What about the poor roses in the woods who don't have anyone to pull their leaves off? ;)

There's no reason to worry about winter damage until temps drop to 10 F, or for woody canes on Westerland, probably much colder than that. By mounding prematurely you encourage canker disease on the green bark.

OK, I know... patience, patience. Which is something I don't have a lot of lol! Oh well. I'll just wait it out.
Thanks!

The "poor roses in the woods with no one to protect them" are species roses adapted through the millennia to the environment they live in. Immaterial to this question, which is about a hybrid garden rose which is a complex interspecific hybrid including tropical evergreen species from China. Not adapted through natural selection to Ohio.

Hybrid garden roses don't go dormant. Particularly the repeat-blooming ones. The once-blooming antique roses can go dormant, but not the vast majority of roses you find in gardens today. Too much evergreen influence from tropical Chinese species to get the repeat blooming effect. So don't be waiting for your Westerland to go dormant - gonna be a long wait! You're right, it's not done with its leaves yet. Mine generally aren't done with theirs until January.

In my garden I wait until the leaves are coming off by themselves before I do any cleanup. They'll come off by themselves once they've been frozen or the end of their natural lifespan comes along. Can't say too much about Ohio specifically, but around here I don't see any winter damage until temps drop below 15 degrees or so. I did used to get a lot of canker damage on canes by mounding the roses too early. So I wait til the forecast shows a hard freeze coming. Could mean I'm out there in the dark with a flashlight after work, scrambling to cover roses in 20 degree temps (like last winter ...) but that's what works for me in this relatively mild winter climate.

Incidentally, I hear that a reliable persistent snow cover makes great winter protection. Insulates the roses at right about freezing point, protecting from the colder air.

"The 'poor roses in the woods with no one to protect them' are species roses adapted through the millennia to the environment they live in. Immaterial to this question. . ."

My statement was "with no one to pull their leaves off." It isn't immaterial, since no rose needs to have its leaves pulled off for winter protection.

Hello Kentstar - I'm in Zone 5 in central Illinois and most of my 250 roses are still full of leaves, and some are even blooming still. They're not ready to go to sleep quite yet because the temps haven't been consistently cold enough here; we have had a very nice November!

The leaves will eventually fall off on their own when the rose is ready to lose them. I don't worry about it; the rose knows what it's doing.

-terry

Thanks Terryjean! I will be more patient and wait for the rose to tell me when it's time I guess. :)

Don't make more work for yourself. The leaves fall off when its time.

Terry, the only question about knowing what they are doing... I wonder why they put out growth in Fall which will subsequently freeze (this is without fertilizing late in the season).

Sometimes I wonder if they do know what they are doing!

They don't have brains or thinking ability. Growth depends on other factors that have nothing to do with knowing what they are doing. A warm wet fall can promote growth.
There were pictures on TV of fruit trees blooming a little in early November due to the warm wet fall.

Repeating roses with a lot of Tea/China blood "don't know what they're doing" as winter approaches because they are being grown in cold climates instead of their homeland in subtropical Asia where they grow and bloom year around. However, this doesn't mean that pulling the leaves off does any good.

So what repeating roses that have tea/china bloodlines that are winter hardy in Zone 5?

Are you looking for cane-hardy roses that will make large shrubs? The Canadian Explorer roses fit the bill.

The other category is "crown-hardy," roses that will usually survive, grow back, and bloom. These may stay small for the first two flushes each year, while improving slightly from year to year as the root mass grows stronger. Some hybrid teas are usually crown hardy in midwestern zone 5. Most Buck roses and Austin roses are hardier than most hybrid teas.

Most modern repeating roses have some tea-china heritage.

I was just curious about what specific modern roses had the tea-china heritage in their genetic make-up. I grow mostly HTs here in central Illinois, with some Bucks, shrubs, floris, Austins, and rugosas thrown in for good measure. And I'm quite used to only getting about 6" of good viable cane come spring.

Wish I could grow Teas and Chinas, tho'...but seeing as it is 4F right now...doubtful.