I think the whole problem here is that we are trying to compare apples to oranges. HT's and Shrub roses are two different classes for a reason. If you are expecting HTs to grow and bloom in the same manner as Shrub roses then you surely will be disappointed. Same is true the other way around. If you are expecting Shrub roses to give you the large beautifully formed blooms of an HT you'll be disappointed too. You can not compare them to each other. That's unfair to both classes. In my experience if you try to even compare one HT against another you come up perplexed. EVERY variety of rose is DIFFERENT. They each have their own habits and no two are alike. You need to just enjoy and appreciate each one for it's own unique characteristics.

Thanks everyone for your input, I appreciate it very much! Sherry, no we usually don't get freezes here at all or at the very best just maybe for a couple of hours at night once or twice a year. I am not familiar with milogranite, but I will look it up. The guidelines for fertilizing roses in Florida are very interesting and I think I will make them my own from now on. I was guessing that liquid fertilizer might be able to be taken up and used by the rose immediately because they are water soluble, but I can be wrong. I have to do some reading on that. hoovb, unfortunately miracle grow doesn't work for me since it is not organic. Wow, you are just fertilizing once in spring? I have seen pics of your roses which always look stunning and I was assuming that you would feed your roses much more often. Giving them lots of compost must do the trick! My Tea roses are 1 - 2 years old and they are all still in pots at this point. Maybe this contributes to the fact that they don't bloom much and also that they don't have to many leaves. Masha, you are right one reason my Teas are not blooming much in autumn and winter could be that they are still to immature and that no amount of fertilizer would change that. In terms of the type of rose I was thinking if one class of roses should bloom in winter, than its the Tea roses, though. floridarose, that is really valuable information that you had great success with fertilizing your roses once a month with organics until December in terms of growth rate and amount of bloom. Our garden soil is also very poor and I am under the impression for quite a while that in general I don't fertilize my roses enough to get optimal blooms from them. It must have been an amazing experience to have the house full of fragrant roses! buford, I agree rain water is the best! Somehow the roses look better when they get watered by the rain, even though I try to keep my roses watered very well with the hose year round. I know that we have very alkaline water here, which might be the reason they prefer rain water. Luxrosa, so your Tea roses are in full bloom right now? That sounds wonderful, I would love to see pictures! After you fertilized your roses from early to mid October, when do you start feeding them again? From what I have read here by now I have decided I will do the following: I will water my Teas with fish/seaweed fertilizer and I also give them some regular organic rose fertilizer (both half strength of the regular dose) and see what happens. Maybe I should take before and after pics! I will also fertilize from now on monthly and get lots of compost for my other roses in the ground. Off to the nursery now to buy this stuff making use of a 15 % coupon :-). Christina

It's just such a long, long time for them to be dormant. How do they build up strength and reserves enough to overcome a dormancy of 275 days out of every 365? I would not think that is really a situation you can overcome without some significant investment in a heated, artificially lit greenhouse to extend the growing season. It may be achievable, but will it be satisfying? Why not focus on what can be easily grown? My sister in Anchorage says the peonies there, if protected by Moose fencing, are spectacular. And your climate can grow something to perfection that the lower 48 can only dream of, Meconopsis, Himalayan blue poppies. Expending your botanical palette could yield spectacular results, and far more satisfaction and happiness. Here is a link that might be useful: Meconopsis, the true-blue poppy This post was edited by hoovb on Thu, Dec 19, 13 at 11:41

Hi, thanks for the reply -- here is my list of the roses I've ordered (it's a lot!!). Asked the question because I noticed after I ordered them that some say zone 6. I'd like to keep them in the ground if possible, with mulch, etc. Any help on any of these -- how to help them, will be appreciated. Thanks! And my list: Autumn Splendor Baby Austin Baby Boomer Bambino Cal Poly Celebrate Life Charlie Brown Chasin Rainbows Cinderella Climbing Kristin Doris Bennett Double Take Electric Lady First Impression Iced Raspberry In Memory Julie Link Little Pinkie Live Wire Love and Peace No Worries Old Glory Overnight Scentsation Pacesetter Peach Delight Pinstripe RalphÂs Creeper Red Minimo Renny Ruby Princess Sachet Scentsational Southern Delight Sweet Fairy Sweet Sue Tiddly winks Ty Vista Work of Art Ada Perry Cherry Hi English Porcelain Golden Halo Green diamond Halo today Hope and joy Iced Tea Irresistible Jessica Rose Mary Marshall Minnie Pearl Mother Lode Mr. Bluebird Ora Kelly Patrio Song Pennies from Heaven Polly sunshine Ralph Moore Ring of Fire Rita Applegate Robi Rose Gilardi Saluda Sequoia Ballet Sleeping beauty Starina Sunny day Sunshine Sally Sweet Caroline Toy Clown Winter Magic Wistful Woodstock Yellow doll Constellation DenverÂs Dream Double gold Focal Point Gem of the rockies Jean Keneally Jeanne Lajoie KeithÂs Delight Lavender Delight Millie Walter Montana New Beginning Red Cascade Rose Gilardi Ruby Magic Ruby Princess Snow Twinkle Splish Splash Starina Sunswept Vineyard Song X Rated Pam tillis Thanks -- if you have any that are less winter hardy than others and need more protection -- let me know (and also, what do you do -- extra mulch?) We also get -20 degree weather on a pretty regular basis!! Debbie