Erika,

Presuming that you planted your roses with the bud union, or graft, 2 to 4" below grade, I wouldn't worry about them. If the roses are planted with the grafts at, just below, or above grade, you should protect them from ensuing freeze/ thaw cycles.

Hope this helps,

Steve.

I didn't plant them, just inherited them when we bought this house 3 years ago.

I think some are above ground. Would mulch be enough? Or do I have to do the whole tie and cone thing too? If I cut them down now, would they respond as I was pruning them? It is ok to at least take the leaves off of them now?

It is too early to prune them or cut them down--you risk having a cold snap kill off new growth. The simplest way to protect roses is to wrap them with burlap--to keep the sun off the lowest 6 to 18 inches of cane.

No harm in stripping leaves, but since you are going to have to prune repeat-blooming roses down nearly to the ground in April, I don't see any point in it. Any exposed grafts will probably have been killed already unless they were under deep snow cover whenever temperatures were near zero or below. You may need to replace some roses--be sure to bury the grafts.

We have had unseasonably warm weather for March and our snow cover is rapidly disappearing. My roses are planted deeply and are mounded, but I worry that the warmer weather may coax some of the roses out of dormancy. We're almost sure to have one, probably SOME, killing freezes before spring is truly here. Would it help for Erika to mound the roses with exposed bud unions should the weather turn colder? The fact that they have survived for the past three years probably indicates that the grafts are either buried, or the rose has put out good feeder roots above the graft - both of which should protect the rose. But this early warming trend does concern me with my own garden. I hope our orchard trees don't break dormancy and start blooming too soon.

Actually Karen, I have covered them - a mound of mulch at the base of each one, tied the branches and then used the cones - each fall until this past one. That's probably why they survived.

The few I planted after losing 1-2 a year have been buried properly, but the ones the previous owner did have not.

I'm just hoping the warmth is here to stay ;) wouldn't that be nice! Realistically, I know it isn't going to happen so that's why I'm worried.

From anecdotal evidence, covered roses break dormancy earlier than uncovered ones. So in theory, now should be a good time to uncover them before they get out of sync with the weather.

Be sure not to make the same mistake next fall. If there was some snow in the area, Mother Nature covered them for you. Snow is an insulator and sometimes better then leaves or straw or whatever. When the time comes, prune as usual, and see what happenes. I am sure the roses survived inspite of your inadvertant neglect, so why not wait and see what happenes. Look at all the roses that have been planted at home sites and farm houses in the past that are now abandoned. They survive and remain just as productive as they ever were.

Thank you mad_gallica- since we're in the same zone, will you be uncovering yours soon?

roseman- It wasn't really a mistake. I had the supplies and everything planned and then it snowed and stayed until now. I think you're failing to understand how much snow there actually was. I understand also that snow is a good insulator- it got piled up on the roses when we shoveled, but my concerns is more that we are most likely to have freezing temperatures again before it thaws and stays warm. Right now they are not protected at all from that potential freeze.

I wouldn't worry about it. It might get cold between now and when spring really takes hold, but it's doubtful it will get severely cold enough to do any more damage than what may have already been done. The snow was a good insulator and probably protected your roses through the winter better than any covers. In about another month it will be time to prune them back and then you can assess the damage, if any. What kind of roses are they?

I'm up in Wisconsin, and I don't cover my roses. I actually had more damage from canker from having covered my roses than I had from cold damage. Wait until it really is spring (which should be a few more weeks) and then prune out all the dead canes. You might have lost some of the roses whose graft is at ground level, but it is likely too late to do anything about that now. I wouldn't try to cover them now, it's been way too wet and you don't want canker.

veilchen- They are mostly HT- not in zone and Floribunda. (from the previous owner the ones I think I figured out were Double Delight, Hot Cocoa, Purple Tiger, Lemon Spice)

Thanks athenainwi- it is extremely wet right now. Very good point.