Pamper roses through prairie winter
Strateg y starts with fall cleanup, then mulch to protect them in cold months
I like garden roses because they put on such a great floral show when they are at their peak during the summer.
But by October their halcyon days have long passed, and most a re look i ng pretty darned dishevelled.
But don’t sweat it. This bedraggled look means roses are hunkering down for winter.
So rather than lamenting the lost glory of your prized roses, now is a far better time to develop a fall and winter strategy to ensure that they look every bit as good next year as they did this year.
A good fall cleanup is a critical first step in keeping your roses in good shape. Removing fallen leaves and cutting away weak canes and branches reduces the habitat for pesky insects and diseases. And a lime-sulphur spray on the canes also helps to eliminate many pests hiding among the plant’s nooks and prickles.
Next, provide them with some cold protection. Keep in mind that roses vary considerably in their winter hardiness, depending on their genetic makeup. There are the very cold-hardy native species at one end of the spectrum, and the rather cold-sensitive hybrid teas at the other.
But keep in mind that even the toughest varieties can always use a little extra help getting through a harsh Prairie winter.
Now, while it might seem counterintuitive, protecting roses from winter weather involves protection both from cold and from warmth. A mid-winter thaw can de-harden roses, and when the winter temperatures plunge — as they inevitably do — canes, branches and even roots can be injured.
From a rose’s perspective, the ideal winter would unfold something like this: a slow, steady decline in temperatures in the fall, followed by consistently cold, but not excessively cold winter weather, and finally a slow, steady rise in temperatures in the spring. But those steady cooling and warming trends seldom happen in today’s Prairie climate.
While all of this freeze-thaw information may seem a bit complicated, winter protection is really quite simple and it can be summed up in one word: mulch.
Mulch can be any fairly loose organic material that can be gently spread over the tops of plants and soil surfaces for winter protection. Peat moss is quite commonly used as a mulch, but it is rather prone to being blown about in windy, exposed areas.
I prefer a soil conditioning product called seasoil. Seasoil is comprised entirely of composted fish waste and pine bark, and not only works as a great insulator but also feeds the roses once they begin growing the following spring.
And, of course, let’s not forget good, old-fashioned snow. Most winters we have more than enough to go around, and as long as the snow is light and fluffy, it’s great for shovelling on top of roses.
Now, let’s not forget that there are a number of hardy, climbing roses that do exceptionally well in our region, but are physically impossible to mulch. So unless you plan on creating a two-metre-tall pyramid for them, climbers have to fend for themselves.
Planting these rambling roses in a sunny but wind-protected area helps a lot, but little else can be done for winter protection. Just ensure that the climbers are well-watered and fed during the growing season, clean them up in fall, and keep your fingers crossed that the upcoming winter won’t be too harsh.
So don’t worry if your roses are looking a little … well … ugly at this time of year. It’s nothing that a little mulch and snow can’t cure.