In my z4 area, no fertilizer with N after Aug. 1st.

I haven't the faintest idea. Total confusion here. Diane

In Central FL ,we rarely have any temps lower than 32/33 . So I fertilize year around , although a little lightly during the hot summer months. I use mostly organics.

Like wirosarian, when the livin' is (still) easy. Not fall. Though a little later than up there.

I do the last feeding before Labor Day. Our first frost is about 8 weeks after that so I'd say I'm in the 60 day group.

Even tho we are 8A here we get hard freezes on occasion between Thanksgiving and maybe Valentine's Day. Despite that, many modern shrubs keep at least some of their foliage and the antique teas and chinas retain a lot of foliage.

The only roses we have lost to freezes were a planting of Mystic Beauty (Bourbon, sport of Kronprincessin Viktoria and therefore related to SDLM). And a mature tea Mrs. B R Cant died back almost to the ground.

Labor Day weekend for my 10-10-10. I give everything a drink of fish emulsion the 3rd weekend of Sept.

Some people like us in the North stop before fall. Some people who almost never get frost fertilize year round.

A simple rule of thumb would be about 60 days before you start getting frost to give the rose or any plant for that matter a chance to slow down as the cold weather comes in.

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I think I'm sticking to 60 days before first frost.

I am just north of you on the red river and i stop Oct 1.

As for fertilizing year round, not a fan of it. Used to live in Galveston and I didn't fertilize at all in June or July or during Nov-Feb. The roses might go dormant or not, but I habe long felt plants need a rest whetherthey go dormamt or not, so I always let my roses rest over winter.

Thanks Kingcobb, I'm thinking along the same lines, stop fertilizing and cut down on water no later than Oct 1 for my area. Most my bushes are on Fortuniana, so I have to be extra careful since they have less tendency to go dormant and yet are more tender.

That's exactly what I have been wondering. On the ARS rose site they said fertilize now for the last flush. Abe Darby and Evelyn are still in the race against time to put out more buds. Wrong or right , it's done now and can't be reversed.

I cleaned out the storage , bleached all the buckets and tools, and instead of storing my Dr Earth Organic Fish fertilizer til Spring, I made a mega fishy soup with one third sack in a five gallon bucket for the roses. Poured it on and watered it in really good. The hundreds of fish eyeballs sit on the top, and my neighbors cat that usually stays at home was here staring at them. Caught her just before she rolled.

Some fish sauce splashed on my lip yesterday, happy to report I'm still alive hoping it may have a collagen effect.

Quote from Cynthia's roses, "What is this fertilizer you speak of??" Seriously, I made an unusual effort this year and fertilized them all once in the spring, though I didn't notice any particular difference from last year. Every year I pull out the liquid fertilizer and swear I'm going to top up at least the wimpy roses later in the spring and summer with a weak solution, and every year the bottles get rained on and that's about it. At least by fall I have the excuse not to bother. I agree in principle with not fertilizing in the last 6-8 weeks before the first hard frost, but I've hardly put that to the test even remotely any year.

By Halloween however I'll probably go put away those extra bags of fertilizer and Ironite that have been sitting on my front porch since April. I think that counts as fertilizer work, right?

Cynthia

I have put that principle to the test, Cynthia, and I have never noticed any difference in my roses, whether I fertilized right up until the middle of September, or stopped much earlier. In fact I was going to fertilize tonight, but never got it done, of course. It's too darn hot all summer to fertilize so I feel guilty about how I treat my roses when September starts to go by. I've never lost a rose to the cold, though one rose suffered a lot of damage this year in our extra harsh 2017 winter. With the number of roses you grow, Cynthia, it must take a truckload of fertilizer to do the job. Diane

Diane,

I find it interesting that you have not stopped fertilization until a few weeks before frost and your roses are none the worse for it. I believe the reasoning to curb water and fertilization is to give the plant a chance to 'harden off' before frost . However, if you're able to fertilize up to the end and enjoy and extended fall flush, that is wonderful, I cannot argue with success. Perhaps we should all move to Boise with our potted up Ascots and Julia Childs in tow. Is there a knock on your door? That would be your new Rose Forum neighbors, begging for cuttings of Augusta Luise.

Here is a nice written fall guide to rose care just published in Houzz. The author recommends to stop fertilization 6 weeks before frost, and to cease deadheading 8 weeks before frost.

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/your-complete-guide-to-fall-rose-care-stsetivw-vs~92223534?utm_source=Houzz

August, I use a dry organic fertilizer (one of the Espoma "Tones" or Mills Magic Mix). It takes awhile for the fertilizer to break down (4 - 6 weeks or more), so fertilizing in mid- to late August is approximately 6 weeks before the first frost, which is in late October/early November.

This is great info. Thank you to everyone for contributing and sharing their thoughts!

I haven't had a chance to really enjoy the garden this summer due to a an awful schedule and intense heat waves. If I fertilize now I bet I can enjoy a wonderful autumn garden. My frost dates are somewhere between Dec 1-15... so it seems I can use some liquid fertilizer from now until about Oct 15 in order to selfishly enjoy a more exciting and grand fall flush. :-) Thanks for the topic Ben and thanks to everyone for their contributions!

Ben,

My questions below will help me see your picture better.

As your reference subject rose, please use a typical hybrid tea(s) or its equivalent, growing currently and doing well in your garden. The most winter tender, winter damage prone class of roses I know is the hybrid tea.

Your answers will help determine how long into fall to fertilize.

•••••••••••••••••

Do you winterize? Do you need to, or if you did, would it make for better winter survivability?

Do you get winter damage? How much?

Do your roses defoliate over winter? Which ones do, which ones don't?

Do you get freshly open blooms that opened after Thanksgiving?

How did you fertilize at last season's end, 2016?

Thanks!

Moses