Winterizing the roses

hope they all survive Gilli, you did a good job

Thanks San.... :o)

That's quite a job, Gilli, hope you get your milder winter this year.

What a brilliant idea Gilli,my brother used to live in BC. But has recently moved to New Brunswick. Lovely colour of your rose. Lets hope its a lot milder this winter.

Gilli, this surely shows what caring folk most gardeners are, hope all your hard work is rewarded with a mild winter.

Interesting blog, Gilli.
Good luck over winter with your roses :o)

~ ditto from me Gilli~would be nice if it was not so severe as last winter!

Thats a lot of work but we can see by that rose its worth it. Hope it goes ok this winter.

I do hope your roses will survive Gilli after all the work you've put into protecting them. Couldn't you cover the sawdust with something to keep it dry ? - I'm just wondering....

I was thinking along the same lines Hywel.
Good luck Gilli. :~)))

Blimey Gilli you've gone to a lot of trouble, It looks like they've caught a little frost already. I have a lot of roses too, mainly T's but I cut them down by a third before the cold weather, to prevent wind-rock. In Spring I prune properly. Do you get the dreaded blackspot over there?

Thats a big job Gilli but well worth the effort if it gets them through,well done.........

You just know what to blog and when to blog it. I was just getting ready to go on the Internet and find out the best way to prepare the rose for winter...and low and behold here is all the info I need! Thanks Gilli.

You know Weeds, nine times out of ten when you Google a gardening question it leads you straight back to GoY anyway! :~))

good luck with your roses through the winter.

Good job Gilli and your rose avatar is so you!

Thank you all for your lovely comments.
Hywel and Ian.....I was wondering about covering the shavings but decided against it unless I throw some fallen leaves on top. When the winter arrives the shavings will freeze....If they dry out a bit first they should stay fairly fluffy. If they are wet then the'll freeze into a block. If I put some waterproof material over them then they won't dry out at all. I think I'd be better off just leaving them as is.
Heron, I do cut the taller canes back a bit to prevent wind damage and then I prune back to live wood in the spring. Once the ground freezes wind rock isn't a problem but breakage from the wind is.
I'm lucky to live in a climate where black spot and powdery mildew don't present too much of a problem. The only time I see it is in the spring or in autumn if it happens to be wet. The air here is usually so dry that the leaves don't stay wet long enough for the fungus spores to take hold. I'm lucky in that respect. But, I do have big battles with insects every year. Not just aphids but cane borers, cane girdlers, rose midge, sawfly, leaf rollers, leaf hoppers, spider mites, rose curculio and earwigs.
Weedy....glad to have been of help. What zone are you in over there? The next best thing you can do is keep shovelling the snow over them. It acts as an insulating blanket. Last year, my one rose bed had 3 or 4 feet of snow piled on that I'd shovelled off the path. Even my HT in there which is planted too high and has the graft above ground level came through with no problems.

We're zone five here. I used to just rake the leaves onto the tender stuff in the fall and then pull them off in the spring...is that bad? If it ever quits dumping rain I'll put them to bed with some straw this year.

Nah!! That's not a bad thing. I've done that in the past too. I don't know what type of roses you have but if it has worked in the past it will probably work again this year. I only really baby my Austins and HT's. The Austins are probably more hardy than I give them credit for but I love them so much I give them a little extra care. If it gets really cold and you start to worry about them you can always pile on more snow.

Don't have the big shade trees up here that I had down in my old yard so it'll have to be straw this year until my trees get some size. I've only had two roses up here, one didn't survive last year's record winter the other is a Jacobs Coat, I think it will be hardy.

If you mean Joseph's Coat then that should be hardy to zone 4b and with a straw mulch probably even more.

he-he-he...lol...Gilli..Weeds is ya know...getting up there...poor thing..she meant Joseph's goat..he-he-...snicker...he-he..

Heh, heh heh. What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet." Oh, then Cat...You've seen my raggedy old rambling rose? Jacobs Ladder, Josephs Coat, Billy's goat what's the diff?
"Anywho", Gilli, it's that raggedy ol' rose that can't make up it's mind what color it wants to be. It should be fine with a little straw.

If you could see my roses afte the deer finsihed with them..yep raggedy old goats all of them..poor roses..they really have tried hard...

Then that would be Joseph's Coat (of many colours) Weedy. Hee hee hee.
Cat ~ Joseph's Goat? Isn't there an old Girl Guide song about that??? Can't remember.
Do you have a product called Plantskydd down there? A lot of my customers swear by it to keep the deer away.

Not heard of that at all Gilli...will have to keep an eye out.

I was just on their website Cat. Apparently it is made in the US.....all organic.....and recommended by the National Home Gardening Club (whatever that is)....."Plantskydd® Repellent is proven effective plant protection from:
Deer, Elk, Moose, Rabbit, Hares, Voles, Squirrels, Chipmunks, Mountain Beaver, Nutria, Opossum and other small rodents" as per their site. So, if you have forest animals having a party they won't be choosing your yard as their party locale.

By the way.....what is a Nutria????

Opossum..Nutria is Opossum...they call them that down here..sounds better to have for dinner don't you think..?

Hmmm......Nutria sounds nutritious. LOL

I tried repellants..$40 a jug full twice..thot it worked the first go round..but then nothing seemed to stop them on the second one...very frustrating..will be going with the fishing line trick if I am here next spring..but have my doubts I will be..hoping anyway..! LOL...need to sell this house!

That must be really hard work taking care of so many roses Gilli but of course you do get really hard winters in Canada. Thanks for your comment on my photos of Butchart, to think it was created from nothing and turned into such a beautiful place.

Sandra:o)

Thanks Sandra. It is a bit of work but I think it's worth it....at least at the moment. I may change my mind after a few more years. LOL. Then I'll have to replace everything with hardier varieties. :o)

I looked at your roses in your photos and they are fantastic Gilli. You have to work really hard at keeping them going through your severe winter. I am near fleecing up time for my plants. Nothing so splendid as your lovely roses. So far there is no real sign of cold weather here. I popped out yesterday and got most of my tulip bulbs planted in a bit of sunshine. Today a huge deluge, then a little sunshine.... very confusing.

Thank you Dorjac. The weather is getting stranger and stranger everywhere isn't it? As I write this it is snowing here but then they are forecasting temps up to 10C on Sunday. It just doesn't know what to do. :o)

Now featured on GoYpedia Climbing Roses. :o)