We'll probably see blooms on the early roses in about a week or so.

Most of my roses don't dare die back.

Last year I got 3 austin 'Generous Gardener' and they were very impressive for the amount of green remaining over the winter. Also got Wm Baffins last year and they were terrific this spring also. Just had to trim the tips a bit.

All my others (Fairy, Carefree Delight, Carpet Roses, Purple Heart, Ruby Meidiland, Carefree Beauty, GOlden Showers) faired slightly better than previous years, which isn't saying a whole lot. I usually have to cut down to well less than a foot. This year many of them survived about a foot high.

The usual suspects all survived: the Bucks, the Meidilands, and the Fairies, Oh, and those "wish I had planted something else" KOs. Only lost a couple of Flutterbyes and have some other floribundas alive but struggling.

Hi,

I only have one rose in the yard that I bought last year. It is a Penelope rose and it made it through the winter, but is just showing growth at the base. I didn't realize there were roses that were actually ready to bloom soon. Very interesting.

adam

All my Austins did well.

My Explorers (Wm Baffin and Champlain) had no dieback as usual. But they don't count, do they?

On a whim I bought a Renaissance rose 'Helena Renaissance' at a local nursery, where signs were placed all over "Hardy to Zone 4!", and on the tags as well. That rose fared the worse, dead to the ground despite winter protection. It does have a little bud growing at soil level so it's not dead, though.

I have 5 roses here. 4 Henry Kelseys and one New Dawn. The winter before last there was virtually no snow cover here and temps. in January barely topped 18 degrees for over a month. I did not mulch them (never did before) as they are hardy to zone 4. They suffered greatly. And they don't look great now, the year before that harsh winter they were MAGNIFICENT. I lost an iceberg, too.

New Dawn is located on the south side of our home. The site is protected and receives full sun. She suffered a "hit", too, but has recovered nicely and is showing signs of vigor as I type.

I struggle with roses. I love them and would love to have them prosper here, but I am simply unwilling to fuss over them the way it seems you must to guarantee good bloom. I'm debating giving the Henry Kelseys a MAJOR haircut, administering a dose of fertilizer and giving them the remainder of the season to get back on track... after that... not sure. Thoughts?

Austins did fairly well, but I still had to cut them to 1'+ or so to give them a shape.
All of my Falstaffs were pegged last fall and now I have 5-6' long canes laying on a ground and I expect spectacular show this year.
Champlain and John Franklin (both Explorers) did great, but that wasn't surprise.
Climbing Red Eden lost both of its canes, but has a plenty of growth at the base. Contrary, regular Eden did exceptionally well.
In HT department lost only 6 y/o already single caned Mr. Lincoln, but I guess it was my fault. It was too tall in a fall to withstand winter winds and I cut it to 3' in November.
All other HTs did exceptionally well, even the Christian Dior and Tropicana, which usually dies for me almost to the graft.
I don't use any winter protection on any roses except Belinda's Dream and Whisper standard that I grow in a pot and overwinter in a pool house where they are protected from the winds only.

lavaglut and abe darby. AB already has buds! The rest of my roses took a real beating. Many died back to within inches of the ground. The only winter protection I use is 6 or 7 inches of chopped oak leaves. I bury the bud union about 5" deep. Of course Reine Victoria and all of my antiques also did pretty well. Most of my roses arn't even nearly leafed out yet. /Abi

I am a tough lover of plants - if they make it great, if not then they get ripped out and replaced. I am just starting with roses, though they have never been a favorite of mine. In that vein I try to go more with cottage roses and old varieties with a little more tolerance and more scent.
So most of them have done well, two new additions that did particularily good were a "New Dawn" and a "banshee". The only casualty was a "angel face", but I still holding out hope.

In zone 6a I winter protected Don Juan and only had a few inches of die back. Same with Zepherine and Abe Darby. Double Delight had to be cut back by 1/3 but had no winter protection. (it was sheltered by being pretty close to the house). I had an own root awakening that I forgot to winter protect and it survived with no die back as well but was also pretty near to the house. I had two other Don Juans in a different location in the yard and they died completely. Poor Larry Daniels didn't make it either. I think in our zone, winter protection really does make a difference for those "iffy" roses. And location in the yard makes a difference too. Feeling the pain of those who lost roses, but glad I have an excuse to get more.

Bonica, Blushing KO, William Baffin, Martha's Vineyard, White Dawn, Iceberg, Pretty Lady, The Fairy, Don Juan and Blaze all came through without more than a little tip damage. Only protection was about 6 inches of chopped leaves over the crowns.

No protection on any of them.

The miniatures- all Parade roses from those supermarket buy one get one free deals came back the best- bigger & healthier than they ever got last year already, although no blooms yet.

A small shrub type (I think) from last year's swap is filling in. Of the last two- both grandifloras, the Pink Parfait is doing the best so far- I believe Love is the other, but neither has shown much growth at all yet.

Bonica, White Dawn, Marie Pavie, New Dawn did great with no extra protection. Madame Alfred Carriere did ok on the south side of the deck with the Christmas tree tied standing up in front of it.

Michael

I have absolutely no idea what the name is for this rose/ but after nuturing it for 3 years/ it's "made it". What is so special is that it was my great Grandmothers, originally. First time transplanting a tiny little thing and seeing it now fill a trellis. Can't wait for the first pretty little pink blossom, and the wonderful smell that goes with it.

I have come to the conclusion that I should not grow roses. Of the 40 or so roses I had a couple of years ago the only ones left are New Dawn and Abraham Darby. I was sent 6 Gertrude Jekyll roses from an order over a year ago. I have not even planted them yet. If my New Dawn makes it I will just have to be satisfied with that. Conditions here are just too cold and windy for roses and I am not good about winter protecting them.

Chelone, please try an Austin! They really do well here. I did lose a few in the winter of '03-04, but I also lost The Fairy and several other "hardy" roses. I am growing Henry Kelsey in my client's garden against her picket fence and find it to be far less hardy than any Austin.

Just bury the bud union 4-6" below soil level. Last year I winter-protected for the first time with pine needles (scared of a repeat of '03-04), but it really wasn't necessary because of all the snow cover we had. The Austins bloom all summer and don't seem prone to blackspot like a lot of others.

New Dawn and Abraham Darby are among the most tender roses i grow. If you can grow them, there are hundreds of roses you should be able to successfully grow.

New Dawn and White Dawn did fantastic, as did my fairies. But my Joseph's Coat might be a goner. The only protection I gave was a lean-to over the faires (up against my house) and extra mulching. Guess I should have tried harder with my JC! :(

How do I put this tactfully. Maybe it's just not possible. If there are bigger liars in horticulture than the people who give out zone recommendations for roses, I have no idea who it would be. Anybody who is having trouble with roses in zone 5, is probably struggling with what are realistically zone 6 or even zone 7 roses. Truly hardy, and truly disease resistant roses are out there. I have about 100 of them, and don't have more because I don't have room. The problem is that the local nurseries rarely carry the better roses, so the public doesn't know they exist.

Hi,

I planted a Penelope rose last year. I bought it as it was recommended as an easy care rose. I had trouble with aphids all season last year, and the growth habit didn't impress me. I had some short stems and one that just shot up straight about 5 ft. A few very small almost white blooms, when I was expecting an apricot color. Which all tells me I need to do better research the next time.

But...after one of the worst winters, it came back strong although it leafed out late and scared me. Now it is bushy and pristine. The leaves are a very pretty color almost like smokebush foliage and a lighter color on the new growth tips. Very attractive. No bugs so far, knock on wood but no blooms yet either.

Adam

I don't (didn't) have too many - a red hybrid tea I've forgotten the name of limps along each year - I may shovel prune it this year, I'm getting tired of its scraggly look. I lost both my new floribundas - Marmalade Skies and Honey Perfume. The Marmalade Skies I replaced - got it at a local nursery for half the price I paid J&P for it, and J&P shipped the original in March, when much of the ground was still frozen (and me, like an idiot, went ahead & put it in - can we say dumb?). The new one has a much better foundation, and therefore a better chance of wintering over, I'd say.

As for the Honey Perfume, which is gorgeous - last year a piece broke off when I was planting it, so I stuck it in a cup of Miracle Grow - it rooted, to my surprise. I put the small plant in my herb garden last fall, and it wintered over just fine, doubled its size, and has a bud on it - go figure!

My reliable rugosas, white and beach pink, are blooming.

Just an update- those Parade miniatures are blooming like mad. The small shrub one from the swap flowers a lovely salmony color. The two grandifloras have yet to bloom.

David Austin Heritage Rose and Mary Rose-

Joseph's coat has not only made it, (as per my original post, I thought it was surely a goner) but is actually surpassing New Dawn and White Dawn in new growth and buds. Sure glad I didn't yank it out! :)

Drippy,
You have had the same experience with an "own root" rose that I did. I had a lovely Paul Bocuse that I accidentely pruned off a large branch. I got part of it to root. The original plant died 3 winters ago, but the rooted one thrived and has bloomed the last 2 summers. My plan is to buy only own roots for any future roses that I want. I may take some searching, but I suspect I'll have better success.

My species roses-glauca and virgininia both come back very well, even after our winter of no snow cover and no winter protection. They are both once bloomers with single pink blooms, but they are lovely and the glauca has great foliage. Alba Meidiland always comes back bigger and better each year with no protection as well, as does Hansa rugosa.

Can you tell me how to winterize my knockout rose bushes? Thanks

You don't. You turn them into something like Frontenac or Champlain if they don't come through the winter.

{{gwi:1071421}}

Frontenac

"...or Champlain...."

Kay, this is the first picture I see from you.
Great!
Keep them coming!
George

Just an update on the Penelope rose. After doing a great job getting through the winter last year with no attention at all, it had a wonderful season. Not one pest problem all season. Healthy foliage despite the drought conditions and some missed watering, kept it's foliage right up until the snow and when the temps dipped in November, the foliage all became edged in red, looking gorgeous next to sedums and rose chrysanthemums. It was pretty all year. I am very impressed and happy to keep this one.

adam

Here in Vermont tea and hybrid tea roses can make a wonderful annual. I don't care since I like them and usually most make it through the winter without any extra protection. I am in the mountains in the snow belt and the snow makes for a fairly good insulator. Of course they all die back to the ground and life springs anew each spring. In a week or 2 the roses should start blooming. I greatly admire their ability to come back after each tough Vermont winter, of course each year I will lose 1 or 2. After 12 years of roses I expect to lose 1 or 2 or more after each winter since I don't pamper them. Winter of 04 was really brutal and I lost 8. I'd prefer for them to be tough and strong and produce beautiful flowers. I grow them only for their beautiful flowers which have few rivals in the beauty dept. And many have seen winters down to 40 below and more with the high winds.

Also have a couple floribundas about 10 years old. Now that is one very tough, strong rose plant. They now are about 6 feet high and 6 feet wide and just an incredible plant for cold weather. And absolutely zero labor too.

Good luck to all, roses are a noble endeavor. They are a worthy challenge wherever you live. Would you prefer to grow pansies instead? Cheerio,JK

"Would you prefer to grow pansies instead?"
Can I say yes?

:)
Patty

Second that motion Patty! :-) LOVE pansies, but I guess I would not want to choose, one over the other, I would want both..lol.

I read all the posts over and noticed that Mad Gallica mentioned that she had 100 great hardy and disease resistant roses, and none of us asked her to share a few of her favorites. I can't believe I missed that! I would love to know what are your favorites, Mad Gallica and if you have any photos that would be even better.

:-)

I don't grow that many roses. I tried a few Austins and the only one I have left is 'Heritage', a nice fragrant pale pink. My favorite is 'Zephirine Drouhin', a shade-tolerant fragrant thornless climber, but it is fairly slow growing for me-I moved it a couple years ago and it's taking a long time to come back to full size. It doesn't die back over the winter, but is just slow to increase in size. The Knockout roses are in their second year in my garden and seem to be thriving, but the Fairy roses are diminishing due to too much shade under a plum tree.

The star this year in my garden is 'New Dawn'. I planted it about 8 years ago and during cold winters I have major dieback. A couple winters ago it basically died back to the ground and wasn't too large last June. However, it is a fast grower and we had a mild winter this year, so it rebounded quickly and was up over the top of the shed, aka the Nantucket beach cottage. It only blooms once for me, but what a sight:

{{gwi:146800}}

Rugosa

I'm of the no-fuss variety of rose-grower. I don't winter protect them other than when I originally site them, usually against or near a building.

I like to get roses as cuttings from friends and that way I have own root plants and know that they are really hardy. Unfortunately, that also means that I often don't know what they are.

The ones I currently have that I know the names of that have survived at least one winter in my garden are
Elsie May (sp?)
Golden Showers
Blanc Double de Coubert
Rosa mundi

but I also have a white climber (once flowering) from my grandad's garden, a pink climber from my neighbor George, and a wonderful old rose that was living at my very old farmhouse when we moved in.

All survived last winter's lack of snow and slightly less frigid than usual temperatures quite well.

monique, what a spectacular picture!

I must say, you all have much knowledge about Roses. Every year I say I am going to learn more on the subject of growing Roses. I just never seem to find the time. I keep planting roses year after year, fertilize with fish emulsion, add a few cloves of garlic to the soil and sit back a enjoy many beautiful Roses. I don't even know their names. Some times I prune sometimes I don't. The Roses I just trim a little bit are doing the best. All are in full bloom here in Ma. (Worcester County) I am a little scared now, to spend much time and effort on them, since they come back every year and do well every year. Am I just lucky or could it be my soil???? I would attach a pic. but do not know how to in this message.