HelpfulGardener.com

This is my first year having rose bushes. They're doing fine (except one got chomped by Japanese beetles) but I'm not sure when to cover them up for the winter. Tonight is supposed to be really cold here (in the 30s) in Ashburnham, MA and I need to know if I should do anything to protect them and if so, what? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

OOPS!

It's Wed. morn and I hope that frost didn't catch your roses too hard; I suspect not as it wasn't too hard a frost and it's warming up fast.

Shrubs shouldn't need much, but hybrid teas are sissies and need more; if you have teas you should probably buy rose cones or read the rose articles for more info on overwintering...

[url]https://www.helpfulgardener.com/rose/2003/care.html[/url]

Scott

Thank you for your reply. I covered the bushes last night with sheets and beach towels and they seemed to have survived okay. I read that Rose article you linked for me and got a lot of good info.

So, the actually one foot mulching of straw should be done after the ground freezes? When does that usually happen? Should I mulch and burlap too or is that unnecessary? I have Jackson and Perkins shrub roses: Love's Promise, Knock Out, Cherry Parfait, Oragold, and Queen Elizabeth. I also have a rose (tea?) in another bed that came up on its own, got lots of long and skinny canes, bloomed great then got attacked with black spots and beetles which all but wiped it out. Should I do anything to it this fall like cut it back or spray it with something?

Thanks, Heather

Hey Heather

If you're using straw it can go on anytime now; I would burlap first and stuff the top with the straw.

That self seeding rose is probably R. multiflora, a bird borne invasive, and you should root it up and kill it (It's a 99 out of 100 chance I'm right on the I.d., so I feel safe in telling you to murder that plant )

You have mostly shrubs (Queen Liz is a grandiflora, a glorified tea rose really, but she's a performer, for sure), so the prognosis is good. Get a little protection on them now and you should be fine (the sheets and blankets will hold you for another week or three )

Just getting some topsoil and burying the canes will work too...

Scott

Scott,
Thanks for the advice and info. I'll be off to the fabric store tomorrow to get some burlap.

Heather