I would do nothing to care for rose bushes in the winter except to very occasionally water them if the winter has been dry. No self-respecting rose even blinks if the temps go down to 36 degrees. Now if your temps were to go down to 16 degrees, that might concern me a bit--but our winter temps in Zone 6 have gone down to 0 degrees and I have never lost a rose to winter temps. (The only protection my roses get is randomly blowing leaves from my neighbors' oak trees--not much protection at all, in other words.) Kate

Cut off the dead portions about mid April and enjoy. Fertilize after the first bloom. You should be able to just cover them with mulch or leaves next year. In my NW Indiana home I had them planted on the street next to my driveway. They were covered all winter with snow thrown up by snowplows. Mine never survived more than one winter so I stopped growing them. If planted in a better location they should do better.

I don't know what zone you are in, estraya. That will have a great deal to do with when your roses will go dormant. If you are in zone 6 or lower you will probably want to use some kind of winter protection. There are a number of methods for this from those white rose cones (which I do not recommend) to mulching of various types. Also in colder climates we don't usually fertilize after August. Fertilizer promotes new growth that will not have time to harden off (age) before there is a killing freeze. They recommend discontinuing deadheading too for the same reason but I, personally, cannot stop myself from doing so. I hate a messy bed but that's just me. I do not cut mine back in the fall, unless they are extremely tall and then I only cut them down to the average height in the bed, 3 to 4 feet ususally. I found that if I cut them back in the fall I still had cane die back in the spring so I had to cut them even further and was left with nothing but stumps which took much longer to get to bloom in the spring. In milder winters I've had very little die back and had blooms by mid May. In very cold winters I lost some cane but after spring pruning was still left with a good size plant to start the season out with. For climbers I do not prune in the fall ever. Any really long canes cane be staked and tied to protect them from whipping around and being damaged by high winds. In the spring you will be able to tell how far any of your roses will need to be cut to. You will see new growth beginning to show on the canes. When you cut to that growth if the center of the cane (called the pith) is white you've cut to good wood. If it is tan or brown you need to cut further until you reach good white pith even if you are cutting off what looks like new growth. If the center of the cane is dieing it will not support that new growth for long. I think you should go to the American Rose Society web site. On there you can get in touch with a Consulting Rosarian from your area or find a rose society in your area that you can get local information from. They will be better able to tell you about the timing of all this for your zone. They will also know more about what types of protect work well and are available locally. BTW, you've picked some really beautiful roses, your home and your garden are lovely and your roses look very healthy and happy. Great Job!

For me, wind is a problem year-round, not just during winter. I've had to stake up a few canes here & there to keep them from snapping off during thunderstorms. Found this out the hard way, after losing a couple of canes to high winds. Long canes with lots of leaves & petals get mighty heavy during a downpour, and with gusts of up to 50mph, they can take a beating. Last year, I simply gathered up the long canes with panty hose & kept them loosely bundled. Worked very well, and I didn't have to sacrifice cane length. Also kept the stuff I had piled around the roots in place a little better. ---Laura