Take the advice of those here that are near to you. I'm south of you by about an hour, and I plant bare root roses in late March or early April, depending on how workable the soil is. (Do not dig or plant if the soil is saturated. With our clay around here, if you dig and compact the soil, you will be making bricks instead of planting roses.) Danger of frost doesn't matter, because it isn't the cold that does in a bare root rose here ... it's consistent exposure to dehydrating winter winds. You want to get the roses in with enough time to get settled and start to grow, so they can give you good flowers in May and June. For potted roses, I plant them any time the soil can be worked. Spring, summer, fall, nice winter days ... it doesn't matter. These roses have been actively growing and are settled into the soil in their pots. If planted carefully without breaking up the root ball, and watered adequately afterward, you can plant a potted rose anytime. (I planted my last roses of 2010 in late November, and I only stopped then because we had rain and snow and the soil got saturated.) Potted roses take off and start to grow almost immediately in good weather ... I think they're just incredibly grateful to be freed from their pot. Where to get roses depends on what type of roses you want to grow. What are you thinking of? Connie

Indeed, it is spring. Yesterday I spent my first day of the year out in the garden pruning. By mid-afternoon it was actually hot out there in the sun--I was sweating! Just think--a couple weeks ago I was huddling in my winter clothes and trying to avoid those bone-chilling winter winds. We just jumped from one season to the next in about one week's time! My first blooms of the year are always those vivid purple crocuses strewn around the edges of a couple beds--I adore them. They are just finishing up now and the cheerful yellow daffodils are taking over, with some forsythia in the background, and the purple hyacinth are starting to open. Some purplish-bluish pansies managed to winter over and are in full bloom. I always refer to this early season as my purple and gold garden. No other colors yet--except a lot of green things poking through the ground (tulips). The roses are all starting to put out lovely green and reddish leaves. Saw a misty green in the sky yesterday--was puzzled until I realized the neighbor's tree was beginning to leaf out! The other trees haven't caught up yet. I can't wait for the redbuds to make their misty lavender-pink buds--so lovely. My pink tulips and pink and lavender creeping phlox get going then--leading up to my beloved beloved pink poppies and white and pink peonies, punctuated by purple and blue and lavender irises here and there--my pink and lavender garden that replaces the purple and gold one. And during all this actitivity, my roses keep growing and growing--they should be able to join in the symphony of color by peony time. And of course, they become the queens of the garden when they finally burst into full bloom. I just love my spring gardens. Kate

I let each individual plant tell me. if its late season (Late Oct or early Nov for me) and the bottom leaves are yellowing then I should reduce watering to the level of maintaining a low amount of moisture in the soil. I run my finger through the top 1 or 2 inches of soil and if the soil is darker than the top crust and my finger gets dirty (more than just dusty) I'll wait a week to water. I could use a moisture meter to see the % but have always just used dead reckoning. If the tips and recent season green growth are feeling soft or wrinkled I will give that plant a little more this week and revisit in a week. I also watch for warm spells since it seems most of mine only partially hibernate and the greenhouse can go over 90 degrees if its not vented. I typically go into the greenhouse every week to police up dropped leaves and make sure things look good. I randomly squeeze branches, pull off any dead material such as shriveling up inflos, "claws" that didnt develop, and feel for softness and look for other danger items. For me it's only about a half hour of time to handle my collection (never counted and don't plan to but would say 30-50). IMO having a good soil mix and plants well supplied with nutrients over the growing season can help by being a little more forgiving one way or the other. Its really hard to use a sequence of care that isn't specific to your local variables. I hope this helps and you experiment and find the method that works best for your plant(s).

Hi all, I'm thinking we may need to start a new seasonal thread part. When photos and posts get hard to load, or don't at all, that has been a sign in the past to start a new thread. Just a suggestion. Hope you are all well. Love all the photos and posts. Hi Carol, glad you're back at last. And Deborah, I love pathways--they just beg you to follow them to something beautiful. Diane