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HyperFerret
Full Member
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:50 pm
Location: Arkansas, Zone 7

Winter is Approaching ... What Do I Do Now?!

Hello. I'm not on here very often but I trust your guys advice most. First, I must warn you. I'm going to bombard you with pics just so you can see what's happening.

My garden consists of roses and more so I thought I'd post here. I planted my garden, watched it grow, and now winter has made it here. I hope I didn't wait too late. Weather is swinging back and forth. We've had some really cold nights (for the area) and some chilly days but then today it felt like mid spring. Only one night, so far, below freezing. I attempted to cover my plants but was not very successful.

In my garden, I have: 1 Climbing Rose, 2 Rose Trees, 3 Mini Roses, a number of Tulips, a number of different kinds of Lilies, 2 bunches of Mums, and a bunch of small white foliage. (I forgot what it is - just bought it for accents.)

My question is how do I prepare my garden for thriving winter? What do I have to cut back and to where do I cut what? I was going to cover my garden with a bunch of straw but my brother said he tried that last year and it didn't work. ...He also covered it with plastic on top of the straw. So ... should I cover it with just straw or should I use mulch?? And when should I cover it?

I also keep hearing people saying "Get you fall garden going!" or "Don't forget to start up your winter garden!" What is that?

Before you see these pics ..... Confession: I've let my garden go. The pics appear a lot harsher than what it really is, though, it is bad. My garden really was Really Very Pretty and Peaceful. :wink:

The garden today, as a whole:

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics931.jpg[/img]

All 3 mini roses look just like this one. All 3 also have tiny new growth each:

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics932.jpg[/img]

These are what's left of my Calla-lilies. There is supposed to be a second bundle on the other side of the vase but those are completely gone. The second pic is where I can't tell if those are baby Calla-lilies coming up:[b/]

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics936.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics937.jpg[/img]

My 2 Rose Trees and the 3rd pic is what is happening at the base of both:

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics940.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics942.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics941.jpg[/img]

The Climbing Rose and it's base:

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics944.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics946.jpg[/img]

Some reason, probably the weather, I have lilies coming up! This is one of my Easter Lilies.

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics948.jpg[/img]

Then one bunch of my mums have grown again and blooming. You really can't see it in this pic. The full opened face blooms are to the left of the pic.

[img]https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p154/HyperFerret3/pics949.jpg[/img]
HyperFerret
Full Member
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:50 pm
Location: Arkansas, Zone 7

Okay, Okay, hold on a second..... I was posting this in a hurry and didn't even think to look through all the other posts. :roll: ...Hee - hee, my bad?... lemme go do some ersearch tomorrow and if I have any other questions, I'll come back. Wanna look through it all and also at that page Newt suggested to another person. Surly somewhere my questions will be solved.

THANKS ANYWAY !!!! :D
Newt
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1868
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 10:44 pm
Location: Maryland zone 7

It does look like your garden was lovely when it was growing. Now it's going dormant. Not to worry. :)
...a bunch of small white foliage. (I forgot what it is - just bought it for accents.)
Looks like dusty miller aka Senecio cineraria. They are perennial in zones 8 and warmer.
My question is how do I prepare my garden for thriving winter? What do I have to cut back and to where do I cut what?

Wish I knew your hardiness zone, but I susupect you don't have to cut back anything, at least not until a hard frost. I like to leave seed heads up for the birds. There's a wonderful book you should find very helpful - 'Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques' by Tracy DiSabato-Aust.
I was going to cover my garden with a bunch of straw but my brother said he tried that last year and it didn't work. ...He also covered it with plastic on top of the straw. So ... should I cover it with just straw or should I use mulch?? And when should I cover it?
You should probably put down an inch or two of shredded hardwood mulch after the ground freezes. Not sure why you would need plastic. Doing that could put your plants at risk of getting 'cooked' on a sunny warm day and freezing again when the weather changes. This would especially apply if you live in a warmer zone.



It would be helpful to know your hardiness zone. Arkansas has zones 6 to 8. Here's a zip code zone finder. You might want to add this to your location on your profile.
https://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi
I also keep hearing people saying "Get you fall garden going!" or "Don't forget to start up your winter garden!" What is that?
They are probably referring to preparing a veggie garden.
Then one bunch of my mums have grown again and blooming.
Mums like the cool weather and will bloom again if deadheaded. [url=https://www.yoder.com/inside_frameset.asp?body=%2Fconsumer%2Fgarden%2Fcare%2Fcontent%2Easp]Here's how to grow them[/url].


You may need to dig up your calla lilies depending on your zone. Mine survived outside in my zone 7 garden for a couple of winters, but one really long cold spell a couple of years ago did them in. I wouldn't recommend leaving them in the ground in zones colder then 8. Some folks in the warmer areas of 7 have [url=https://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/AAMG/bulbs/StoringTenderBulbsforWinter.html]luck with them in the ground[/url].
https://www.botany.com/zantedeschia.html



Hope that helps.
Newt
JPIXI
Senior Member
Posts: 213
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:54 am
Location: France, Paris

Hello HyperFerret,

Thank you for sharing with us pictures of your roses.

HyperFerret, I suspect that you do not trim your roses correctly.They are not looking bushy enough.

For your information, for climber, the more you train them to grow horizontally, the more new bud will form, and this directly increases the flowering.

For tige, you need to trim them after the risk of frost in Spring. It is more delicate part for tige trimming. If you are able to post us some pictures of the tiges before your Spring trimming, perhaps we can provide you more precise advices on how to trim them. For tige rose (reblooming species), I like them to have at least 3 batches of blooming from May to the end of October, with each batch of flowering be intense and bushy.To have this result you need to know where you want the new bud to shoot, therefore to know how to trim is extremely important.

Please do your winter protection properly.

Hope to hear from you in Spring.

Amitié,
Pixi


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