Rose is budding out too soon

Can't stop it, so admire it!

My rose bush is budding out. I've never seen that before. What should I do? - J. -

It's called budbreak. It happens when there's four or five days of warm weather after a plant has had the amount of time and/or cold its genetic code calls for. That is, if a warm up comes very early in winter, a plant's not likely to break bud because it hasn't finished its winter rest. However, once the plant's met its quota of cold hours or dormant hours, it'll jump at the first warm spell.

Thing is, it's beautiful and there's nothing to be done.

The exposed shoots may be damaged. Then again, they may weather the end of winter just fine, since in the red of new growth is a certain amount of antifreeze!

Another thought to your ease concern: In early spring when you prune to remove old and weak growth, and shorten canes to sturdy bases, you'll probably just cut off that portion of the bush, anyway.

So just enjoy the beauty - take time to see the roses.