What gardening zone are you in, barry? I'm guessing Wisc. is zone 5--a bit colder than my zone 6.

In our zones the main concern is to protect the graft by burying it at planting time a couple inches below the soil line. The further north you go, the deeper you bury that graft. Other than that, northern gardeners rely on a snow cover to protect the plants--but if snow cover is unreliable in your area, then a bark mulch might well be used instead.

If your plants are own-root, you probably need to provide a cover like the bark mulch--although I'm sure there are other ways of doing it also. Let's see what some more northern gardeners recommend, although this ex-northerner doesn't remember worrying very much about providing winter cover--we always had more than enough snow for cover back in those days.

Kate

Hi Barry

Kate's advice covers some basic principles of winter protection for cold zones. David Austin sells both grafted and own-root versions of both of those roses, and if you just ordered these I would presume they were own-root, since it's too late in the season to be planting bare-root grafted varieties that DA usually sends. Either way, the best insurance you can do for the time being in the rest of the summer/fall is to ensure a healthy root system going into the winter. Keep it watered but not soaked, and if you can stand it pinch off any buds before they bloom to encourage the plant to send down stronger roots. Don't fertilize other than maybe a weak diluted fish emulsion or alfalfa, and I'd stop even that by August to avoid having weak spindly growth that won't be as hardy over the winters. If you do have a grafted plant and haven't buried the graft at least 2 inches below the soil line, you should consider either gently lifting the plant slightly to dig some of the soil underneath and burying it deeper, or mounding soil around the graft and a few inches above it (and sloping it off gently so it doesn't wash off with rains). Don't prune it heavily or even at all in the fall (except dead wood), since you want as much healthy cane as possible to have something to protect, and allow the inevitable winter kill to leave some cane behind.

In general, I've found in my zone 5 that Austin roses are pretty hardy in general, and those two Austins have survived well for me without much protection. The basic principle of winter protection is to have an organic material that buffers the plant a little from the winter extremes but doesn't hold excess moisture against the plant canes (except of course for snow, nature's best insulator). You only have to protect the roots (in an own-root plant) or an inch or two above the graft (for grafted plants) for the rose to survive and grow again next spring. Roses that die to the ground but regrow are considered "root hardy" and all they'd need (if anything) for winter protection is a little insulation on the ground, like a few inches of dry pine straw, bark mulch, or non-matting leaves (like oak leaves). Most of my Austins would survive zone 5 without even that, but if you're in zone 4 it's liable to help a new rose through the winter with a little help its first year. Once you see how the previous year's canes survive the winter, you can judge how much you do or don't want to protect next time, since most roses become better able to survive the winter as they mature.

You'll hear as many methods of winter protection as there are northern rose gardeners, so pick what works for you. You don't really have to protect at all if you've picked roses that are at least root hardy in your zone (and I suspect these are) or if you have consistent snow cover during the coldest months. Don't worry about temperatures or any winter protection until it's consistently cold even in the days - my rule of thumb is to wait till the highs average in the 20's. Protecting any earlier runs the risk of mice and other critters invading the cozy next you've built, and encouraging canker and other fungus diseases in the trapped warm air. My idea is to keep the roses acceptably cold, not really to try to keep them warm. It's not like you're going to be able to keep the ground in Wisconsin from freezing, and if you tried it would create conditions conducive to fungus diseases you don't want.

Hope this helps for the time being! I plan to post something on general principles of winter protection as we move into fall, since I've been mulling over ways to describe the idea of what we do in winter zones that doesn't dictate exactly HOW to accomplish those purposes in the multiple equally-correct methods we might individually use.

Cynthia

The local nursery recommends mounding some top soil through the middle of the plant. Wait until the ground freezes (probably after Thanksgiving). The idea is to keep it cold. Freeze thaw cycles are what kill it. Also get your bag of topsoil now and store above the ground in the garage so it is not frozen when you try to use it.

Barry, I cant comment on winter hardiness as I am from east Texas, about 2 hours from Houston. As I dont hear much about Sophy's Rose, I thought you might like to know what a good rose it is. It is very healthy for me [I have 2 of them] and blooming constantly. Frank, an expert rosarian who worked for Chamblees Roses in Tyler, Tx before he passed away, was one of my rose mentors. I always remember him saying that Sophy's Rose was the best of the Austins. Hope you enjoy your two - I got Lady of Shallot this year - she is growing well though I havent let her bloom much - wanting her to grow roots. Good luck!
Judith