Safeguarding Your Roses During Winter: Three Approaches

Safeguarding Your Roses During Winter: Three Approaches

If you enjoyed the vibrant hues and pleasing aromas your roses offered during summer, it's now your turn to shield them from the harsh winter winds and cold temperatures that could harm or even kill the plant. Whether you have climbing, bush, or hybrid roses, providing some winter protection, particularly in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6 and lower, or microclimates with subzero temperatures, can help ensure your roses regain their beauty next spring and summer.

Understanding the Timing

Timing is crucial in everything, including winter protection for roses. Avoid starting too early, but depending on the winter temperatures in your area, protection should generally be put in place by early December.

Allow the roses to enter dormancy naturally. As the weather starts to cool, often in October, stop cutting blooms and allow rose hips to form. If you want to save and dry rose petals, gently twist the blooms before they turn brown. Dispose of any fallen leaves displaying signs of black spot, rust, or powdery mildew. These fungal diseases can overwinter as spores and cause damage in the spring.

Don't prune too early. Pruning while temperatures are still moderate can signal the rose to produce new tender canes vulnerable to winter damage. Wait until mid-November to remove dead or diseased canes and reduce the overall size of the rose plant. The final winterization steps (mulching, mounding soil, wrapping) should be done after your area has experienced several days of below-freezing temperatures.

Selecting Roses that Handle Winter Well

If you live in an area with severe winter temperatures, consider choosing hardy rose varieties such as old garden, shrub, and landscape roses. Old garden roses can be climbing, trailing, or bushy shrubs. While they can benefit from winter protection, they are more likely to survive subzero temperatures.

Less hardy roses, including hybrid tea, English, polyantha, floribunda, grandiflora, miniature, and some climbing roses, are more sensitive to diseases and winter damage and should always receive winterization. All roses grown in containers should receive winter protection to prevent damage.

3 Methods of Winter Protection

Mounding Soil

Mounded soil is an effective insulator against winter weather and suitable for all roses. Garden or bagged soil is mounded around the base of the rose to protect the roots and crown of the plant. Form a 12-inch diameter ring with back mulch around the base of the plant, then add enough soil from the garden or potting soil so it is mounded over the plant to a height of about 6 to 8 inches around the canes. If using bagged soil, ensure it does not contain fertilizer.

Rose Cones or Huts

Rose cones can be metal frames with removable vinyl covers or huts made from Styrofoam. Cones offer additional protection for small rose bushes and tea roses when mounding soil or mulch. To use a rose cone:

• Remove dead and diseased canes. Depending on the size, you may need to prune larger canes to fit the rose cone over the plant.
• Rake away leaves and mulch around the rose.
• Slip the cone or hut over the plant.
• Fill with garden soil or mulch to a depth of about 6 to 8 inches.
• Weigh down the cone or hut with bricks or heavy stones to ensure stability.
• Ensure there's ventilation along the top of the cone so air can circulate. Punch holes in the sides of Styrofoam huts or vinyl covers if needed.

Alternative Insulation Materials

Soil is the recommended choice for mounding or filling a rose cone, but some gardeners use lightweight mulch like leaves or straw. Mulch may provide adequate protection in more temperate growing areas but also increases the risk of rodents using it as a winter nest. Not only will you be surprised by their presence in the spring, but critters may also decide to eat on your rose.

For rose growers in warmer growing zones where heavy winterization isn't required, use burlap and twine to wrap roses for occasional winter weather blasts.

Step-by-Step Guide to Winterizing Roses

1. Start by allowing the rose to enter dormancy naturally in October.
2. In mid-November, prune the rose to remove dead and diseased canes. If using rose cones or huts, additional pruning may be necessary to fit the cone. Remove climbing roses from trellises and lay the canes flat.
3. Rake away and dispose of fallen leaves. Clear away mulch to create a clear area about 12 inches in diameter around the base of the rose.
4. Mound soil around the base of the plant, covering the roots and crown to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. For climbing roses, cover the canes with 3 to 4 inches of soil after covering the crown.
5. If using a rose cone, place it in position before adding soil, and secure it to ensure stability.

Additional Tips for Successful Winterization

• To overwinter a container-grown rose in an early November protected garden location, dig a hole as deep as the pot. Place the container in the hole and fill around the pot with soil. Once the ground freezes, add another 8 to 10 inches of soil over the rose.
• Most bushy old roses do not require winterization; however, if they have no protection from winter winds, consider adding protection. In mid to late November, place a cylinder made from chicken or hog wire around the plant, then fill it with 3 to 4 feet of straw or pine straw.
• Remove all types of rose winterization in mid-March before the plants break dormancy but after harsh winter temperatures have passed.

Appreciated your visit! Feeling enlightened? Share your thoughts! What's your take on it?

1. If you're interested in expanding your gardening techniques, Southern Living magazine has numerous gardening landscaping ideas that could inspire your winter protection strategies for your roses.
2. When it comes to seasonal gardening, caring for your garden doesn't stop when the flowers start to fade. Ensuring proper winter protection for your roses can help encourage their growth and vibrancy come spring and summer.
3. For those with a passion for gardening flowers, exploring gardening ideas specific to roses can lead to techniques that will keep these beautiful blooms thriving in any climate.

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