Flora - I live close by Dan in Central Illinois, snd here's what I do for my fertilizing program. I personally like Rose Tone, which is a granular fertilizer. Some folks use Mills Magic; Miracle Gro; etc. You might do a search and read the different threads about fertilizers. It's simply a matter of personal preference. It takes a lot of energy and food for roses to bloom, so I always start fertilizing May 1. Roses are heavy feeders and need lots of energy to produce those beautiful blooms we love. I quit feeding September 1, which gives the roses a chance to harden any new growth before winter. I fertilize monthly, which is according to the Rose Tone directions. Newly-planted rose bands get only LIQUID ROSE FERTILIZER at 1/2 strength for the first year so it doesn't burn their roots. Next year after they have had a chance to establish a healthy root system, they will graduate to Rose Tone fertilizer. I too winter protect with mulch. I checked my roses last week, and they were green under the mulch but the top canes were black. When I prune in a couple of weeks and uncover all the way, I'll prune until I find the white pith. And yes, do cut off below the cane if you find canker. Hope this info helps. -terry

I'm no expert on this, but I found after that BIG EASTER FREEZE a couple years ago that I didn't always prune back as much as I should have. It's easy to pick out black/brown canes that need trimming, but some of the other canes were still greenish and didn't look too bad, so I left some of them. They did put out new leaves and then flowers, but they weren't really thriving. I thought they'd improve with time--but they didn't. A year later when I started pruning them, I realized the center of the cane was not very healthy--brown center, not glistening white like sound, healthy canes. So belatedly I ruthlessly trimmed back those so-so canes until I found clear white centers--nearly ground-level in several cases. Those canes have since put out good healthy growth or the severe pruning stimulated the growth of brand-new canes that are super healthy. Bigger healthier blooms as a result. If you are thinking of getting rid of so-so performers that you suspect may have been damaged back in the BIG FREEZE, you might try first ruthlessly pruning all canes back to clear white centers, even if it means pruning down near ground level. Then see if new canes are produced (add appropriate food and water, of course). You may find you have a new healthy plant waiting down there ready to emerge and blossom with a little help from you. Just a possibility--no promises. Kate

Buford, The one time I'll go in and cut lowest is when the cane is mushy. This hasn't happened often, and I don't know what the disease is, but sometimes the cane has leaves that don't look good, and I'll wiggle it to see if it's broken and it's not broken, it's mushy. Then I will cut lowest possible, usually in stages and I follow the cleanliness regime that Cass recommends (sometimes with adding bleach in between cuts to the secateurs if I think the disease has a real lethal potential.) The cleanliness that Cass talks about is so important. About rugosas: We visited a garden Wednesday where we'd watched two beds that were primarily Pink Grootendorsts with a few interplanted forsythia. One bed is gone, replaced with grass. In the eight years we've watched these, only one plant had gotten Rose Rosette, and we'd pruned the sick canes off; that bush is still RRD-free. But with no care, another plant is a RRD mess now and forsythia is taking over. The remaining five Pink G's are mostly dead canes. In my part of the world, have have seen this dead cane thing on rugosas in my yard, I try to cut them back as far as possible and it makes a better looking rose. But I've seen some mass plantings of rugosas up in the mountains (clear zone 6 cold) and many of the rugosas are mostly similar dead canes. Down here, the rugosas aren't 'no care'. The cause? Sometimes you'll see a swelling on the canes. I've sent some of those to some plant pathologists who couldn't find any boring insects or other pathogen. I'm afraid we may learn more about rugosa diseases as northern Europeans consider ways to fight and kill rugosas which are becoming known in parts of Scandanavia as invasive alien species.

Phyllostachys nuda is very hardy...to about -20F. Much heavily to protect the rhizome mass. Regardless, you're going to lose the leaves, and most likely the culms will also die. Although I have never tried this, I might be tempted to make a tent for the culms out of clear visqueen, and weight down the bottom so it won't blow off. If you put a layer of bubblewrap under the visqueen, this would be even better. Then report back in the spring...