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cold weather and my roses are not dormant yet - is this normal?

15 years ago

Hi,

I'm perplexed!! It's been cold out but my roses are not dormant yet! Is this normal? I don't know what to do about protecting them for the winter since they are still leafy and green.

I keep them in containers and before the temperature started to drop, i moved them to bigger containers, hoping the extra room and soil will help protect them. I keep them in a piece of rooftop (i live on 2nd floor), facing south.

So... what should i do? I was waiting for them to go dormant and was going to put bubble wrap around the container (heard that works) since i don't have a garage or anything else to place them in. Should I just go ahead and do it or wait?

thanks!!

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Comments (3)

gordonhawk
15 years ago
Well..New..
They should be feeling the weather by now.. and going dormant... I've had roses on my roof top for decades in containers.. the biggest problem isn't them getting too cold.. but warming up too early in the spring.. at first I'd cover them with pine limbs from Christmas trees... I'd recycle off the street.p the roses in a bunch together.. and cover them.. but I haven't done that in a very long time..
yes.. the bigger the container the best chance for them to be surviving..
So.. what I've get found.. is on the roof.. it will get real warm in the late bright winter days...this will drive them out of dormancy.. start the juices flowing .. only to be frozen again during a cold night.. this shatters them internally.. on a cellular level.. water taken up is frozen.. it expands..and shatters the cell walls..alayer of bubblerap might cause them to get real warm from the roof surface below.. and the heat held in by the wrap.. I'd get the planters up off the roof.. first... then perhapsawrap.. as the sun shinning on the pots themselves will heat it up...also.. you want to delay pruning in the spring... till late.. as this is a spur to them breaking dormancy also..
So.. what I do is to allow them to get as cold as they need to..and keep them shaded.. [ out of the direct sun helps ] cool and alseep... till it is considerably warm...
I've gone to building up foam planters to keep them in..
andI've built a foam panneled cool room up on my roof... to house tropicals through the winter.. It's 49 in there right now. with their little heater set to NO FREEZE.. it's about 36 outside.. now..
Well the best of luck there.. if I can be of any help.. just write to me Gordon
gee_oh_nyc
15 years ago
We hit 19 the other day and some of my mini-rose bushes still have flowers and leaves today! I sometimes worry about it but they always seem to know what they're doing.
They may take a hit, but always seem to bounce back.
Peace
George
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Or you can leave the soil hilled up over the canes after planting and let Mom Nature wash it off. The new canes and leaveswill grow through the hill of soil. To protect the bud union during unexpected (in your area) bitter cold, plant the graft 2-4 inches below the soil surface then hill the soil over the canes above that. I'm one who advises planting as soon as you can work the soil. Your dormant rose will stay dormant in the cold ground until the sun warms the soil, promoting roots and leaf out. Better to store it there than potted in a garage. Even though it's cold, water it well. This settles the soil and prevents the canes from drying out. I soak mine in diluted fish emulsion, then pour it in the hole and on the bush when I plant. Although the wax is suppose to prevent the canes from losing moisture, it's often colored green to make the bush look fresh and blemish free. Either way it'll melt off in the sun as the weather warms. You'll probably have some dieback due to harvest damage. A grade 1 1/2 is suppose to have at least two canes 3/8 inch in diameter or larger. It can have more. Because you bought yours so early it sounds as if you may have gotten a pretty nice grade 1 1/2, depending on how the roots look. Most bagged roses I've ever got had roots no more than a couple of inches long. That's one reason it's a 1 1/2 grade and hidden in a bag.
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nynewbie
Original Author
15 years ago
yeah, both my roses are still leafy and green! Even after all that snow and ice we got... i haven't pruned them at all since they haven't gone dormant. Haven't really mulched them either. Maybe my rooftop is warmer than it seems?

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