@strawchicago z5 My TG is grafted, which may explain some of her vigor. She's on laxa rootstock like all my roses.

I have been impressed with everything about her: shade tolerant (she's against a north facing wall), wind, salt, heat resistant, she's kind of perfect for here. She hasn't bloomed yet this year, but I am hoping she will soon! Here she is after her spongebath today:

The view of the sea from your place is magnificent !! Your Teasing Georgia looks good, it has bush beauty against that wall.

@seasiderooftop what a labor of love to get all your roses cleaned off! Thank you for sharing the picture of your gorgeous Iceberg, it's one of my favorites here.

Thank you @joeywyomingzone4 ! Although it took a long time, it definitely was a pleasant experience. The weather is nice these days and I just enjoy being up on the roof. Iceberg is a wonderful rose, I agree!

@strawchicago z5

Thanks!

Along with the Hulthemias, I just received my order of Azomite powder. I ordered it because I remembered that you had said in another thread that it is better than Zeolite and has more trace minerals. I also saw that it contains Selenium, which is an antioxidant that is proven to help plants deal with stress and especially heat stress, to prevent sunburn.

A few years ago I saw a dermatologist who recommended that supplementing Selenium, if started a few weeks before the summer, helps prevent sunburn in humans, and it works with plants too! I can confirm it works after trying it, I now take it every year in spring. No need to take a lot but just take it every day, regularity is more important than high dosage with this one. I use it six months a year, starting in April.

I'm looking forward to trying it in the garden to see if it can help my roses too.

What is your preferred method of application for Azomite? Mixed in the watering can or scratched into the soil? Does it make any difference?

seasiderooftop Thanks for the info. of Selenium to help with sunburn. Years ago my legs really hurt when I go outside at 90 F to 100 F. Then I started taking Brewer's Yeast (has Selenium) and no problems with sun burn in hot summer.

Calcium is known to help with heat-tolerance in plants, and Azomite is mostly calcium with many trace elements.

Azomite is such a fine powder that I prefer mixing it with soil (in pots), or scratch into soil. Organics in soil (such as leaves or alfalfa) get fermented with acidic rain water, and that produce beneficial bacteria in soil to convert minerals (like Azomite) into soluble form for plants to use. Azomite has pH 8 so it nourish the beneficial bacteria that fix nitrogen. These bacteria prefer neutral to alkaline pH.

At acidic pH: more pathogenic fungi, such as blackspots and mildew.

Seaside: How do you fertilizer your pots to get such fantastic growth on Iceberg and Teasing Georgia? I start with tiny own-roots (shorter than my finger) and need to grow them FAST within 3 months into at least 2 feet tall so I can plant the stem at 5 inch. below ground for zone 5 winter survival. What fertilizer do you notice give the fastest growth? Thanks.

I agree with what the poster Kimmsr stated below: "Soil Nitrogen availability is highly dependent on your soil temperature which influences bacterial activity, so if you test your soil for N when it is fairly cold and the bacteria are not very active the test will show little N available. I have found that if the soil contains adequate amounts of organic matter, 6 to 8 percent humus, there is ample amounts of Nitrogen even when a soil test shows a lack."

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1531578/applying-soybean-meal-alfalfa-meal-to-garden

When I had my soil test done, the soil test DID NOT TEST for nitrogen (unstable), but it tested for organic matter. My soil is high in organic matter, and the fastest growth in my pot was when I mixed 4 part alfalfa meal to 1 part Garden Lime (to neutralize the acidity of alfalfa meal). That's Roses Unlimited' recipe. Decayed alfalfa and forest products become humus.

One year I mixed alfalfa meal into my tomato bed, and tomato shot up to be over 5 feet tall. Normally they are 3 feet tall max. Below link states: "Chemical fertilizer also does NOT do anything to support the activity of microorganisms, which are crucial to turn organic matter into usable plant nutrients."

https://www.thespruce.com/understanding-humus-in-soil-5209565

That's interesting about the organic matter! I've filled my raised vegetable beds with mostly compost, topped off with a couple of bags of raised bed mix soil, so it will be interesting to see how things grow.

Compost is fantastic for veggies. My tomatoes love it when I used 1/2 bag of compost per planting hole. TINY own-root roses don't do well with cow-manure compost in the planting hole, that's too high of phosphorus and stunt the the growth .. so I get 6 inch. tall rose that blooms constantly for the 1st year, which is NOT good for winter-survival. It's a nuisance to pinch off buds constantly for root-growth (for zone 5 winter survival).

The best year of growing 12 tiny own-roots from Burlington roses and 6 gallon own-roots from Rose Unlimited was back in 2012. I followed Roses Unlimited's recipe: I mixed 3/4 potting soil with 1/4 peat moss, plus some alfalfa meal (alfalfa has growth hormone). But I DID NOT use Garden lime to neutralize the acidity of peat moss and alfalfa. Roses love that wet & slightly acidic mix to neutralize my alkaline tap water at pH 9.

Now with 7 rain-barrels and using acidic rain water, I need to add some lime to the potting mix. Found below info. to mix 1/4 cup of lime with 1 gallon of soil mix (if acidic peat moss or alfalfa is used).

I won't mix 1/2 cup of bone meal. In the past of mixing Espoma Tone (Tomato Tone, Plant Tone, etc.) .. that benefited big root like Dr.Huey-rootstock but did not benefit tiny own-roots, granular fertilizer in the planting hole is too hot for tiny own-root.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/balance-ph-lime-peat-potting-33867.html

"Mix equal amounts of garden soil or all-purpose potting soil, perlite and moist peat moss in a large container. Add 1/2 cup of bone meal to each gallon of the potting mixture. Bone meal provides a good source of phosphorus that plants need to form healthy roots and promote blooming. Mix in 1/4 cup of dolomite lime for each gallon of the potting media."

Seaside - my goodness...you put in so much effort for getting the sand/salt off of your rose leaves...I'm so glad it worked!! And your Iceberg rose is phenomenal!! I really love your new roses...they look great too!! What a relief that you've saved your roses!!

@strawchicago z5

Hi!

Since all my roses are grafted on the same rootstock, they all get treated the same, except the rugosas, who never ever get any synthetic fertilizer.

TLDR version of this way-too-long post: Fish emulsion and neem cake powder. Weakly weekly. Trace minerals. Enzymes.

Potting mix : I use LIGHT fertilized potting mixes so I can then mix in more ferts of my own choosing without burning the roots. I also prefer low peat ratios to give me better control over humidity levels. Labels are often misleading, and what is sold as "reduced peat" actually often contains 70-80% peat. I aim for around 40%-50% by mixing a peat-free potting mix with a regular one. I stay away from anything containing significant amounts of coco: it messes with nutrient availability.
I add copious perlite, pumice, clay pellets (Seramis), and worm castings, pelletized composted sheep and chicken manure (4-5-7), neem cake powder (3-1-1) and some garden lime. At planting I add mycorrhizal fungi. My thinking is to start with a really well draining potting mix to balance out all the organics I mix in, which tend to be water-retentive.

Fertilizer: every week, I add either a light fish emulsion (2-1.5-0.5) or beet-vinasse based additive (I have two, 0-0-3 or 3-1-3), along with a shot of non-npk goodies: Trace minerals, a silicone, and an enzyme solution. During the rainy season, to avoid adding more liquid, I stick to powders (more neem cake powder, calmag, coffee grounds etc) instead.
About every four to six weeks I give them either MG for roses (7-3-5) or of a fish-based fertilizer (3-6-2) or, in the rainy season, I work in some blood fish and bone (5-5-5), or crushed manure pellets (4-5-7).

Every now and then, especially in extreme heat or now when they are stressed from the gale force winds, I don't fertilize at all for a couple weeks.
I try to give a wide range of nutrients and additives: low doses, often.
I'm a big believer in adding enzymes regularly to help break down the nutrients in the organics into a form the plant can absorb in the pot.
They work even better when they have co-enzymes (hence the regular trace minerals).

PH is key, as you have noted so many times. I check it regularly. A squeeze of lemon juice in the watering can is great if you have alkaline tap water. Measure resulting pH to make sure it's right.

Enzymes basics, with molasses solution recipe:

https://growingorganic.com/ipm-guide/using-enzyme-solutions-garden/

Enzymes in more detail:

https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/54207

@rosecanadian

Thank you! I will post an update on recovery this weekend... I am dismayed to see we are getting gale-force winds AGAIN tomorrow and Friday... Getting ready to add more stakes to the pots and make sure they are all well hydrated and securely tied in.

We have six inches of snow, the thermometer reads 10F but the wind chill is -7. I'm glad for the snow to protect the crowns of the roses but I'm not optimistic about the survival of some of my cuttings. My husband is being very nice about every available surface in the house being crowded with potted roses that weren't ready to plant out yet and I'm happy that they aren't out there. Hope you all are staying warm and snug!

@seasiderooftop thank you for sharing about the selenium to prevent sunburn. When I was showing horses one of the trainers swore by adding kelp supplements to his horses' water to keep the blaze-faced horses from getting sunburn on the pink skin around their eyes. Sure enough, kelp is very high in selenium. I'm going to keep that in mind for my family this coming summer!

Seaside - so using compost (probably vermicompost too) adds enzymes to the soil. Another reason for me to add my vermicompost to my roses. Thank you! More gale force winds for your roses to have to endure. You really do have a difficult environment to grow roses in. Eeek! Good luck!!

Joey - we seem to have the same weather system. Yesterday it was -4F with windchill. Brrr...and we have snow. So you had colder weather than we did here? I'm really surprised by that...thank goodness your new roses can be in the house...and that your outside roses got some snow cover. Good luck!

seasiderooftop THANK YOU for the write-up of your fertilizing regime, much appreciated. I have 8 own-roots coming from LongAgoRoses, plus 6 own-roots from Roses Unlimited, that's a total of 14 new roses, I need to grow them TALL in pots first, so I can bury them 5 inch. or 12 cm. below my clay for zone 5a winter-survival.

Carol: Your -4 F with windchill is very cold for mid-April. It went down to 33 F last night, and I did a happy dance .. I sleep much better when the weather cold. It's very windy here. I always wear safety glasses when pruning roses. One friend got a rose thorn blown by the wind into her eyes while pruning. I like below safety glasses on Amazon for $12 since it's wide enough for my big head: DEWALT DPG55-11C Clear Anti-Fog Protective Safety Glasses with Dual-Injected Rubber Frame and Temples

Joey: Your -7 F windchill factor on April 13 and six inch. of snow is brutal. Like Carol, I find that a thermal blanket on top of my rootings inside my unheated garage is best. Roses like stability of temp. (steady cold) so they can stay dormant.

Big Purple had 2 inch. of green cane back in Feb.. Then we got tons of freezing rain early March, and now it's black to the crown. Back in Feb., we had -20 below zero wind-chill factor and that didn't hurt Big Purple, but its the FREEZING RAIN in March that made it die to the crown.

What I should had done: I should had put plastic collar around Big Purple (bottom cut off from big plastic pot). Then fill it up to 12 inch. with wood chips to buffer the acidic rain. I did pile up wood chips on Big Purple, but the strong wind blew them away.

One study showed that dense clay is a better buffer for extreme cold than sand, and I agree. Back in Feb. 2000 when we had a record cold of -25 F below zero (without wind chill factor), I walked outside with light tennis shoes for a few minutes and my feet hurt. I immediately went to the store to buy THICK & DENSE hiking boots, and I was able to walk outside. Light soil (sand or loamy) on top cannot buffer against extreme cold like thick & heavy clay.

For a couple of roses that were in places I could do it easily, I upended a five gallon bucket over the top before the storm. We'll see over the next few days whether that helped or not!

Joey: Hope that bucket helps with your roses in spring frost. Saw a you-tube where the guy covered young veggies with gallon plastic jugs in early spring to prevent frost damage.

Today April 14, with the Forsythia bush budding out, I trimmed my roses. WORST WINTER ever compared to last year. Last spring, Dee-lish and Princess Charlene de Monaco had 1 foot of green cane and Sweet Mademoiselle had 3 feet of green cane. This spring they have only 4 inch. of green canes !!

Austin roses have lots of black canes in the middle. Poseidon is green to the tip (3 feet of green canes), but there are a few black canes in the middle of the bush. Zepherine Drouhin have all green canes and no dead canes whatsoever. James Galway is green to the tip (5 feet), only 1 dead cane. Crown Princess Margareta has 1/4 dead canes.

W.S. 2000 has all green canes, same with The Dark Lady. Comte de Chambord has 1/4 dead canes.

I get so tired of trimming THICK & TALL canes of French hybrid teas that I lean toward hardy and small Austin bushes. I dislike trimming tall & all dead canes of Savannah (thorny beast). These vigorous hybrid teas require ungodly amount of alkaline minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium) plus rain to grow back the canes.

CONCLUSION: For pruning, I prefer smaller bushes of Comte de Chambord or La Reine

Once bloomers like Zeph. Drouhin and Duchess de Rohan need zero pruning in spring. Austin roses like Sharifa Asma is a joy (zero pruning since it's so small). Will buy Sharifa Asma & Jude the Obscure again. Sharifa died after 10 years, and Jude died many times so I want to make it work again.

Straw - I've found too that the French hybrid tea roses are hard to grow. I really like Carruth roses and Bedard. There seems to be wind everywhere right now...everyone on the rose forum is mentioning it. Darn for that freezing rain. Do you think your Big Purple will recover? For me, I find that they don't usually recover after that. Oh, yours is probably own root?

Carol that's really interesting, some of my favorite roses are from Carruth and they do surprisingly well in my extreme climate!

Reporting on the vege garden, I'm thrilled to say that some of our Resurrection Sunday dinner with friends came from my raised bed/cold frame setup. It was exciting to have real salad greens from our own garden this early in the year! So I went ahead and got my peas, beans, chard, and radishes planted in the next frame in the row, we shall see how they do.

Seaside: I'm so sorry that more wind is coming to your garden. We had wind at 30 miles per hour this past Friday, and I spent 2 hours. raking the spruce's needles across my lawn. The strong wind ripped a piece of siding off my house, and I paid $200 this past Friday April 15 for a worker to nail back ONE long strip of siding. Chicago is known as the "windy city".

I wonder if a BREATHABLE & cotton or linen blanket covering your roses will help with the salt damage (like shaking off the salt from the blanket). My tiny rootings (the size of my finger) survived my unheated garage at below zero in winter if I cover them with a thermal blanket (loosely so they can breathe).

Joey: Sounds YUMMY with salad greens from your garden. It's snowing today April 18. Yesterday Easter Sunday, husband burnt a second batch of trimmed rose canes & tree branches to make biochar. Since biochar is alkaline at pH over 8, I mixed that with alfalfa meal (pH 5) and spread on my roses. First time testing that.

Alfalfa meal is the cheapest fertilizer at $20 per 50 lb. bag from the feed store, but it's acidic and need to be mixed in with alkaline minerals. I used to mix horse manure (pH 8) with alfalfa meal to get the best spring flush (40+ buds per own-root rose), but it's a hassle to get horse manure. Horse manure has trace elements for blooming, so does biochar.

Carol: Big Purple died to the crown EVERY YEAR for the 8 years that I grew it, but the roots survived to sprout new canes. So does Strike it Rich, now a 9th-year own root. Strike it rich blooms the same like when it was younger, but A BIG decline for grafted-on-Dr.Huey roses (Lavender Crush and Double Delight).

I'll dig up the soil to replace with fresh soil to see if my 8th-year Double Delight (grafted on Dr.Huey) improves.

Below was 1st bloom of own-root Firefighter when it was fertilized with alfalfa meal and horse manure. it was 5 inch. across in diameter, grown in a 2.5 gallon pot.

Joey - :) :) Which Carruth is your favorite? Mine is Memorial Day. I'm impressed that you have veggies already...you have a great set up...good thinking! It sounds like it really made your meal extra special. :) :)

Straw - Yikes! That's too bad that the wind made such a mess of your yard...and it's hard to believe it ripped off a piece of your siding!! That's impressive wind...and costly. :( We had snow on Sunday too. And my husband had just taken my roses outside for the first time in a week. I hope the biochar and alfalfa meal go well together...sounds like a good idea. :) Big Purple isn't all the cold hardy, I guess if it died every year back to the crown. But, as I recall it was a fast grower. That's a beautiful Firefighter bloom! I wish it had done better for the two of us. :) :)

Hi @strawchicago z5

I agree the blanket would work in a big storm. But here the salt is a regular occurrence, so they would need to more or less live under the blanket!

I guess there are two ways to go about it. One is to add structures such as windbreaks, covers, shadecloth etc to insulate the roses from the elements.

The other is to just decide that these elements are the environment the roses have to contend with, and think of the garden as a testing ground.

I am somewhere in the middle, I do my part by watering and making sure they are getting all the nutrients they need to be strong, and I do stake the main canes and mulch in summer, but the roses have to be able to withstand the local conditions. If a variety can't handle them, it will have to go.

The results can be surprising! For example, see the dramatic difference between a basic supermarket mini, Nolina Victory Pink above, and the rugosa Roseraie de l'Hay below... Not at all what I expected!

Another note on that mini above.

I got her last year and she is a perfect example of how a rose can adapt to the environment.

Look at the difference between her foliage last summer (matte, medium green, large-ish leaves) in the picture below, versus the smaller, darker, much shinier foliage she has evolved a year later in my picture above! I am amazed.

After seeing this, I am not so quick to toss out a rose. It may fail at first, but there is hope that some can adapt.

Rugosa HATES salty fertilizer. Sharifa Asma has rugosa heritage and I killed this 10th-year-own root by a wad of salty chicken manure. Sharifa did better with zero salt alfalfa meal.

Mini-roses have China heritage (can take hot & dry). China is actually quite tough. Right now the earliest rose to leaf out (green to the tip) in this snowy & cold mid-April is Blue Mist, a mini-rose. Below Blue Mist pic. was taken at 95 F this past summer:

@rosecanadian Carol I'm sorry I thought I hit submit on my reply to you! My favorite Carruth rose is Ebb Tide. It has a fragrance which I can only describe as 'smoky and mysterious'. It's rich, not too sweet, kind of spicy, and lovely and warm. And it's really not supposed to grow here, I've heard rumors it can be killed over winter in Florida, of all places, but still it survives and blooms.

@seasiderooftop I've got a couple of minis that took a year or two to really get established and start to do their thing. They are nice and I'm glad I held on to them and didn't give up before they got going.

Seaside - well, I imagine that the salty/sandy wind would come from the ocean side of your property. So, it may be a good idea to put up a partition on that side on your roof. But with your winds, I'm thinking you'd have to bolt them down to the concrete. That's an expense...but it would do a good job of protecting your roses. Maybe minis are the way to go...maybe as a class they're tough??

Straw - rugosa roses grew originally by the beach. I thought they are salt tolerant?? Oh, so minis are a bit tougher! Interesting. :) :)

Joey - would you post a picture of your Ebb Tide?

We've just got 8 inches of snow...and we're expecting up to a foot of it. Blech. LOL

@rosecanadian

You are absolutely right, short of building a wall there is no solution, and that is not an option. My city is considered "historical" so making any permanent changes to a building's exterior requires permits, has to be made of native rock masonry, etc. Basically, out of the question. So my plants just have to contend with what there is. I don't mind it, I see it as an interesting challenge and I am learning so much through it!

I can't believe you are getting MORE snow!! And so much of it too! Is that normal for your area at this time of year? What a long winter!

@joeywyomingzone4 I agree, minis are amazing! I only have two but they are definitely tougher than they look! I am thinking of adding more, but unfortunately they often don't have much fragrance. Do you grow any minis that are also nicely fragrant?

Oh and now you have me pining for Ebb Tide with that description of the fragrance!

@strawchicago z5 Wow, your Blue Mist is wonderful! I had no idea Sharifa Asma had rugosa heritage, that's very interesting! Austins will be in at my local nursery next week (they always get them just before mother's day) so I will be on the lookout for her!

Here's Ebb Tide in a bouquet with (clockwise from ET) Sir Thomas Lipton, Champlain, Lambert Closse, and Iceberg.

Joey: I love that deep purple of Ebb Tide. Sam in zone 4, NY grows Ebb Tide for many years.

Carol: What do you do when it's snowing outside? When it's cold, I cook up a storm (baking, trying new recipes). A big freezer helps to freeze dinners so when it's warm & sunny I don't have to cook .. I eat pre-made dinners in my freezer.

Seaside: Blue Mist mini has an amazing scent in humid weather. Sweet Chariot and Vineyard song both have wafting scent as minis, they are on my buy-list for the future. Mini roses have China heritage: can take heat & dry and the BIG minis can take extreme cold. Blue Mist is 2' x 2' in cold zone, or 3' x 3' in warm zone like California.

Seaside - so good that you have the right attitude about this. :) :) You won't let this challenge beat you. :) :) Well, this weather isn't abnormal, I guess. Every year is different, and we've been through this before. :) :) Frustrating...but once it's past...then we forget about it.

Joey - your Ebb Tide has the colors that Diane's has...a gorgeous purple!! When I see pictures of it in catalogues, the color is always muted and not very pretty. I'd love to get this one!

Straw - I made bread and did some precooking for when my girls come this weekend. But I also get a bit down and lazy. My husband and I play ping-pong when we can't get outside. I bought him a portable ping pong set that you can attach to a table. We put it on our island...and it's SO much fun !! No matter my mood, once we start playing, I'm laughing and having a wonderful time. :) :) I got it from Sport Chek. I got Vineyard Song this year...I'm hoping for good things from it. :) :) Your description of why mini roses could be good for Seaside makes a lot of sense. :)

New arrival:

Japanese Hawthorn. Very excited about this one, supposed to be heat, wind and salt resistant. They grow slowly, becoming 6ft shrubs.

Very windy again today, coming from the Southeast. I took a pic at the nursery. You can actually see the sand in the air (unedited pic):

@strawchicago z5 I will look for those minis for my fall orders! They seem fabulous, thanks for the tip!

@seasiderooftop what a pretty bush!! It will look lovely in your garden next to your roses!

@seasiderooftop Your Jap. Hawthorn is so pretty !! I grow roses for scent alone, since other flowers like big Dahlias are just as impressive (but Dahlias have no scent).

Princess Charlene de Monaco has big stems like Crown Princess Magareta, and PCdM's scent is best ever. The wind here doesn't bother either. The only problem with PcdM: color fades to white in full-sun, thus best in partial shade. See below PcdM turned white, next to dark-pink Dee-lish (more heat tolerant than PcdM). Dee-lish stems are equally thick & sturdy:

What I enjoy looking at more than roses is children, below is my nephew's 3-year old son (Max) in Michigan. Would love to see your kids' pics. when they were babies or toddlers. Thank you. It would be a long, long time before my daughter (now at 18) get marry to give me grandkids to adore.

Max sleeping below. Max looks just like his Dad (my nephew):

Seaside - is the Japanese Hawthorne a repeat bloomer? It's a really unusual (to me) plant, and I love it!! I can't believe the terrible sand storms you get!! You have really horrible conditions to grow roses in! Horrible.

Straw - your DeeLish bush is really wonderful....so many beautiful blooms...when you grow a rose...you grow it very well! My goodness....what a sweet little boy. Angelic!

Happy dance this morning! Maurice Utrillo, Zepherine Droughin, and Duchess de Rohan all have little baby flower buds!!! They are living in my kitchen until the weather is settled down a bit to plant outside, so my south-west facing window looks just a little jungle-like.

@joeywyomingzone4

Yaaayyyy! So exciting to see buds!!

It's so suspenseful, especially with a newly planted rose you're about to see bloom for the first time! All three of those seem like fantastic roses, I keep hearing great things about the last two. Looking forward to seeing your pics when they bloom!

Here is Autumn Damask, planted just a couple months ago in late February as bare roots. She is my most treasured addition this year, so she gets the most sheltered spot on the roof, which explains the minimal leaf damage.

I can't wait for the fireworks to go off!

wow !! lots of buds. I love to see your Autumn Damask first blooms and please inform about its scent. Thanks.

Joey - buds!! Excellent!! Are you having more snow like we are? We had 8 inches and now, I don't know how much more we'll get today to add to that. Hopefully, my daughter (who doesn't like driving in the snow) will get her safely from Saskatoon tonight. My other daughter is flying home from Smithers. I hmf'd Duchesse de Rohan...my word, it's stunning!!! Now that's a glorious rose!! :) :)

Seaside - wow!! I'm so glad that you have some roses that were able to be protected a bit more. It's going to be wonderful!! What do you think about getting styrofoam rose cones and duct taping them on the pots when a storm is coming? Or styrofoam sheets that you can wrap around and duct tape to the pots. That could help. :)

@seasiderooftop your Autumn Damask is going to be stunning when those buds all open!!

Carol we're expecting wind chill in the single digits F and about six inches of snow. It's 65F out now but that's Wyoming weather for you!! My husband picked up some recycled French doors for me yesterday and I got the rest of my raised beds covered with them. The ones that had windows over them did great in the last storm.

@strawchicago z5

Autumn Damask is right next to Comte de Chambord (also added this year, he has buds too but less), so it will be easy to compare the scents, blooms, etc. I will post it here when they bloom!

@rosecanadian Sorry I hadn't seen your post! Japanese Hawthorn is once-blooming, unfortunately, but that's ok with me! I put it in front of Princess Anne, I hope it can eventually grow big enough to shield her from the wind a little.

@joeywyomingzone4 Great idea to use the french doors as covers! I hope your roses will get through the storm ok!

seasiderooftop I have Princess Anne as 5th-year own root, it's very tough with thick cane, and bloom best with chicken manure, it's in only 4 hours of morning sun:

@joeywyomingzone4 I read your post on rooting roses with band-size containers with a mixture of pea pebbles, charcoal bits, and chopped up banana skins. Thank you for that fantastic tip.

@rosecanadian Growing small own-root roses in the pot is so much easier than grafted. Plus own-root roses last longer. Evelyn roots VERY EASY here and yearly I throw away Evelyn rootings, which I wish I could send to you. I sent out rootings with zero soil & dunked in water before sending out, and they bloom well for a friend in Texas. Below is bloom on an Evelyn rooting I did. I kept it in partial shade thus the bee-leaf-cutter damage.

Joey - way to go on your husband's part for getting those french doors for you! We're having some good weather (8C/46F) today so the roses will be out today/tomorrow then inside for a week while we're gone. They've had waaay too much garage time with short periods of outside when it warms up for a little bit. Like you said...our zones aren't easy. Although summer is really great for us.

Seaside - that's a good idea...to have the hawthorn as a barrier! Good thinking! :)

Straw - do you think it'd be a good idea to make my roses ownroot? I could do it easily, although it would take them a few years to get big enough to do much. Gosh, your Princess Anne is stunning!!

Carol: Yes, it's good idea to make back-up own-roots in case the mother bush dies. I compiled all the tips on rooting roses in below recent post:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6258573/rooting-methods-that-work-best-for-your-soil-and-climate

Thanks, I'm pretty good at rooting roses. I've rooted lots of roses for a friend who was moving and wanted to take her roses with her without digging them up. I'm just not sure if an ownroot rose would outperform a grafted rose in a pot. I guess it would be harder to kill. :) So, if I rooted cuttings and let them grow in small pots until it was okay to plant in a big pot....then I would throw away (or give away) the grafted rose, because the own root would be a better bush??? I think that's a hard question to answer, :) :) I like the sound of having ownroot better than a grafted. I wonder....

Carol I think for some of the newer releases you may run into patent issues if you plan to propagate a bunch of cuttings. I have quite a few in my garden that I would love to experiment with rooting but don't want to cross that line and run the risk of someone getting in trouble if I gift them a rose I've rooted for them.

Of course it just hit me that you live in Canada and the patent laws may be completely different there, duh! It's different for my sister in New Zealand too.

That's true. I probably won't create any own root cuttings. Or if I do, I won't give away the cutting or the original. :)