I am writing a few general posts under this thread that will be covering specific topics regarding winter care of roses that hopefully answer questions for a lot of people, and give a reference to return to. I hope they are of help to you. This is the first.
The Reasons for Winter Protection of Roses
Part I
Written by Val Winthrope September 8, 2005
In order for roses to get through winter successfully they must go through a period of acclimation (fall) and then de-acclimation (spring). This process allows the rose to undergo certain chemical and physiological changes.
Roses that have the ability to do this have obtained it from their adaptation of their cold environment over millennia. Evolution plays a very important part in this scheme of things. So either a rose has super-cooled genes or it doesn't. This explains why some roses are hardier than others.
The Effect of Fall on Roses:
In fall, a number of conditions set off changes within roses that slow their growth. Decreasing temperatures and shortening day-length are two that start these changes. This triggers the production of abscisic acid, a general growth inhibitor. An increase in Abscisic acid also causes guard cells to collapse and close the stomata, the cells that allow the gases and water to escape the rose, slowing the release of water. This is often called “super-coolingâ€
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SPECIFIC WINTER PROTECTION OF ROSES
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I have been writing a few general posts that cover specific topics that hopefully answer questions for a lot of people, and give a reference to return to. I hope they are of help to you. This is the second. The first is "The Reasons for Winter Protection of Roses".
Basics of Rose Winter Protection
PART II
Written by Val Winthrope September 14,2005
Climate Hardiness Zones:
Winter Protection is the practice of doing something to protect your roses from the ravages of winter. Of course, this is not normally an issue for those in the south, but it does affect the northern parts of the world.
For specific information about which Climate Hardiness Zone you are in, you need to find the plant hardiness zone chart for your country, find your area on the map, and then refer to the corresponding zone. Some of the net addresses for these are:
Canada and https://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/nsdb/climate/hardiness/index.html
United States and https://www.thegardenhelper.com/hardiness.htm
Europe(includesUK)https://www.uk.gardenweb.com/forums/zones/hze.html
Australia - https://www.anbg.gov.au/hort.research/zones.html
World Zone Maps and https://www.aroid.org/horticulture/zonemap/index.html
Hardiness or Not Hardiness?
While many roses have no problem with winter frost, cold and ice, many do. Unfortunately, each rose variety is a little different with respect to winter hardiness. Some known "tender" varieties, including china, tea, and some hybrid tea, grandiflora, and floribunda roses will need some protection. When in doubt it's best to protect.
Most rose shrub and landscape varieties, do not need any particular treatment or protection. The key thing to understand is that most roses that are sold are grafted, meaning that the beautiful rose we pay for has actually been "spliced" onto the roots of an unspectacular rose variety which has a more vigorous root. The part on the rose bush where the two varieties meet is called the bud union, and resembles a ball or knot of wood at the base of the plant above the roots. If a hard winter kills the rose bush to below this point, only the rootstock will be left alive, and though something may grow back, it won't be the rose you paid for, as it will be dead and gone.
Winter protection is probably the most debated area of rose care. Many rosarians have developed their own favorite methods, most of which work in some fashion or another, and you will usually be hard pressed to sway them to any other way.
These notes are written for the home rose gardener and are not intended as foolproof instructions on how to bring roses through the coming winter without harm!
Wintering roses can be as easy, or as complicated as you choose to make it. Depending on where you live, wintering roses can be a piece of cake or a nightmare. However, with a few tips you can increase your chances of success.
The Beginning:
Wintering roses begins when you plant your rose. Ensuring that you have given your rose the appropriate placement in your garden to allow it to flourish is important to its overall health. Also, for those who live in colder climates, hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas are not very hardy in zones below 6. Though we are all told to plant the graft (bud union) at ground level, in order for them to have a fighting chance of surviving, their bud union or graft needs to be at least four to six inches below the level ground surface. This graft is very tender and the whole rose can perish if it is damaged by freezing and thawing during winter. Contrary to belief, this does not effect the rose’s growth or health in any way.
How to Stop the Casualties:
Rose plants can be killed or injured during winter in any of several different ways even with the greatest of care:
- Direct injury to tops or roots from extreme cold
- Root injury from drying-out as a result of plants being heaved out of the ground by alternate freezing and thawing
- Rapid variation of temperature caused by warming of stems by strong winter sunshine and then rapid freezing
- Injury caused by animals such as mice
- Snow or ice breakage
What can the gardener do to prevent such injury?
1. Choose Hardy Varieties:
Often injury from extreme cold could be avoided by choosing the hardiest varieties. Unfortunately, most hybrid roses have not been thoroughly evaluated for winter hardiness, so rose gardeners must be willing to experiment themselves, or rely on the experiences of other rose growers. Generally, polyanthus, hybrid perpetuals, shrub roses, and many of the "old-fashioned" roses prove more winter hardy than the hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras.
2. Provide Winter Protection
When the winter winds blow, gardeners who live in an area where temperatures dip below 5 degrees F need to protect their roses. The goal of this annual procedure is to lessen the effects of freezing and thawing, and keep branches from blowing in the wind, which causes roots to loosen, called “rockingâ€
Basics of Rose Winter Protection
PART II
Written by Val Winthrope September 14,2005
Climate Hardiness Zones:
Winter Protection is the practice of doing something to protect your roses from the ravages of winter. Of course, this is not normally an issue for those in the south, but it does affect the northern parts of the world.
For specific information about which Climate Hardiness Zone you are in, you need to find the plant hardiness zone chart for your country, find your area on the map, and then refer to the corresponding zone. Some of the net addresses for these are:
Canada and https://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/nsdb/climate/hardiness/index.html
United States and https://www.thegardenhelper.com/hardiness.htm
Europe(includesUK)https://www.uk.gardenweb.com/forums/zones/hze.html
Australia - https://www.anbg.gov.au/hort.research/zones.html
World Zone Maps and https://www.aroid.org/horticulture/zonemap/index.html
Hardiness or Not Hardiness?
While many roses have no problem with winter frost, cold and ice, many do. Unfortunately, each rose variety is a little different with respect to winter hardiness. Some known "tender" varieties, including china, tea, and some hybrid tea, grandiflora, and floribunda roses will need some protection. When in doubt it's best to protect.
Most rose shrub and landscape varieties, do not need any particular treatment or protection. The key thing to understand is that most roses that are sold are grafted, meaning that the beautiful rose we pay for has actually been "spliced" onto the roots of an unspectacular rose variety which has a more vigorous root. The part on the rose bush where the two varieties meet is called the bud union, and resembles a ball or knot of wood at the base of the plant above the roots. If a hard winter kills the rose bush to below this point, only the rootstock will be left alive, and though something may grow back, it won't be the rose you paid for, as it will be dead and gone.
Winter protection is probably the most debated area of rose care. Many rosarians have developed their own favorite methods, most of which work in some fashion or another, and you will usually be hard pressed to sway them to any other way.
These notes are written for the home rose gardener and are not intended as foolproof instructions on how to bring roses through the coming winter without harm!
Wintering roses can be as easy, or as complicated as you choose to make it. Depending on where you live, wintering roses can be a piece of cake or a nightmare. However, with a few tips you can increase your chances of success.
The Beginning:
Wintering roses begins when you plant your rose. Ensuring that you have given your rose the appropriate placement in your garden to allow it to flourish is important to its overall health. Also, for those who live in colder climates, hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas are not very hardy in zones below 6. Though we are all told to plant the graft (bud union) at ground level, in order for them to have a fighting chance of surviving, their bud union or graft needs to be at least four to six inches below the level ground surface. This graft is very tender and the whole rose can perish if it is damaged by freezing and thawing during winter. Contrary to belief, this does not effect the rose’s growth or health in any way.
How to Stop the Casualties:
Rose plants can be killed or injured during winter in any of several different ways even with the greatest of care:
- Direct injury to tops or roots from extreme cold
- Root injury from drying-out as a result of plants being heaved out of the ground by alternate freezing and thawing
- Rapid variation of temperature caused by warming of stems by strong winter sunshine and then rapid freezing
- Injury caused by animals such as mice
- Snow or ice breakage
What can the gardener do to prevent such injury?
1. Choose Hardy Varieties:
Often injury from extreme cold could be avoided by choosing the hardiest varieties. Unfortunately, most hybrid roses have not been thoroughly evaluated for winter hardiness, so rose gardeners must be willing to experiment themselves, or rely on the experiences of other rose growers. Generally, polyanthus, hybrid perpetuals, shrub roses, and many of the "old-fashioned" roses prove more winter hardy than the hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras.
2. Provide Winter Protection
When the winter winds blow, gardeners who live in an area where temperatures dip below 5 degrees F need to protect their roses. The goal of this annual procedure is to lessen the effects of freezing and thawing, and keep branches from blowing in the wind, which causes roots to loosen, called “rockingâ€
Last edited by grandpasrose on Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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grandpasrose
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Well everyone, here is the third in a series of preparing roses for winter. This one is for specialty roses such as rose trees, climbing, container, and miniature roses.
Please keep in mind that we all live in very diverse climates, so when reading this, use what makes sense for your area. Feel free to ask questions if unsure!
Winter Protection for Specialty Roses
Part III
Written by Val Winthrope September 28,2005
Rose Trees:
Tree roses are particularly sensitive to cold winter temperatures, and are more difficult to protect. This is because the hybrid rose is grafted at the top of an 18 inch to 3 foot single trunk, so the Tree Rose needs to have two bud unions protected, one of which is well off the ground.
Therefore, they are much more susceptible to freezing weather and winds. If you are in an area where the weather dips as low as 23º F, there are several methods to winter over and protect tree roses:
1) Tipping:
One way to winter protect them is to be “tipped overâ€
Please keep in mind that we all live in very diverse climates, so when reading this, use what makes sense for your area. Feel free to ask questions if unsure!
Winter Protection for Specialty Roses
Part III
Written by Val Winthrope September 28,2005
Rose Trees:
Tree roses are particularly sensitive to cold winter temperatures, and are more difficult to protect. This is because the hybrid rose is grafted at the top of an 18 inch to 3 foot single trunk, so the Tree Rose needs to have two bud unions protected, one of which is well off the ground.
Therefore, they are much more susceptible to freezing weather and winds. If you are in an area where the weather dips as low as 23º F, there are several methods to winter over and protect tree roses:
1) Tipping:
One way to winter protect them is to be “tipped overâ€
Last edited by grandpasrose on Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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That most sources of advice for overwintering roses are based on zone 5 and below conditions.
Yes, this was a very good, comprehensive guide. one of the better I have seen.
I would like to add a few miodifications for gardeners in zone 61 south.
Our most brutal winter weather starts l;ater and stays shorter than zones 5 and north.
I used to follow the standard reccomendations for pruning back my hybrids, grandifloras, floribundas and english style roses at first frost. I started losing roses left and right and could not understand why. I was doing everything by the book. Pruin down to roughly 12 inches, mound soil, wrap in burlap as needed, ect.
My fifth year I noticed something not mentioned. In our warmer winter m,onths November and december the temperatures were not cold enough to put my roses into dormancy. I would cut them back and they would almost immediatly started sending new shoots. january freezes would come , kill off the new shoots and stressing the roses to the point that they would take FOREVER to recover in the spring, iff at all.
Now I have modified the usual routine by waiting until late december, first week of january to prune back and leaving a bit more than often reccomended. 18 to 24 inches..
Now this is my resoning behind that. Roses do not have much of a root system to store nutrients , they store thier reserves in thier canes the more cane left, the more energy they have to grow when the spring comes.
Once I see good solid sprouts in the spring, I will go back and remove then winterkilled portions of the canes leaving a fraction of an inch of the killed portion to act as a wound seal. Have had zero issues with insects or disease outside of the typical found by other methods.
As I may have said at beginning of this post, these methods may only work well in zones 6a through 8b . north of zone 6 I would play it safe and go with the usual overwintering methods.
Yes, this was a very good, comprehensive guide. one of the better I have seen.
I would like to add a few miodifications for gardeners in zone 61 south.
Our most brutal winter weather starts l;ater and stays shorter than zones 5 and north.
I used to follow the standard reccomendations for pruning back my hybrids, grandifloras, floribundas and english style roses at first frost. I started losing roses left and right and could not understand why. I was doing everything by the book. Pruin down to roughly 12 inches, mound soil, wrap in burlap as needed, ect.
My fifth year I noticed something not mentioned. In our warmer winter m,onths November and december the temperatures were not cold enough to put my roses into dormancy. I would cut them back and they would almost immediatly started sending new shoots. january freezes would come , kill off the new shoots and stressing the roses to the point that they would take FOREVER to recover in the spring, iff at all.
Now I have modified the usual routine by waiting until late december, first week of january to prune back and leaving a bit more than often reccomended. 18 to 24 inches..
Now this is my resoning behind that. Roses do not have much of a root system to store nutrients , they store thier reserves in thier canes the more cane left, the more energy they have to grow when the spring comes.
Once I see good solid sprouts in the spring, I will go back and remove then winterkilled portions of the canes leaving a fraction of an inch of the killed portion to act as a wound seal. Have had zero issues with insects or disease outside of the typical found by other methods.
As I may have said at beginning of this post, these methods may only work well in zones 6a through 8b . north of zone 6 I would play it safe and go with the usual overwintering methods.
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Gkwilsongardens
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I was trying to find out what your other suggestions are when wintering over a potted tree rose. I live in St. Louis, Missouri and winters can get down to minus temps with wind chill. I see your "tipping" post, but don't see anything beyond? Should I bring the tree rose into a detached unseated garage for the winter? If so, what other preparation do I need to do in the garage? Thanks!