Perhaps with global warming KC is now Zone 6, but you might double-check that. It used to be Zone 5, and when I visited my daughter in KC at Thanksgiving, I could tell it had been much colder there than it was in my Zone 6 down near the Oklahoma border.

However, if you really are in Zone 6 nowadays, then you don't need to do much of anything to winterize, although it wouldn't hurt to add some extra mulch--AFTER you have a good freeze. I'm not talking about a temporary frost, but any actual freeze. The idea is to keep them from thawing out until spring actually gets here. But that is a tricky thing in Zone 6 since the temps will jump up above and sink down below freezing all winter long--which is why I mostly gave up trying to winterize them.

I am lucky that my neighbor's have oak trees and their leaves blow into my yard haphazardly, providing some protection for my roses.

I wait until early spring--like sometime in March--to prune my roses. You'll have to keep pruning back until you see healthy white in the center of the cane. If you grow hybrid teas, they may freeze back to within 4-6 inches from the ground. Make sure you cut back to healthy white centers! The shrubbier type roses often just need about a light haircut all over.

For early spring pruning, first prune out any dead wood (it will be brown). Then prune out any crossed branches and weak wispy branches. Then, if it needs it, give it a once over lightly for shaping.

Keep in mind that that is what I do in Zone 6. If you are actually in Zone 5, you might need to add more protection for Jan-Feb, and you might not be able to do your early spring pruning until late March.

Hopefully some others from KC can add more information, as needed. Good luck.

Kate

Kate-- thanks for such a quick response.

Per this article in the Kansas City Star, Kansas City is a zone 6a: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/26/3394678/welcome-to-the-warmer-zone-kc.html

Although I've seen some sources sat that Kansas City is a zone 5b. But then I read somewhere else that its a 6a. So it's between a 5b and a 6a. Certainly feels like a 6-- the winters have been so mild, the summers are like an oven. Must be a 6 because it feels like a 10.

Thanks!

We have seen white mold in wood mulch around the roses,but it doesn't seem to hurt the roses. But, in our climate, you can get a freeze/thaw of water/ice that does damage the canes.

I find it helps to wait until Spring to prune the roses--the top part that leafs out early is toast--by waiting there is some bottom part left to leaf out in the Spring.

The best way of protecting roses is to plant them deeply, so that the bud unions are protected by soil.

I wrap all our HTs with burlap for winter protection--this year I did it in late December. At a minimum, it braces the canes so they don't break off at the bud union.

Zack-- thanks for the assurance about the white mold. That makes me feel better.

Would it be OK to cover them with mulch today (high of 58) because for the next few weeks its supposed to be a high of 32 (or thereabouts)? Just don't want to overheat them.

Don't know about you but I am ready for spring!

In my garden setting, it gets snowy and damp.

I apply an even layer of mulch to the beds, but I do not mound and do not cover the roses, as it promotes canker.

HI Displaced Clevelander

A lot of the questions about winter protection depend on what kinds of roses you have and what kind of weather variation you have, not just how cold it gets over the winter. Most roses, even most hybrid teas, can handle weather down into the 20's just fine, even with night temperatures somewhat lower, and they wouldn't particularly need protection if your weather doesn't get too much beyond that. With February still on the horizon, it's hard to know what's up ahead. You in KS have some of the yoyo weather we have here, so more of your protection revolves around keeping the roses from thinking it's spring too soon when the weather takes an extended turn warmer.

Here's what I would do in your situation. Use the mulch you have saved up around the ground near your roses, but don't mound it around the rose itself - canker from moisture can kill roses faster than winter temperatures, and it takes a while to figure out what works for your roses in your yard. Consider the mulch protection for the roots, both to keep them cold a little longer now that the ground is frozen and to protect the spring moisture when it arrives, since you're in drought too like us. Remember that in our zone, as long as you protect the roots (in own root plants) or the graft (in grafted plants), the top part of the rose can die back and the plant will still regrow from the roots. Well, except for fussy-pants roses - you'll get a sense of which roses won't survive in your yard even if you fed them caviar all winter, and you have to firmly resolve that it's not your fault when they die.

Then if you want to do something to protect from a spell of zero-ish temperatures for the rest of the winter, go to the hardware store and get some of those big leaf bags (or use collected grocery bags if you want the free option). Put the empty bag over the rose if it fits (or tape it around if it doesn't) and leave the top open for air circulation. That'll protect from the worst of the winter drying winds and give you a few helpful degrees on the colder snaps. It also is a "do no harm" solution that lets you figure out what your roses like and what kinds of materials you can use in your yard that don't contribute to canker and provide some protection. You might not need this protection, but it sounds like you want to do something, and this give you a great excuse for puttering around in the yard in the terrific spells of winter weather like the warm 50's we had yesterday (yes, zone 9-ers, that's warm in these here parts).

For my yard, I use 6" high cut circles of filled leaf bags to stack around but not quite touching the roses in my yard, and add oak leaves only (other leaves mat down and hold in moisture) on anything I'd need to touch the rose stems. However, I'm a good 20 degrees colder than you up here and a Durned Fool about roses anyway. I'm sure half of my roses don't need the protection, but with as many roses as I have I'm too lazy to figure that out during winter protection time. Bottom line is that if your roses have made it this far, you're probably fine. Just don't panic when it gets to pruning time and you're left with short stubs of healthy cane.

Cynthia