If you have an unheated, attached garage, just move the pots into the garage after temperatures are consistently below freezing. Around here, that is sometime after Thanksgiving, but sometimes later. They will need watering occasionally, but not a lot of trouble.

I've put roses on the stairs leading down to the basement. I did lose one because I didn't water it and it dried out.

I have a drafty, leaky, unheated, uninsulated, enclosed back porch which has some windows. I moved all my potted Teas and Chinas into it on the first day that nighttime lows were projected to go below 25F. We had only one big snow event that Winter, but I did scoop some onto the pots. As it turned out, four pots dried out a bit too much, and of those, two have yet to show signs of life -- 'White Gold' (Floribunda) and "Boone Hall" (China). The other two of those four were cut back a lot, and returned from the roots -- 'Ferndale' and 'Oakington Ruby' (both Chinas). But eight Teas, two Polyanthas, one Pernetiana, and two Chinas made it through just fine -- with only minor tip damage. I'll be sure to check them more often for watering next Winter when I do it again.

What I've often read is that a rule of thumb with potted roses is to decrease your zone by 1 or 2 for hardiness outside. If you move them inside, consider the lowest temperature reached where you put them to set the zone for that spot, and figure out if it's still OK for the potted roses you have. So my back porch was a bit warmer than the outside, by maybe 10-15F, meaning my potted roses experienced conditions like being left out unprotected in a zone 8a or 8b Winter -- which is about the same as being in the ground here.

I'm still figuring this out for myself, but those are my first-time results.

:-)

~Christopher

Wow..Some very interesting ideas!

Here are my choices, and if you could tell me which one you think is best, then will do)

I could stick them in a detached unheated garage which is dark, but everything in there freezes solid. The pots would freeze hard.

I could stick them in my attached 3 seasons porch which is heated my day and not by night. The temps in there could stay no lower than 45 but no higher than 60.

I could stick them in my basement which stays pretty much warm, about 55 but stays dark.

I could stick them outside wrapped with leaves and burlap.

I could dig holes and bury the pots and then cover the top growth with leaves. I have over wintered all my other maple trees and perennials this way and they all come back.

Do all Roses really need to go completely dormant or can they continually grow in a cool room well lit?

Thank you

My next question would be "which roses?" Not all need to go dormant, but it will depend on types. Basically, the more China/Tea blood they have, the less they need dormancy. If you're talking about modern HTs and Floribundas and similar types, it's harder to say. One way to gauge would be if those varieties are grown in areas without real Winters -- like southern CA or FL.

I'd say to divide your potted roses into groups -- those which would be hardy in the ground you can keep outside by burying their pots and covering them with leaves. Those which aren't hardy in the ground in your area but are just a bit south could be allowed to go dormant outside then moved into the garage -- IF you don't open the door when it goes below 20F. Those which are heavily China/Tea could be kept in your 3 seasons room, and will likely bloom through Winter if they get enough sun.

:-)

~Christopher

I've had success overwintering my potted roses in my unheated, attached garage. I try to keep the soil from drying out but without soaking them - giving them too much of a drink during the winter seems to stimulate growth in the warmer but not so warm garage environment. On moderate days I try to open the garage door to let in some light and provide air circulation. I am taking a risk this year growing Devoneinsis in a pot (a rose I should not be growing in my zone) and see if it overwinters fine in my garage. I hope it works!

Just waiting for Carol to respond, she's the gal that knows all about it in our cold zones, although you are are in a fairly moderate zone? Should be fairly easy there.Had good luck using her method..I am sure she will chime in. I am in zone 3 and have no problem overwintering any of the hybred teas from zone 7 or whatever, but then again my garage is insulated and has house on two sides. It never goes below 25 f, even if it is 25 below outside.

I too am zone 5b/6a Massachusetts. I ordered way too many own root roses to have time to plant last summer so I just sunk the rose, pot and all, into the ground through the winter, all crowded next to each other. Even my tiniest roses survived. If your roses are in decorative pots maybe you could line them with nursery pots so the decorative pots wouldn't get stained from soil. I have done this with potted perennials too and it works great. I tried overwintering some in pots surrounded by leaves and plywood but didn't have as much success with this method.

Sharon

I'm in zone 6a/6b, and I bought a few roses this spring which I have placed in containers. Would the unheated greenhouse be acceptable for them in winter?

Obviously, there won't be much air movement, and while the containers are protected from the chill factor, water still freezes. These conditions allow me to get sarracenias and pleione orchids through the winter, though watering too much too soon can have disastrous results (the plants don't like coming out of a freeze, getting plenty of water and then freezing again). I also need to keep an eye on grey mold.

I've overwintered all types of roses from HTs to shrubs and EVERY thing in between. I even managed to over winter the china Mutabilis one year before it succumbed to the polar winter. Most years I lose more roses in the ground than I do in the winter pot ghetto. I lost 6 roses this past, very mild, winter and only one of them was in a pot.

Lauriescreams - I would be concerned about the temperature extremes you can get in an unheated greenhouse in the winter although the rose would be protected from the drying winter wind. I hope someone else can provide some advice on this.

Besides overwintering my roses in an unheated but insulated/attached garage, I have had great success with sinking roses in black nursery pots in the ground and then providing a mound of mulch over them after there have been a couple of light frosts but before a hard freeze. If I had a choice between an unheated greenhouse and the ground - I would choose the ground w/ mulch. Of course, this would not work for large or ceramic pots.

This is what I do, and I never lose any roses, and it doesn't matter what zone the roses are rated at:

I overwinter my 50 roses in large pots in my garage with the
2 cars. LOL Three car garage.

Here's what I do:

- I keep deadheading until it's time for them to go into the
garage.
- I keep feeding them and watering well until it's time for them to go into the
garage.
-Then when the temperature gets to be about -6C I cut all the leaves off at the
point they join the heavier stem. I don't cut any height off of the plant.
- At this point I water them really, really well and move them by dolly into
the garage.
- I cover them with thick blankets, layers of flannel sheets or sleeping bags when the outside temp gets colder than -20C.
- My garage is insulated.
- Then I leave them alone in the dark. Doesn't matter if the garage door is
opened and closed.
- Around January, I look and see if they're dried out a bit.
- If they are, then I water each rose 1/2 cup.
- I repeat this every month.
- As the weather starts warming up, I take off some blankets - so they don't
start making new growth in the heat.
- Any new growth should be broken off as you would thorns - just push them to
the side, and they'll fall off.
- If you have only a few pots - you can start taking them outside during the
day when it gets about 5 C outside. Bring them inside until the night
temperature doesn't drop below 2C.
- Remember to water really well once you take them outside.
- If you have a lot - then either wait until night tempreatures are 2C before
you take them outside - or cover them with blankets at night.

-----------------

This winter was really warm, so I didn't cover them at all.

Hope this helps. :)

Carol

Thanks, Dave! While things in the greenhouse do freeze in the deep of winter, the greenhouse doesn't become overly warm in the daylight hours - at least not until late March. It's not like things will be frozen on a January morning and thawed in the afternoon, only to freeze again during the night. But obviously, I still don't have the practical experience to know whether these conditions work for roses.

I keep my roses in big, white plastic pots, by the way. It makes them easier to lift as I don't want them in the greenhouse during the summer and would like to be able to take them with me should I decide to relocate.

That is quite a regimen, Carol! I don't have access to a garage, at least not one large enough to accommodate more than two or three pots, which I why I'm hoping the unheated greenhouse could work as a substitute. Many people here in Denmark grow their roses in greenhouses all year round. Blue Moon isn't hardy enough to be outside here, and those who have success with it grow it in the greenhouse, which is why I figured that maybe the greenhouse could work for my potted roses. Anyway, thank you kindly for your very detailed account. I was actually of the impression that once the plants froze, you stopped watering. But I gather that you keep your roses above freezing?

Yes, the blankets and the insulated garage do the trick. And I only water after about 5 months.

Do the greenhouse roses get spider mites and other nasties?

Carol