You are right Mark - snow is the best winter cover .
Here it is almost gone now , but new one is expected by
the end of the week . BTW , I just pruned two apple trees
yesterday.

Forgot to ask . What kind of roses do you grow ?
Moderns , antiques ?

Henrik

I have different kinds. I have mostly hybrid teas, some floribundas, and I have two Canadian roses, four English roses. I got hit by RRD three years ago; and a friend of mine was digging up her Griffith Buck roses and so I have several of Griffith Buck roses. Some I like; some not so much.

I am surprised you don't have more snow there, and am amazed at the green grass. What is the altitude?

Wow, Mark, that is quite a pile of snow. It is great that it helps your roses getting through the winter. I always admire the passion that people like you must have for roses growing them in these harsh climates.

I am in San Diego, Southern California, and some of my roses are already leaving out like crazy. Certainly caring for roses here is a piece of cake in comparison to your zone.

Hope spring gets to you soon!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

Christina,

I appreciate your comments.

This was the sunniest location in my yard so that is what prompted me to put most of my roses here. It also happened to be a place where the driveway snow could be piled on top of the roses all winter, so it was good for those reasons; it is a location to showcase my hobby for folks who take walks and can enjoy them.

The western U.S. rose gardeners are also fortunate because the lower humidity in most areas results in fewer disease issues. We have challenging issues for roses year around; many gardeners just regard roses as too difficult to grow here, cannot understand how to keep the disease off them, and don't bother with roses.

We have to weekly spray fungicides to keep them looking good. By keeping them relatively disease free they are more vigorous and far more likely to live through the next winter. I had several years of experience before I figured out how to grow them well and keep them alive for the next year.

It has been unusualy warm here for a week with temperatures
over 12 degrees celsium and snow has almost completley melted. Altitude is 750 M above sea .
Fortunately RRD is not a problem here . I have some BS , PM and rust on English roses and hybrid perpetuals , but spraying two or three times a year is enough to keep them reasonably healthy .

We've had some drifts around 4 feet tall, which is alot of snow for us, but your pile is certainly impressive. Thank goodness for the snow cover though as our temperatures have been below zero many days this winter.