I bought fancy quilted bags years ago for some tender roses in a zone 4 garden. Those bags became mouse hotels with a tasty buffet growing through the middle. Be very careful to check for mice throughout the winter.

Looks good! Only thing I would suggest is that you put a few holes in the tops for air circulation. The plastic bags may hold too much moisture in and cause canker or rotting. Otherwise I think they'll do a great job of protecting the canes from winter.

Hi Rideauroselad

Speaking as another "silly" zone pusher here in Nebraska, congratulations on coming up with a protection method that suits you. I totally understand the impulse to want to save more than "stubs" at the end of winter, and it looks like you have a good experiment underway.

One caution I might advise you to keep an eye on is the extent to which those plastic recycling bags retain moisture because they don't "breathe". It might work out just fine for you, but even in my relatively dry zone I've had troubles with anything involving plastic around my roses resulting in a bad case of moisture retention causing rose canker, and more dying roses than I'd anticipated as a result. That might not happen for you, particularly since you get more snow cover than we do, but since your climate is probably relatively damp in the spring, I'd consider pulling off the plastic part of the protection the moment the weather starts to think about warming up (for us, at least by early March), and still leave the organic protections up for a while longer. As Palustris said, mice are also a risk, though if your ground is already frozen as it looks like in your photo, they've likely found other homes by now - timing is important in winter protection for this reason.

In another year, here are some other experiments you could try, if this doesn't work out as planned this time around. Instead of the recycling bags, you could use paper grocery sacks. Yes, they'll deteriorate at the end of the season, but as soon as there's enough dampness for the bags to break down you WANT those bags to drop away so the rose isn't trapping moisture. Besides, then the whole mess can be left around the base of the roses as long as you feel like for mulch, and it'll eventually break down on its own if you're lazy like me.

Another even easier solution for the bed you pictured might be to put bales of straw (or in my case, filled leaf bags) around the perimeter of the bed and just free-hand dump leaves, straw, and whatever organic material won't mush up into a soggy mess, into the middle of the rest of the bed. The height of protection then becomes the height of the surrounding "walls", which you can adjust at will, and I find it takes less time than individual protection. You want to pull back the taller parts of the protection as the weather thinks about warming, but you're likely to need some spare mulch in other parts of the yard anyway in early spring before the weeds set in. Again, this is my lazy self talking, and I always take time to admire folks who have the energy to protect individual roses like you have done.

Do let us know how this works out, so we can have more information on options of winter protection for those of us in cold zones. Regardless, sit back and enjoy the "down time" from the garden for the rest of the winter.

Cynthia

Thanks for the input folks. The moisture issue is precisely why I decided to try this method. The straw and leaves I used are all "dry". In this climate we get lots of temperature fluctuation. I have seen swings from +14C down to -30C in two days. Winter thaws are not frequent, but happen at least a couple of times a winter. I also do not get dependable snow cover, it comes and goes.

In years past, canker and rot have been the bane of my roses come spring precisely because of the freeze thaw cycles and subsequent moisture in the mulch. Because the mulch gets wet and then refreezes, it can also be a lot of work to uncover the plants in the spring having to wait for each layer to thaw and then remove it. This method also uses a lot less material. I used three small bales of straw and three big bags of dry leaves for fourty roses, So I expect uncovering the plants in spring will be a snap.

My hope is that with dry insulation, there will be no canker and less freeze damage too. This method is labour intensive, but cheap. The leaves and straw are free, so its only bags and some twine. Anyway, its an experiment and if it works I'll be doing the "Happy, Happy Rose Dance" in March when I begin to uncover them.

It won't stay dry. Not even close.

It sounds like you have reasonably similar conditions to us, and by far the best way for roses in the ground is to keep as much stuff as far away as possible. I've had canker problems from leaves blown against the canes. I don't need to add anything else. Anything that really needs protection goes in the garage because the garage really can stay dry.

It's all just going to wick the moisture from the ground into those bags. Watch the condensation on them. When it gets noticable, it is probably past time to pull everything off.

The inside of the bags will still get damp by drawing moisture up from the ground. There's no way to prevent that from happening. That's why I suggested air holes in the top so that when the weather is dry the bags will have air circulation and a chance to dry out.

I use both paper recycling bags and burlap with leaves to winterize my roses with. They both breath and allow moisture to dry but still protect the roses from the wind and cold. A lot of times it's the wind that does the most dehydrating of the canes.

That reminds me of what I did to protect the pseudostems on my Musa basjoo when I lived on Long Island -- after removing frost-wilted leaves, I'd wrap newspapers around them to a few layers. Then I'd take a plastic garbage bag with a hole in the center of the bottom, and slip it over the pseudostem, hole down and open end up. I'd fill the bag with dry shredded leaves, and tie off the top of the bag. Then I'd slip another plastic garbage bag upside down over the first one. And finally, I'd mound several inches of shredded dry leaves around the base of the first garbage bag. By Spring, new leaves would start pushing up the bags, and I'd remove everything by the last frost date. The leaves stayed dry under the bags, as did the newspaper wrapping. And my banana plants grew their new leaves where their last ones left off, rather than starting all over from the ground if I didn't protect the pseudostem.

:-)

~Christopher

Oh, and if you want to make things look less "silly", you can always turn those wrapped roses into little snowmen, if you use white garbage bags. I did that one year because my bananas were planted in front of the house. OK, it was also "silly", but in a cute way.

:-)

~Christopher

Not inclined to zone pushing myself, I have, on ocassion, had to protect customers treasured tropicals such as the enormous date palm which required its own scaffolding. However, I will agree that PVC or any of the plastics are a tragedy in waiting. A simple proposition was to construct columns of chicken wire and stuff bracken or dry leaves around the plants, held in by the wire. The top was open to the elements but at least the inevitable rain and moisture had somewhere to go through basic evaporation. As far as I understand protection issues (I have a number of high alpines which must be kept dry) wet is the killer rather than cold - I simply place a glass top, stacked on bricks, over the crowns of my alpines which keeps the rain off but provides no protection against cold. In the case of the succulents, androsace, drabas and saxifrages, this has proved a life-saver.
Rideau - I have also gone down the lavender collecting route and have only the gloomiest predictions since mine turned up its toes at the merest hint of still air and damp. If you really want to keep yours, I would suggest plunging terracotta pots into the earth for the summer and lifting and storing the whole thing, DRY in your cold room.
Canada - although I would happily relocate for the people, the culture, the general ambience, the music even (although can be a bit glum).....but the weather, I am afriad, would completely rule it out for me - not a fan of snow or any of its associations (skiing, snowboarding, freezing your knackers off).
Respect for your good natured hardiness.

I've grown lavender for many years. At first, I would just buy what the local garden center had and it would reliably die every winter. I think it was Munstead or Hidcote. One year, I decided to try different types, and planted 4. All survived except the Munstead or Hidcote, which told me what at least part of the problem was. I still grow lavender and still lose some, but some always makes it through the winter. I have it planted in raised beds in the driest and sunniest part of my yard and do nothing to winter-protect it.

I think Rick has figured out a plan that will work for him. It makes sense to me as I see more damage from dryness than wet. I do many things differently though. I am now busy storing my dahlias for the winter and I wrap the tubers tightly in plastic wrap. Then I'll start winter pruning the roses.

dumped a load of compost on mine (dahlias) after numerous years of digging them up and storing - the rates of attrition were horrendous. I still lose 1 or 2 leaving them in the ground....but nothing like as many and I don't have to faff around with sulphurous powders and such. Moreover, the tubers seem to increase like potatoes so the plants get massive every year, more than making up for any losses. The compost mulch is an improvement on my current method of cutting them back and ignoring them.....so I have high hopes for a fulsome return and a veritable jungle of dahlias.
Like you though, the roses will get done at any time during the next few weeks as the fruit pruning period gets under way so, while I have secateurs to hand.......

Of course, I am frequently wrong.

Rick,
I'll be interested in the results next spring. I'm afraid that I think the bags will be like unvented rose cones - the ground will supply moisture and any sun will make it a very moist oven. Only time will tell. But another concern I have right now is mice/voles setting up winter housekeeping in such nice, dry, comfy quarters. Is it to late to tuck a dryer softner sheet under each of the bags? I've proven in my own garden that rodents hate the smell and avoid the area. I used to tuck a sheet down in the crown of roses that I didn't have to protect from cold, but that were in an area where the mice seemed prone to congregate and nibble rose canes all winter under the safety of the snow. Those fragrant sheets were cheap and easy protection. I'd hate to see you save all that cane up high just to have the base of it chewed away to nothing!
Best of luck,
Anne

Anne, do you know if the dryer sheets repel rabbits? That's my problem here. I'm about to go out and wrap the big bed in chicken wire in the hopes that it will keep them from eating all my minis down to the soil this year. They chew off canes on the bigger ones too but usually only one or two and they move on. The minis, however, they devour completely!

I plant all my bulb/tubers (dahlia, begonia, canna) in pots so they're easier to dig out in the fall. I tried wintering them outside but ended up with most of them just rotting. I dig them up now and put them in paper bags in the basement for winter and replant in the spring.

Interestingly (to me), the dahlia tubers in my home garden were absolute goners after a winter of enclosed beds and improvised soil - unlike the rubbish but natural ( properly aged mineral soil and many years accumulated humus....as opposed to something out of a bag) stuff at the allotment. I can leave potatoes forever - and the volunteers the following year are generally as hopefully harvested as the planted rows of the summers second earlies - I have often entertained the idea of permanent potato croppings and maybe - before the council wrenches my urban plot away, I may even try a two year experiment - rotations be damned.
Mice seem to hibernate (in my compost heaps)....or at least they ignore bulbs and tubers, only to return, ravenous and ravaging the peas and beans every spring.

After reading what you cold-zoners have to do for your garden to survive through the winter I'm completely exhausted. I admire your fortitude and toughness, and feel so fortunate that this low-energy gardener lives in a more benign climate. Besides my nose turns a very unattractive red when it's cold. Rick, you look like you're ready for anything. Your rose bed, I have to say, looks rather comical, but I'll be glad for you if it works.

Ingrid

Hey Anne, thanks for the dryer sheet idea. Though I've never had a problem with varmints in my rose beds in over ten years.

Opheliathornvt, I agree completely, Munstead and Hidecote lavender are the varieties that all of the nurseries sell in zone 4/5. Neither are reliably hardy, both are long stemmed, open growth in habit and somewhat leggy. I get about a 50% survival rate with these two cultivars with straw mounding. Far better for me are "Blue Cushion" low growing, dense and bushy, and surprisingly Grosso which is a Lavandin hybrid but winters well for me. Folgate and Rosea for a pink are also better in this cold climate. I'm also trialing Melissa, and Violet Intrigue with success so far.

Last spring I went to a lavender farm in Eastern Ontario that grows many different varieties. They winter protect. The lady who owns the place told me that she believes that besides wet feet, winter wind and stem desiccation are prime killers of lavender in zone 5. She doesn't take the covers off her plants until mid April and she is a little warmer than my area. Most of my plants that are less than 3 years old are in pots in my cold room. Lavender and English Roses, now there is a fragrance lover's dream come true.

Cheers, Rick

Seil, I don't know if dryer sheets work on rabbits or not - I may find out myself this winter as there are lots of the critters at my new house. I don't worry about the roses in side the fences in my backyard where the dogs run, but out front seems to be a regular rabbit run and those roses are getting a sheet of Bounce in each crown. We shall see - it's certainly cheap enough and easy enough to try it out. (BTW, I found that regular scented Bounce seems to be the most offensive to rodents, LOL.)
Rick, I know your gardens are not surrounded by fallow fields like mine were at the old house, but then I had no nibbling for years and years and then - bam, one winter the voles found my mature shrub roses and that spring I hauled 2 pick up trucks of canes off to the burn pile as they had completely girdled each and every rose cane at the ground in a 40 ft. bed. Just saying that it would be cheap insurance. And I do wish you much good luck with your new technique - didn't mean to sound too negative! :-)

I know you weren't being negative Anne and I've decided to apply the insurance you suggest. Like you say, its cheap insurance.

Better get the sheets in there today. The forecast is for 25 to 30 cm of snow (10 to 12 inches) by Wednesday night. This will be the earliest significant snowfall there has been since I moved East. More good insulation for the roses and perhaps a very early start to the ski season. That's a double bonus, though the majority of my fellow citizens will likely not see it that way. Now that I'm retired and no longer have a long commute, I can welcome the snow whole heartedly.

For some reason, I am finished with all my fall yard work. This is a couple of weeks earlier than I usually finish up. That is a good thing too with snow on the way. Not sure if it is dumb luck, or perhaps intuition, n'est pas???

Cheers,

Rick

I was reading that mint is a good mouse deterrant. Maybe mint cuttings in the straw for cold zone areas? I hope you have success. I like all the pots in the cold room. Wish I had one for tulips. Snow is something you have to go visit here.

Four days ago I unwrapped the 40 plus roses that were winter protected using the experimental system described in the initial post and as shown in the images. The snow is still not completely melted in shaded areas and in fact I had to dig some of the roses out a little in order to get the bags and straw off of them. Today I did a light tip pruning to tidy them up.

The outcome of my dry mulch with plastic bag cover winter protection experiment? A very much improved cane survival rate. Almost all of the roses came through with minimal damage to the canes they had when I wrapped them. I even have over a foot of cane on both Evelyn and Jayne Austin, both of whom have died to the crown every winter for the last ten years using my old system. As we all know, this has been one of the harshest winters on record; for my area, the coldest in over 50 years. So I think I would have to say that the experiment was a success.

While pruning today, I noticed bud nodes that were beginning to swell even though the temperatures are still below freezing most nights and in the low forties to low fifities in the afternoons. In addition, my yard and garden cleanup has gone much quicker and easier than ever before. I have dry straw and leaves largely stacked in bags, rather than sodden and half frozen waiting to thaw around the roses before I can remove it and haul it away. The beds are cleaned out and the dark soil can warm in the sun and thaw more quickly. I will still have to wait another couple of weeks before I can spray the plants with dormant oil, but I'm at least two weeks ahead of normal with garden cleanup and have large healthy canes on almost all of my roses for the first spring since I moved to this cold climate.

End of report. Cheers,

Rick

Oh, Rick, that's wonderful news! In retrospect you were one smart cookie to protect so well. In examining mine I can tell you that I lost way more cane this winter than I have in the past ten. Looking forward to seeing those beauties of yours in bloom!

I'm only beginning to see the tops of some roses above the slowly receding snow; it will be a while before I can evaluate all my transplants. Rick, you sure picked a heck of test winter! Congratulations on your successful system. One question: were the (clear) bags completely snow covered most/all winter or were the tops exposed above the snow? Just curious.
Anne

Hi Anne, the answer is both, there were extended periods when they were covered and then extended periods when the tops were exposed. We had snow cover from mid December until the end of March, which is very unusual. Normally we have dramatic freeze thaw cycles. So the mulch and roses were probably frozen the whole winter.

I think the key is the straw and leaves I used were dry and were put on after the freeze set in and taken off prior to any significant spring warm up. I should say that there were some small holes and tears in the some of the bags and the tips of canes were sticking through many bags after heavy snow compacted the mulch and then melted a bit. So most of the bags were not air tight. There was some visible condensation on exposed bags during warm sunny days in March.

I am very pleased with the results and expect an exceptional rose season because the plants are getting a much better start than has been normal in the past.

Cheers, Rick

Congratulations Rick! We were rooting for you, and it's great to hear how well things turned out. I think your comment about the timing of the wrapping is a key one for anyone else considering this treatment. Keeping those wrappings on the plants after significant warmup has the potential to take lovely surviving canes from that work that canker because of the moisture.

Looks like you have a system that works well for you, and we appreciate you sharing your experience.

Cynthia