Rose trees; zone 6...well...yes, you can overwinter them in zone 6. I've done this with good luck on several of them for a number of years before they finally succumbed to the temperatures. I kept mine in large pots, potted them the way you would bury the graft if you were planting them in the ground. Enjoy them for the summer. If you don't want to take them into the garage for the winter, find a very protected spot out of the direct winds. Put some wire around the pot, enough to put a nice packing of leaves or mulch into to cover the entire pot. Take some more wire and make a cage around the upper graft union, again for leaf mold or mulch to protect the upper graft. This is how I was protecting my tree roses when I had them. Other alternatives: In the ground...dig up the rose at the end of the season, lay it down and bury it in the ground for the winter with a good amount of leaf mold or mulch to protect it. In the ground...using wire, make a cage around the entire plant and fill it with leaf mold or mulch. The entire plant will have to completely covered to prevent freeze or the upper graft from freezing as well as the stem. Frankly, the easiest way to overwinter the tree roses is to keep them in a pot and simply move them into the garage or greenhouse. In the garage near a window with watering about once every two weeks to once a month is sufficient. Eventually, I gave up on them because they were more work than I was willing to give them. I have to many other roses that need attention as well.

I've had a heck of a time with my Hope for Humanity rose..is it dead? Is it alive? No one knows! :P I vaguely remember it doing that last spring too. It did eventually come up, but it took far longer than everyone else. It is a shame, because I think it is such a beauty. I think I had better move it to a different location if it survives this year; it is such a beautiful rose, but even my zone 4 alba roses have less dieback, and I didn't mulch them!

Good feedback Patty and thanks for posting. My Kiss Me didn't survive in my zone 4 pocket where I first try most of my Easy Elegance roses (and most do just fine there BTW). This one looks to be no more than zone 5 hardy, but it's good that it survives well in your second try. Jim I've never been able to find Easy Elegance roses at anything but local stores. My local Lowes is pretty reliable at having a lot of these, plus a couple other local nurseries. I don't think Ping Lim has worked through any consistent online retailers for most of his roses. Cynthia

If you leave them outdoors to receive acidic rain, it's best with 1/2 perlite and 1/2 potting soil. Dense potting soil (peatmoss & lime) is needed to buffer acidic rain. I water my rootings with 100% rain-water (pH 4.5), and sand still gives me trouble since it's too dense (best mixed with 1/2 vermiculite). Nahema rooting in 1/2 sand and 1/2 peatmoss lost all leaves in heavy rain, but my rootings in 1/2 perlite and 1/2 potting so DO MUCH BETTER OUTDOOR in freezing 40's to 30's temp. But if you keep them indoor (blocked from rain), then it's best with 1/2 perlite and 1/2 vermiculite.Sand is too alkaline if tap-water is used. Rooting outdoor with a glass dome on top (to block out excess rain-water) is easiest. Once cuttings grow roots, they don't need glass dome, but 1/2 perlite mixed with 1/2 potting soil is still needed if you have heavy rain in winter. If cuttings lose leaves, putting a glass dome over helps to re-grow the leaves. Cuttings lose leaves when the medium is too dry, so a glass dome helps to retain moisture. Water evaporates from leaves, so rootings drop leaves to converve water. Learn something new this morning about rooting roses. Someone in Chicago asked me for cuttings of Evelyn, so I sent to her few weeks ago. They keep ALL their leaves in her wet INDOOR medium of 1/2 potting soil and 1/2 perlite, they also grow leaf-buds, but zero roots. She asked me what's wrong. I finally realize there's a BIG DIFFERENCE in rooting INDOOR with alkaline-tap-water and OUTDOOR with acidic rain. For outdoor 1/2 dense potting soil and 1/2 perlite is OK, since ACIDIC rain softens the medium. Keeping rootings indoor or cuttings indoor is a real-pain, that's why I'm keeping my rootings outside at 33 F freezing temp in my zone 5, and won't bring them inside until it's below 32 F. If I'm in a warmer zone, I would keep everything OUTDOOR with rain water. Glass domes make it much easier, I water only twice a week with glass dome, compared to everyday without glass dome. Glass dome blocks out excess rain water plus prevent rootings from dropping leaves when it's hot & dry. Skip below if you keep tiny rootings outdoor with acidic rain water: For rooting indoor with harder-wood: roots are wimpy and won't push out unless: 1) medium is airy and fluffy with perlite (so perlite & vermiculite is best) 2) rooting hormone is used 3) Above room temp. is cold to discourage growing new leaves, but with a heating pad below to encourage root growth. 4) A glass dome or misting system since INDOOR IS DRY, and spider-mite is a problem. 5) Sand is too alkaline & OK for acidic rain at pH 4.5 but NOT for indoor 6) Distilled water is neutral pH and NOT as acidic as rain water. Folks even use citric acid to root plants. 7) Fluffy medium of perlite & vermiculite helps with wimpy roots indoors. Below link talks about when cuttings are in a cold room, but WITH A HEATING PAD below, then it won't grow leaves but grow roots instead. Rooting hormone is recommended for rooting hardwood in winter, using 1/2 perlite and 1/2 vermiculite. 1/2 sand is TOO ALKALINE to use indoor with zero rain-water. Countless website proved that rooting indoor is best with 1/2 perlite and 1/2 vermiculite, with a glass dome or plastic pop OVER since indoor air is dry. The below link explains it well: https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/yardandgarden/extpub/new-plants-from-cuttings-text-only/