Yes! The rose bud was $2 and the bush was free. I agree :-)

I'm not a good tea rose grower. The only one I ever kept over the winter (alive that is) in MN was one that I did bury in the garden. I dug a trench in my veggie garden then mounded the dirt over the whole plant, roots and all. I did that later in the season though, maybe mid-November, just before the ground froze.

I have much better luck with the species roses.. Give me a rose that's Zone 2 or 3 hardy any day! But, for a free rosebush it's worth a little more work!

Now I'll be quiet and let the people who really do know how to grow roses respond :-)

It's probably a hybrid tea rose. True tea roses are impossible to come by in MN.You usually find those in southern-based mailorder sources. Hybrid teas are hardier than tea roses, none of which could ever survive outside no matter how you protect it.

But your hybrid tea rose... I would cut off the stem, put it in vase full of water and bring it inside. The plant: water it well. Dig a trench against the foundation of your house when the daily temp never gets above 40F. Lay the rose in the trench and cover it up with the soil you removed. Lay some sort of marker so you know where the rose is next April when you dig it up.

Next April, choose the sunniest spot for your rose, Dig a good hole, add a 40 lb bag of humous or compost to the soil, and 1-2 cups of granular, organic, slow release fertilizer like Milorganite. Take the rose out of its pot and plant it deep so the graft is 5-6 inches below the ground. Mound the excavated dirt into the hole. Water well the first few months.

Your rose will die to the ground each winter unless you bury it with the Minnesota Tip method. Avoid the foam cones. They keep the roses too warm and moist in the late winter. They'll rot away.

I have a yellow Peace rose that's 20 some years old. All I did was to rake as many leaves as I could on it. The top usually died and new shoots always came back. It probably has less flowers this way, but certainly a lot easier. The leaves need to be raked anyway and they can be used for mulching in the spring. I have done that with all my roses. Almost all came back. A few did die.

Ok, here's what I do (I LOVE roses) to overwinter my tender *zone 6* rose :)...

1) It's bound to be a grafted rose, mound it past the graft (it'll look like kind of a bumpy bit on the main stem) in good soil or compost - so roughly half to 2/3 up.

2) Make a cylinder of chicken wire or screening about 8-12 inches all around wider and about 2-3 feet taller than the rose. Stake this around the rose so it doesn't get blown over.

3) Pack with leaves. You want it tight enough to insulate but just loose enough to breathe.

4) Think *SNOW* - though it's not necessary with this.

In spring when things start to warm and thaw a bit, remove the cage. As it warms up a little more, remove the leaves. Bet you the compost is still frosty around the base of the rose! (this is good!), when it thaws out, pull it away just a bit. Roses love to be mulched here anyway, you just don't want to smother the new growth too much.

This hasn't failed me yet, and as I said I have one zone 6 rose in my collection that should NOT grow here at all by rights. I cosset it so because my Dad brought it to me from WA State before they moved overseas and it is now considered a very rare rose: "Red Pinocchio"

-Marie

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your comments, observations, and encouragement. I have printed out your responses and I am feeling a little more in control of the situation.

If I can keep this rose alive, I will have my eye out next fall for a bargain buddy for my beautiful yellow. Carmellia