Oh yes very much like that although there are far fewer leaves on my plant in winter. It is only in a very cold year that this happens. The problem in The U.K. is that being an island we don't have a continental climate with long summers and long winters. Spring can start in February and Winter can still be hanging around in May, the same in reverse happens in autumn. My garden increases this problem being in the bottom of a valley. Growing vegetables is difficult as there is quite a short growing season in 2007 I had a -3 frost on May 23rd. Frosts occur in June and September frequently, in 2015 there was a bloody frost in July! High rain fall in summer and constant heavy dew create the perfect conditions for blackspot although I have almost never seen any types of mildews or of rust. I don't feed any roses in open ground after the beginning of July but that does not stop weak and sappy growth continuing to grow throughout October and into November. But as you say, "like a phoenix" Madame Alfred always bounces back. It is always just about the first rose to start blooming and the last to finish. Although on average years I would estimate my garden to be zone 7 it is rather immaterial because winter can be so erratic, in 2015 we had a temperature of 14.5 as a night time low in December, a record warm temperature, in 2010 during the same period I woke to find crab claws of frost on my bathroom mirror!! I think die back also has something to do with mineral deficiencies in the soil, boron in particular, which I am attempting to correct and will write about my ideas on that matter in due course.