We are supposed to get wet snow tonight, should I cut down my roses and then

maybe cover them with leaves?

I'm wondering about this too!  No snow ... wet or otherwise ... here yet & I don't believe we get much in the way of snow in this part of Kentucky      Either way, I was wondering what to do with my roses for the winter.

Blessings,

Shirlee

We have had so much rain lately that my roses are now all blooming again.  They don't know what time of the year it is!  My DH brought me a rose bush a couple of months ago that was on the "throw away" cart at Lowes.  It looked bad.  I know that no matter how bad they look, you can bring them back to life, sometimes.  Anyway, I put the plastic pot out where I wanted to plant it and never got around to it and I happened to be by the brick wall and there that little thing was, fully in bloom.  Bless its heart, I need to know if I should plant it now before winter or what?  We don't get very harsh weather here but it gets cold.

I don't want to say where I live until the SP thing is revealed. 

 well we didnt get the wet snow last night, but maybe this weekend.  It has stayed cold here

and I dont think it will warm up anytime soon, so I think I will cut them down and cover

them with leaves and mulch to protect them.

What am I gonna do with them when I move out?  it will kill me to leave them behind!!

I was working on making that whole side of the house (that gets alot of sun) a rose

garden.  I have 6 rose bushes and just planted one last spring.

So I was thinking maybe dig them up next spring when butthead is not home and take

them to my sisters and let her have them.  I just want them to be loved and I know

he won't.  He already is mowing down all kinds of stuff in the yard.  I am afraid he

will just rip all that stuff out of the ground!!

I also planted a flowing almond (that gets delicate little pink flowers in the spring) in

memory of my mother....what the heck am I gonna do with that??? it is too big to take

with me and is not a plant to keep in a pot....I am so upset about not being able

to garden if I move.....

Jill ... I am totally clueless here.  This is the first time we've had roses grow for us.  Apparently the soil in this godforsaken land is perfect for roses.  Do when I cut them down to I cut them all the way to the ground or do I cut them a couple of inches about the ground or what? 

I'm wondering about perennials too.  Do I cut them all the way to the ground, a few inches above, or just leave them alone?

By the way, I would definitely take those rose bushes over to my sister & find some way to get that flowering almond tree out of there.  Maybe your sister can care for that as well? 

Blessings,

Shirlee

I usually cut mine just above the ground, so I guess that would be ankle high.  LOL!!  I think this year I will go a little higher, just so they are higher than my dogs eyes.  She's a little Boston Terrier and is always sniffing the ground.  I would hate for her to poke her eye on one of those.

Donna

Ooh, I wish I had seen this sooner. Don't cut your roses now, I know you already did, but you shouldn't. Your best bet now is to make sure and put a good 6-8" of mulch up around them, especially the root area. I would also put a rose cone over them.

Do your cutting in Spring when the temps are consistently warmer, here in Minnesota, I wait until the end of May, too risky otherwise. I am a zone 4~Jill, I know you're in New York and you all get cold there too. I hope they'll come back in Spring. Anyhow, when it is warmer, then uncover the mulch, then you can cut them back. I have taken SO many classes with Master Gardeners, and I have learned to err on the side of caution, especially with roses.

You can cut your perennials back if you want to, I don't because many of them provide a food source to the birdies throughout the winter. I do all my cleanup in the Spring. This is just me, I try to help the birds as much as possible because it is harder for them to find food, so I do this in addition to filling my feeders.

Thank you gardengal. 

I had looked online and it said to cut them in the spring but was talking to a neighbor today and he said to do it now ..... and they they come back in the spring. 

I was actually going to take his advice and cut them now .... until I saw your post.

Thanks so much for posting this.  You saved my roses as well.

I found this info online  a long time ago and this works for me, I have 19 rose bushes in my backyard.  don’t start to protect your roses too early.  Wait for a hard, killing frost, usually after the temperature has dropped to 13-18 degrees Fahrenheit for several consecutive nights.  Covering too early will encourage rodents to nest in your mounds.  Remember that you are covering your rose bushes to keep the bushes frozen, not to keep them warm!

Rose Cones.  Styrofoam rose cones may also be used to protect roses.  For best results, the bushes must be mounded first with 10-12” of soil.  After this soil is frozen solid, usually late November to early December, set the rose cone over the mounded bush.  Cut back the canes only enough, to fit inside the rose cone.  Styrofoam cones may create warm moist conditions increasing the risk of mold and fungal diseases.  To lessen disease problems, rose cones must be set on very late in the fall, and removed very early in the spring.

I used to use rose cones a long time ago, but I lost more bushes using them than not using them.