fall tips for roses

[canadian gardener]

If you have roses, let them set rose hips now, so that the rose is getting ready for winter naturally.

And if it's a tender or delicate rose-- some aren't that cold hardy, then find a cardboard box ready for later and bag some leaves and hang onto them.

When the first frosts come, after the ground is hard, put the box around the rose, and fill with the leaves. It will keep the rose in winter dormant condition and protect the roots and the graft area (many hybrid teas are grown on different root stock and the graft zone is delicate).

In spring you wait till the weather is better, and the freeze and thaw cycle is pretty much over, and the ground is thawed before removing the box. Use the leaves as mulch around the rose.

Then wait to prune the dead stuff off the rose till you see what is still alive. Some roses take time to wake up. My step gran taught me to wait till the end of June before declaring a rose dead from winter kill. She is right. Some just take their sweet time. Once they are growing, then prune them and enjoy.

[jlxian]

Thanks for the tips. Yes, we experienced the slow to wake up process with our rose this year. We planted it in 2004 and it did well. Then it seemed to get frozen in a late cold snap this year and I was sure it was dead. But lo and behold in a few weeks it put out new growth. We hadn't done anything to protect it during the winter, so I think I will try your cardboard box trick. Thank you!