes when the yellow forsythia bushes are in full bloom in your neighborhood. "That's an old gardeners' axiom that usually holds true," Rieman said. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected].