Wow - roses in zone 5 before Mother's Day!
Hi folks
Usually June is the start of rose season in my zone, with a few stragglers putting out a few blooms by Memorial Day, like my usual first rose Felix Leclerc. Well this year, not only do I have first blooms before Mother's Day, but all my roses have big fat buds and are likely to start serious blooming in May. Wow, the benefits of a mild winter!
What's more, the first rose out of the chute wasn't Felix as usual. Instead, Therese Bugnet chose this year to bloom and nicely too! I've had her at least 4 maybe 5 years and she has NEVER bloomed, even in prime real estate! I think she just needed to put substantial roots down. Here is one of her first dozen or so blooms, wonderfully fragrant.
I happened to catch a bee gleefully wallowing in the pollen of one of her blooms. He just looked so happy, like a kitten nestling in a bed of yarn.
Joining Therese but coming in a close second in the spring race is Fimbriata. For a change the blooms actually look nice with that fringed look he's supposed to have. Mine puts out a nice flush in spring and then doesn't rebloom at all, in the same prime real estate. I'm going to experiment with chopping him back firmly and see if that prompts a rebloom this year, since leaving the existing cane didn't work at all last year.
For the first time ever in 10 years of growing roses, I've had roses overlap with tulips and columbine. Usually the tulips are long gone and most of May is a mix of iris, columbine, allium and peonies. Heck, Therese and Fimbriata are even earlier than the peonies, though not the tree peonies. Here's a bouquet I couldn't resist with Therese Bugnet being celebrated by tulips and clematis and columbines.
How about you - are you getting earlier than usual roses in your cold zones? Those of you with April snow are probably still catching up, but we are totally early.
Cynthia
Comments (15)
Related Discussions
Timing for Shrub Rose pruning - Zone 5
Comments (15)Yes, I'd wait until they have begun to actively grow. If the leaf buds/nodes have not begun to fatten up and grow it's a little early yet. If they are already starting to grow then go ahead and prune them. There is no sure rule for it because it's a very climate specific thing and there are a lot micro climates that can influence things. For me spring comes a little later than elsewhere here even though I'm in zone 6. I'm right on the lake and that big expanse of water was frozen all winter and takes time to warm up. The cold wind coming off the water keeps my yard cooler than places even a few miles inland from me in the spring. However, in the fall it takes a long time for that water to cool down again so I'm warmer than inland and will have roses blooming sometimes into November. You have to learn how your area works and go with the right time for you. I don't just start at 1/3 of the way down. Sometimes they're still healthy much higher than that and I like to leave mine with as much good cane to start out with as possible. In our cold zones we lose a lot as it is. Start at the top of each cane and cut off about 2 inches. Look at the center of the cane. Is it White/green or tan/brown? White/green is live cane. Tan /brown is dead wood. Keep cutting down about 2 inches at a time just above an outward facing leaf bud until you get to cane that has a clear, clean white/green center. From there down you should be good. But also check down the sides of the canes for dark streaks or damage. If the cane has been damaged further down chances are it will die back to below that damage anyway so you might as well take it off....See MoreCan I manage a zone 6 or 5b rose in zone 5?
Comments (29)Dcrosby, You may be right at the edge of zone 5/6. Check the map here. If you are still zone 5, you just need to do some winter protection. It should be fine. Climate affects disease susceptibility. In dryer, more arid climate like AZ or CA, they don't have to deal with fungal disease like we do here in humid East Coast. When you read people's recommendations, you want to see where they live. Different climate gives different results to the same rose variety. Spraying for roses every week or every two weeks is not my kind of fun (anymore). I didn't even want to smell the blooms after I sprayed the bushes. Now I don't spray, most of my roses esp. Austins look naked by mid summer. Here is a link that might be useful: MA new plant hardiness zone map...See MoreExpected size for these roses in zone5
Comments (5)I agree with Kate that Eutin is a very hardy good reblooming rose for zone 5 and colder. Mine is in my zone 4 pocket, and it definitely wants to be wider than it is tall. Mine's about 4 years old and I'd call it waist high with a spreading habit not quite an arm's distance, which makes Kate's measurements pretty representative of mine too (didn't remember you were a Cornhusker Kate!) I also bought my Iobelle from Roses Unlimited, and I have to agree with Seil that it's one of the least hardy Bucks I've grown. It died a pretty rapid death after its first winter, and I do winter protect. You might consider a warmer zone pocket in your yard or keep it in a pot and take it into an unheated protected space for the winter. Prairie Harvest is a more traditional Buck and should survive fine in zone 5 in the ground. I get the various "Prairie" Bucks mixed up a bit, but I'd say it's probably 4 feet tall and not too wide, perhaps 2.5 feet. Sweet Intoxication is one that has failed to overwinter for me once already, but that might have been from a weak plant (it sounds like you're having the same problem). In general, I find that if hybrid teas like that survive they're not as tall or wide as indicated on HMF usually, at least in my zone 5. That's the one on your list that's most liable to stay relatively narrow, if you're trying to place it in an existing spot - my guess would be 4 feet tall by 2.5 feet wide again, but it's only a guess since it's a pretty weak plant for me. Have fun and let us know how they do! Cynthia...See MoreCutting back now before winter? Zone 5A
Comments (7)All brown. Do you really mean that they are ALL brown or is just part of the plant...some leaves, brown, the rest still having healthy looking leaves. Cut back. I suggest before you do anything...do nothing. Read about clematis at "clematis.com". Learn about the 3 distinct genus of the plant and why, if any, pruning is done at their particular time. About pruning. You cant kill a clematis by pruning at the wrong time....only set it back possibly in flowering time. As far as winter is concerned, it depends too on where you have the plant--in sunlight, or in shade, next to a building, or out on a trellis. Buildings provide protection, warmth, and plants can be mulched to provide further protection during and leading up to frost. The age of the plants can matter. Young plants should be given protection in any case; older plants not so much. As for their type; try to learn when they flowered; how they flowered and if they re-flowered a second time. That can be a clue as to whether and how you should cut them back. All the information you require is found at "clematis.com"...See More
reesepbuttercup SLC, Utah 6b
7 years agonippstress - zone 5 Nebraska thanked reesepbuttercup SLC, Utah 6b
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
7 years agonippstress - zone 5 Nebraska thanked mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
Donna Roesink Zone 6a Ohio
7 years agonippstress - zone 5 Nebraska thanked Donna Roesink Zone 6a Ohionippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
7 years ago
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
7 years agonippstress - zone 5 Nebraska thanked jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
7 years agonippstress - zone 5 Nebraska thanked mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
7 years agonippstress - zone 5 Nebraska thanked Sheila z8a Rogue Valley ORnippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
7 years ago
AnneCecilia z5 MI