Nice blooms Patty! I'm tellin' ya... I'm convinced the roses actually love the colder weather. Maybe not snow for weeks on end, but they love the cold. My temps range from 50 degrees down to 32 or so in the dead of winter, with it being mostly 40's-50's from Dec to March. The summers often are in the low 100's and as high as 115 degrees. Average is around mid-90's. But my roses don't really like those higher temps. And I've lost waaay more of them due to summer highs with sunburned canes than to freezing temps in winter. Right now we're in the 50's during the day and the roses are thriving like weeds. All sorts of new growth and new canes popping up. Blooms still opening up and still forming buds. It's great! I'll have a few straggler blooms from Dec to Feb and then they'll pick up again in March and April. As much as I don't like the cold myself, I love to see the roses coming back to life and enjoying the wintery temps! The only bad thing is the winds like you're getting. Those can thrash the heck outta the blooms. But your look great!

Thanks Beth I agree the prettiest blooms I see are in cooler weather. The plants are healthier as well as long as it's not too damp. Love spring and fall.

Very pretty Patty. Winds are horrid that's for sure. It seems we only get perfect weather very rarely but love it when we do. This summer was so hot and dry for us but the roses foliage was gorgeous thru it all. I tried to water as much as possible and the roses slowed a bit but not much. I'm at the very end of roses and already anxiously waiting for spring. Lol

Prettypetals

I'm already excited about the new ones that will be coming. Going to be a long winter. Stay safe out there everyone.

So Golden Fairy Tale is doing good for you Patty?

Our newer roses like:

Thomas Affleck (2014) ( Leaves stayed clean most of this season)

Easy Does it (2015) (same as above)

Prairie Harvest (2015) (did get a very minor touch of cercospora) stayed clean otherwise)

Earthsong (late July 2015) did get some BS in October...

Yes GFT has done well in it's first year. I had GTF back in 2008 and lost it in an area that flooded one year. Had to redo that area to direct water towards the ravine. She was healthy with no spray. I like the stronger canes that it has. No blooms on the ground. That is why so many Austins are so difficult here. Without surviving cane there is no framework strong enough to hold the blooms up. Some where upright like the jolly green giant " Evelyn ". But Evelyn was not a good bloomer here.

Lost our Easy Does It. Knew something was wrong this year when a great blooming and normally healthy rose looked like crap this year. Dug it up and found root gall. New one coming in the spring (note to self no rose back in that spot).

I've been cutting the last of the buds and half open blooms for over two weeks now to make little bouquets for the house. It's surprising how many buds that looked tightly closed do open, and boy, do the blooms last longer this time of year. We're on the same latitude line as southern Maine, so you can imagine how short our growing season is. Last day of photosynthesis here is about Nov 6, and it's downhill after that. We had some snow during the last two days, but it's all melted. Our winters aren't bad like Chicago's, but they're looong. Then we have a very hot intense summer, following a short spring. Days are also long here in the summer so this helps some with growth and plants grow large. I got a kick out of your alyssum, Patty. Mine is still hanging on, and snapdragons are doing well, even after the snow. Short annual verbena is another good one to hang on, and rudbeckia, Indian Summer. Still a few Rozanne geranium blooms, and a few penstemon.

Roses are tough, aren't they Patty, and your rose blooms look great in spite of wind and pushing December. Here's to spring. Diane

Golden Fairy Tale and Flower Girl look amazing!! Wonderful!! Good for you for having such lovely flowers still!!

Carol

Oh my Diane I forgot to include the snapdragon. They don't go down till snow or it stays in the thirties.

Odd thing to say here but at one time this year I looked at that house give away thats done each year. The name escapes me at the moment HG something. The home was in Lake Tahoo and my mind went to the growing season. I thought ours was short! I'll stay where I am thank you. Then of course coyote, bears and mountain lions don't thrill me much either.

You have my sympathies we get thou summers occasionally I hate freezer to frying pan weather.

Thanks Carol I know I take lousy photos but what the heck. Hey don't forget too let me know how basement cuttings do PLEASE. Even if they don't work maybe just a little change here or their and we could have success. I read once of rubber maid type containers as mini humidity increasers. It may just be the timing of the cuttings also. Taking them during that last grow spurt but before they begin to shut down.

I haven't any problems rooting outside in fall. Just keeping them alive in winter and away squirrels and coons.

Your roses seem very healthy. The photos don't really show much in terms of disease issues. Hopefully next year would be even better!

fragrancenutter its that or an occasional spray. Can't believe I'm considering this.

Will do!

Right now they're struggling cause there were aphids. I sprayed with hydrogen peroxide, and it wasn't a good idea. :)

Carol

You used hydrogen peroxide on roses? :-) Soap water should kill aphids.

It's so sad to see the last blooms, winter is coming, snow this weekend. I will test out growing rose bands/cuttings in the basement this winter.

It's nice to know you're a fellow snapdragon lover. Our measly snow melted by noon, and out popped the snaps. Do yours bloom from spring till hardest frost? I get so annoyed by articles in garden magazines that say snaps are only for cool weather. Pooh. We have very hot summers, and those snaps just keep on a comin' right through it all. Diane

Patty, I think your blooms and garden are gorgeous! Lucky you to have the blueberry plant. When I lived north of Seattle, we considered blueberries to be weeds. However, I did love picking them along with ripe salmonberries in the wooded area where I lived. I am sure it is all developed now with lots of houses. I ordered two of those blueberry bushes, but was sent the wrong plants. Such is life.

I think your pictures are great and show your beautiful garden. Loved seeing them. Thanks for sharing with us. Gorgeous flowers!

You guys are so nice. I've been puttering around outside this morning. Brief few hours of sixties before the cold front gets here. I cut down a lot of the snaps because there had been a root of Flower Girl that had come back in spring. Forgot about it and was curious if it was still there. It wasn't not surprised at that.

Few more random thoughts; One that I've wanted to share but haven't. Everyone will think I nuts but in gardening for 30 years you do notice some things.

As most of you already know. A garden thats largely made up of one plant type brings on a lot of insect problems. Roses are not particularly good at attracting predator insects.

I went thru a daylily faze and to my surprise that was the end of spider mites on my roses. They love daylilies. Then a new insect showed up on the daylilies not much larger than a spider mite. Forget its name (of course). It looks like a cheeto crumb and they love to eat spider mites and thrips. That was one of the latest discoveries a few years ago.

For newer folks on here I new long ago that if you want a healthy as possible garden it must be diverse (if thats the right word). I like many can only afford so much so I throw seeds around.

There are flies in the ointment of course. I've become allergic to bee and wasp stings. No breathing problems just swelling like marsh mellows on a camp fire. Yucky you feel that venom traveling thru your body, skin stretching while running for the Benadryl. I now that one thats non drowsy and last 24 hours. Gives extra protection fwiw.

So I moved those highly attractive to pollinator plants further away from the house. To far it turns out as i now have some roses being devoured by rose slugs. No ones coming to eat them. Still working on that problem.

Last thought for now (to long). While walking around I found a rose with new bitty holes in leaves. This is without a doubt the latest I've ever found rose sawfly larvae. Squished ten of them, hope this does become a new normal. Please forgive all grammatical errors!

Patty, could you try marigolds or pot marigolds (calendula) to attract rose slugs away from the roses? Pot marigold probably has the kind of leaves those slugs might like. Squishing is good. One summer, I squished hundreds and hundreds of stupid, slow blister beetles where they had congregated on the calendula, but were moving on to other plants. They are very attracted to yellow. Anyway, I haven't had a problem since. A few show up each summer, and I promptly squish them with "my gloves of death"-ha.

I have become allergic to rudbeckia and coneflower. They cause itchy hives and rashes on my hands and lower arms (contact dermatitis, I guess, not a true allergy). Then, it's run for the benadryl cream, which works well. I'm sorry you've become allergic to stings. I think all this could be the result of gardening so long and being exposed so often to the stings.

I agree that plants do better if they're not grown in a monoculture. I happen to like lots of different plants growing together peacefully (thugs be gone). They tend to take care of each other. Diane

summersrhythm - I got the advice on another forum about the hydrogen peroxide. Oops - won't do that again!

Carol

CAROL, a hard spray of water every so often helps keep aphids off the rose bush or safer insecticide soap works..I do not do anything here because aphid populations are low... Carol you must have aphids in much greater numbers than I do here to cause troubles?

Hydrogen peroxide used at the correct ratio with water should not harm rose leaves but I never heard of anyone using it to kill aphids.(?) To strong of a Hydrogen peroxide spray mix can harm leaves though......

PATTY, wasps kill rose slugs, some birds, etc...Hummingbirds?

I just used it straight out of the bottle - 3%. I'm talking about aphids in my basement. I took cuttings from roses, and have them growing downstairs. I didn't know that there were aphid eggs on them. I don't think there are any aphids left ... but my roses are still struggling from the H2O2. Next time I will use soapy water. Sheesh.

Carol

Hydrogen peroxide straight out of bottle was probably to strong... Oh the aphids are in your basement... Homemade soap sprays can also harm if not careful... The ratios have to be right.

I suggest spot testing anything your spray on rose leaves before applying to entire bush...Of course a small cutting that is hard to do...

H2O2 works on pimples though, a good thing to have. :-)

Something I don't miss about being young again.

Lol. That's good thing no more pimples. :-)

I have been going to the gym everynight since no gardening under the moonlight, only can dream about blooms for the next 180 chilly night, I missed strolling in the garden seeing thousands of brilliant blooms, I missed chasing after the rabbits and throwing stones.......snow is coming, petals are falling, where is the globle warming?

Back to dreaming.....

Jim, yeah, I followed Straw's advice. Maybe I misunderstood her. :) Okay I'll try soap and water and do just one plant. I squished a few more aphids. They're still there!!

Carol

Patty, Did you get any snow? We are going to get 6-12" this weekend. Will move all my potted roses in tomorrow. That means I have to put all my bikes for winter storage, no more riding this year. The roses would block the bikes from coming out.

Carol, I hope soap water killed all the aphids by now.

Summers, do you mind if I ask where you live? That's a heck of lot of snow, it seems to me, at this early date. We might get 4 inches the whole winter, give or take an inch or two. Of course we have some surprises, but I can remember winters where we got virtually none. Diane

Wow!! Summers - that's a lot of snow!!! Seven feet!!!! Wow!!! I haven't tried the soap yet - I've only found one or two aphids which I squished. so I'm going to see if my roses can get tougher before I stress them again.

Carol

Yep,

They have been flattened the season is OVER. About 5" here the heavy snow fell about an hour north of here 12" to 16". Most of those canes were pretty stiff hope they did not break.

I was out playing around a few days ago. All of those little stakes were to indicate a place were a rose will fit. Now you guys need to aid me in choices to fill all those spots. :-)

Summer, there were some great pictures of that lake effect snow on the news last year. You could stand looking north and the sun was shining. Then turn around too see a raging blizzard.

Livin Easy a few years ago... Its canes were not hurt at all...

Blizzard of 2010

Good to hear Jim. Hard to believe how flexible they are.

You got snow! It's coming here tonight. We had a group ride this morning, I didn't go (it was raining and 38F). Are you going out for a stroll in the snow? :-) Jim, you might get some snow too this weekend. Where are you in PA? Carol got the 1st snow, now it's our turn.

I'm in Central Pa half way between State College (Penn State) and Altoona PA...Zip code 16686

Thanks for your answer, summers, and yes, indeed, that is a LOT of snow. I would probably have to hibernate the whole winter, chicken that I am in my old age about driving in the stuff, and living out in the country in the hills. Our big problem for the past three years has been unseasonably cold Arctic blasts that have occurred in mid/late November, when nothing is dormant, followed by a mild winter. It's happening again for the the third time (lows in the teens), and I'm spending this afternoon protecting a few vulnerable roses. The others are on their own. Last year there was so much damage--I dread the outcome this year. There were lots of tough roses, though. I may have to make some changes if this November thing becomes an annual event. The weather is definitely changing. Diane

Patty, I'm sorry the snow put an end to your gardening season. Snow is wonderful at covering and disguising in beauty all the stuff that needs to be cleaned up, though, not to mention a good insulator. I have a lot of frozen plants, but no snow. But, hey, the snapdragons and alyssum are still sitting there blooming. Actually, they are frozen in place.

I've got some rose suggestions for you to think on--these roses are the toughest of the tough in my garden: Morden Sunrise, Royal Bonica, Ascot, Munstead Wood (yes, unbelievably), Princess Al of K ( another unbelievable), and Colette, a climber.

Good luck navigating this winter and may your roses come through with flying buds. My wishes for everyone here, too. Diane

Diane the weather any more is challenging everywhere. Fall is like 0 to 60 in reverse. You have that horrible heat all summer. Than it cools off your plants start happily growing. Than slammed with weather in the teens is a cane killer. Roses do appreciate a chance to slide into winter. I also find little surviving cane after such a fall.

I also find myself less than thrilled to drive on bad roads as I get older. I told dh I was turning in early for bed last night and asked if he'd mine awaking me sometime early in March.

Patty - love that!!! For me it would be June or early July. :)

Carol

he he Patty! I prune late March or early April here and blooms start around late May... Of course I would sleep for 2-3 years then when I woke up all our new roses would be mature...lol...

Patty we got about 14" up here - heavy heart attack snow. Roses are smothered in it, but doesn't look like any damage so far. I bet yours are okay. Supposed to be 50 degrees for Thanksgiving :). Sure is pretty though!

You got 14"!!! I saw Chicago on ABC news. Wow, so much for the 1st snow. We should see some tomorrow, keep checking on the radar.

Heart attack snow indeed I was only trying to push 5 inches of the stuff. Put the shovel in and it goes nowhere. Got it done but took two longgg breaks. Would have had to use the snowblower on the deck had we gotten the 14".

They had best not take that 50 degree day away. We need it!

No snow here and sunny. It went somewhere passed us. Warmer weather next week! :-)

Snow missed us also... Clear, chilly, & windy in the mid 30's today...

Wow! That's a lot of snow! Good thing you took breaks during the shovelling.