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birdwing_gw

unplanted rose bushes..?

birdwing
13 years ago

I have 3 Rose bushes from Sam Kedems nursery that I never had the chance to plant (I kind of forgot about them because they got tucked behind the shed when the lawn was being mowed a while back...) Anyway, what would be the best thing to do at this point to try and get them through the winter? Can I bring them in and put them in the basement or something? Will they go dormant? This winter kind of snuck up on me..!

Thanks in advance

Comments (5)

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    13 years ago

    I'm assuming these are potted roses.? I am not a rose expert by any means but I suspect your basement might be to warm for them. Do you have a place in garage where you could store them and allow them to go dormant. Perhaps slip the pots inside of larger pots with possibly some crumpled newspaper or extra soil etc. around the inner pot for a bit more insulation. Are they hardy shrub roses or teas? Perhaps a rose person will chime in here or you may also want on post on the trees and shrubs forums as well or the Rose forum.

  • mnwsgal
    13 years ago

    Though I am also not a rose person I have one potted rose that spends the winter in my unheated garage. Have done this for several years. Got the idea from a friend who grows several potted hybrid tea roses and overwinters them in her garage.

    When the plant was in a smaller pot I added the extra insulation of a box and newspaper. Now that the pot is larger I set it behind some other pots without adding any extra insulation.

  • elleni
    13 years ago

    No idea what you should do about the roses, but I think it would be good if folks were clear about what an unheated garage is. I think folks usually mean one attached to the house so that it is cold, but still a fair amount warmer than our extreme Winter outside. This is opposed to my detached, unheated garage which really only blocks the wind during the deepest part of Winter while the its inside temp is only a couple of degrees higher than the outside temp.

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    13 years ago

    Well my garage is not attached, it is unheated, though fairly well insulated. I have wintered potted plants, mainly hostas in it with no problem. I'm trying a couple of lilies this year as well. I'm also considered zone 4a, though on the southern edge of it.

  • giantslug
    13 years ago

    I have about a dozen potted rose bushes in my attached unheated garage. Between 28F and 40F seems to be the safe temperature range for the roses, any warmer and they try to grow and any colder their roots get damaged. Insulating them helps protect them from temperature swings (I have had some top dieback on un-insulated roses when the garage was left open for a couple hours in sub-zero weather). If the temperature in your garage stays under 28F for extended periods of time I would move them inside to the coolest place in your house. Don't forget to water them at least once a month, roses use up water even when they are dormant.

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