If you decide now is the time to give up on them, the best way to be certain you were not wrong is to continue to observe them for several more weeks.

The columbines are having a field day having those pots all to themselves.....at least I will have some good show of columbines!

Here are the pics

@getgoing100_7b_nj

Maybe prune back the canes little by little to see if there's any life there?

I had two dead looking canes on my Desdemona after our spring windstorms. I tried doing that, a half inch at a time, and sure enough one cane was dead no matter how far back I cut. The other cane, just an inch from the tip, is still actually very much alive inside.

At least you'll know if there's anything to wait for, and if they're alive the light prune might promote growth below the cut.

Too many columbines, too little room for roses. Not good. Unless you had an unusually hard winter, in your zone 7b, you shouldn't have roses dying of cold exposure, either. Diane

Yes, I have been cutting to check, they have some green but they were trying to send leaf buds a few weeks back. About the columbines, they have just exploded, seeing the opportunity to get the better off the sulking roses. I may give the columbines their own home but I don't want to mess with the pot until the status of the roses is clear.

You might try fertilizing the roses with rose food.

That tall stem in the second photo has some green on it, and the pith in the other two photos doesn't look bad. I agree with seasiderooftop. Prune back the canes little by little, looking for healthy white pith. You might try fertilizing the roses, as well, with rose food.

It's the roots of the columbines that are the most dangerous for the roses. If you fertilize now, you will have columbines knocking on your back door. Diane

There's some serious root competition going on here.

Could dig out the columbines.

Totally agree with Paul. Also, colombines, with their big tap roots, are not good underplantings for roses,especially not in pots.

The rules of thumb don't take every specific circumstance into account. I live one zone up (7A) and we had a really mild winter - never below 10F - but I still lost 3 container roses. I think it was the temperature swings. We had no snow cover for most of the winter, and I am sure that was a factor. Snow would have helped to balance out the swings. After losing leaves in late fall or early winter, roses were leafing out in mid-January. Then they got frozen. The canes turned brown all the way to the ground (and/or graft). I pruned to check for life in March or April, and there was nothing.

So unless those 3 roses are really special to you, or you really want to save money, I would chuck what you have and get something else started now. And also rearrange plants so the roses aren't fighting the columbines.

Thanks everyone. I checked this morning, and they really are dead. But the columbines are already in bud and it's going to be a good show. I know some people here do not appreciate their self-seeding ways but be assured mine are all grown intentionally from seeds I collected. In containers, they do die after a few seasons and my tendency to deadhead means that I never get any volunteers. And unlike the divas that roses are, columbines are happy on my NNW balcony with limited sun. I have decided to do nothing until columbines are done blooming. Then, I have plants in smaller pots (a pink dipladenia, a baby clematis paniculata, and a camellia) that will be happy to occupy the space that has opened up. I have killed 7 of 10 roses I have tried to grow in the past 4/5 years so I am just going to watch the remaining three for a season or two before I add anymore. In contrast, I have lost only one of half a dozen clematis so..who need roses...

I don’t know about anybody else but I love columbines! Both flower and foliage are so delicate for such a sturdy plant!

Exactly @oursteeelers. Their foliage, as good as some ferns, is among the first one to show up in winter/spring and last to die back except when they get powdery mildew.

I do like them in my garden too, I find the blue ones (CO state flower) to be deliciously fragrant. And they grow in a difficult spot which is fantastic.

Magpie, I don't have a blue one and have never found a fragrant columbine. Something for the wishlist.

I'm glad you have some other plants to keep your garden in bloom! Interesting that you have a camellia in a pot. They tend to be less cold hardy than most roses. What kind is it, and has it handled winter well? Or does it get to go inside?

I have three small (gallon/ half gallon) camellias in pots that are all recent acquisitions. They all spent the last winter indoors and even put out new growth. At least one of them appears to have developed a flower bud during it's stay indoors, not sure it will bloom. I have all Japonicas - High Fragrance, Kramer's Supreme and Jury's yellow. I picked different colors and longest blooming and/or fragrant varieties. Let's see how it goes next winter. I think I will bring them in for the coldest periods...

They sound really nice! I am guessing they will want some yard space within a few years. Camellias can get pretty big! I wish they wintered a little better; we don't often see them up here. But they are really pretty! And some kinds let you harvest your own tea. :)

Steve, unfortunately I do not see a yard in their future. :) My entire garden is situated on my 15'x5' balcony (packed with pots, benches, shelves, trellises, railing planters with a lotte space for access and sitting down :)) and several large windowsills (for orchids and everything that comes in for the winter...The tea camellia doesn' have the blooms I want,,,

Uh, yep, sounds like my garden as well. :)