Roses in Wyoming zone 4b/5a
Hi all, I have been lurking for a while admiring all your lovely gardens! Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and your wisdom, I feel like I have learned a ton! I have loved roses all my life but only started growing them five years ago, and only a year ago really started to study the ins and outs. This spring we moved from the high desert of Colorado to Story, WY, which is zoned 4b and 5a depending on which website I look at, and I dug up almost all my roses and brought them with me. Our house is on the edge of the forest but in quite a sheltered spot with less wind and more sunshine than almost anywhere else in town, but still a very short growing season. I want to give my roses the best of care so that they can make the most of what time they do have, any advice would be very much appreciated.
Comments (16)
joeywyomingzone4
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Canes look green still-very unusual for zone 5a
Comments (27)Glad now that I brought this subject up...sounds like you have interesting views and questions as well. Veilchen-what you're saying about the shorter the canes, the more damage possibility...good point. That is what I was wondering about. Harry-interesting idea about increased hardiness over the years...sounds plausible Digger-had never thought of that (insects on larger bushes). I just know I would love to start with a little bigger plants in April than I usually do. Donna-I forgot, where in NYS are you!? All I know is that it was kinda nice not to spend time I didn't have anyway last fall, cutting down and carrying away all that extra growth...if I knew I'd be doing it all in April anyway. We haven't had that many ice storms (big one about 8 years ago), but yesterday the ice was AWFUL. I FELL down HARD coming out of my house...very thankful I didn't break my wrist as it slammed backwards in Abe Darby's rose bed!! And to think, I was on my way to the doctor's office anyway. LOL :0) Phyl...See Moreyellow rose in wyoming?
Comments (10)I thought Harison Yellow; surely it's ubiquitous in WY, but it only blooms in the spring, does not repeat. Father Hugo, think it's always single, doesn't repeat either I don't think. If you can manage to get a photo of one, the long time part is intriguing, maybe you could post it and someone would know. Yellow roses are a particular favorite of mine, but apart from Peace (not totally yellow and not necessarily hardy in WY), I can't think of what it could be. I have the Austin Charlotte that is one of my best performers, blooms almost continuously, HMF says 1994, may be the only one on this forum that grows it. Golden Celebration, Teasing Georgia are the only other names I can think of and think they might not be hardy in WY and relatively new. Come to think of it, I have not seen many yellow roses in gardens here except the public ones, Harison and Father Hugo being the main exceptions and precious few of those left. Most grow red or pink if they grow any at all....See MoreMy Backyard planting experience (Part 2) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Canada
Comments (55)Mat, yeah I have 2018 and 2019 to write up. I have all my notes. Just have to find time. I checked out Pepiniere casse noisette website. They do not list their rootstocks anywhere that I can find. What rootstocks are your pears, peaches, apricots on? Honestly, a lot of what they are selling, at least in apricots, peach, nectarines seem to me to be VERY marginal for their climate. In many case they mention useful for growing in pots but if that is the case how are they propagating for sale? I don't want to disparage them without information but my impression is they might be reselling . You absolutely need to be buying based upon root-stock. For apples I am not only buying on Bud118 as it has best cold hardiness and is vigorus for our short seasons - Bud9 is just too slow. Train and prune to keep the size you want. Pears on OHxF87 or 97 and prune/train. I have found PAW-PAWs to be marginal in 4b - still 3' tall after 5+ years. Blueberries don't like my soil so Haskasps and Currants are much better. You have better options than Indigo Gem, Aurora is good though. Pink Lemonade is like a zone 5/6 plant, I see little chance of it surviving. Both Whiffletree and vigneschezsoi are good options. Be aware that a 1-2 year old bare root grape vine will bear fruit 1-2 years faster than the same year rooted cuttings you will get from vigneschezsoi. If you are only buying a couple might want to spend a couple extra $$ to get fruit a whole year or 2 earlier. Somerset and Trolhaugen are good. Had a couple Brianna this year, not enough to really say. Get Bluebell as well. I suggest 10-15' between vines. Can go closer but I am of the hack back 90% every year and then let grow. Trollhaugen can put out 12-15' of growth in 1 year alone - plant closer and you have to keep on top of canopy thinning to avoid overgrowth. Apples and pears will benefit from bagging with ziplocs. Grapes I bag with Organza bags when starting to turn color. So far I am loosing 99% of stone fruit (plums) to plum curlico and the rest to birds/racoons (can't bag plums - they rot). All peaches die. Trying apricots but no fruit yet. Don't get too caught up on types of fruit. Buy something disease resistant on a hardy, vigorus rootstock then topwork as you get enough branch structure. You will then be able to test fruit to see what you like or not within 3 years of grafting. My crabapple is now up to 65+ different apples grafted to it....See MoreHow To Water Tomatoes in Zone 4b/5a?
Comments (10)BER tends to happen early in the season. As the temps warm up it doesn't happen as much. It's not usually a calcium deficiency so much as inconsistent soil moisture. Never too late to mulch. I usually don't until the soil is nice and warmed up. Just make sure to adjust your watering when you add mulch. Watering less often and more deeply is good for tomatoes. Let the top couple of inches of soil dry out before you water. You want to encourage the roots to go deep. I water via a soaker hose for a couple of hours every third day or so. It's a slower method, so there isn't any ponding or flooding or running off, and it gives the water a chance to really soak down deep. If you're going from container to in-ground, you'll probably tend to reach for the hose a little too often. The key to watering is to check the soil. Stick your fingers down a bit and see how wet it is, and how far down. You'll get a feel for when you need to add water. Also, you can learn to see the subtle droopiness tomato plants get when they need water. Don't let them get really wilty, but slightly droopy is a good indicator. Be aware that as it heats up they might naturally wilt a little during the hottest part of the day. As long as they perk back up in the evening, they probably don't need water. The soil might be part of the reason. If I recall it's supposed to be mixed into your native soil, not used straight out of the bag....See Morejoeywyomingzone4
4 years agoThank you all! When we arrived there was very little in the way of gardens, a row of daffodils and irises along the front of the cabin hiding one little mystery rose that our landlady had no idea was there. It is about to bloom so I am looking forward to seeing what it is. There are clumps of wild roses in the lawn which my husband diligently mowed around a couple. I built the raised bed this spring (attaching my 'before' picture) which now has my cutting of Harisons Yellow, the miniature rose Apricot Twist, and my Queen Nefertiti Austin rose which absolutely has to survive because she is in memory of a close family member who passed away last year. The rest of the roses I am putting along the side fence for easier deer proofing and because that fence gets direct sun from before 6am to almost 9pm. They are spaced about 4-5 feet apart. The soil is quite rocky with lots of small pebbles but it is rich black mountain loam and I have access to unlimited manure for fertilizer. Our landlords have given me approval to do whatever I want in the way of gardens.
joeywyomingzone4
4 years agojoeywyomingzone4
4 years agoBen, I know I am very blessed here, we may get random snowstorms in the first week of June but I also have unlimited mountain spring water which we don't have to pay for. So I am very thankful and trying hard not to overwater in my adjustment from living in the desert. Our first month or two here all my roses turned yellow and I realized that the rain is mostly taking care of it.
Ratdogheads thank you! It was a super fun project with my little boys, we collected all the rocks from within a hundred yards of the house. I am hoping that my roses like it!
The red/pink/white/purple roses are all along the side yard fence. It is the first thing you can see when driving up the road so I am hoping that they will be okay blooming this year after the trauma of transplanting. The picture is taken from our back fence looking toward the street.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)