|
Sun, Jan 12, 14 at 19:29
| I have knock out rose bushes that have gone through ice and snow. The leaves finally died in late December. They remain on the plant. Is this common in zone 5? We moved here 2 1/2 years ago from the Central Valley of California. I had hybrids, climbers and carpet roses there that always lost their leaves after freezing. They didn't do this last year. Any thought? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| I'm in zone 6a and that is very common here for Ko's... New leaves will take there place in the Spring without worry... |
|
- Posted by Nippstress 5-Nebraska (My Page) on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 14:59
| All around the country this has been an odd winter, and roses are doing things they haven't done in other years. As far as leaves, if you're in zone 5, you've undoubtedly had some of the wicked cold that has been hitting the nation, and your Knockout roses are as dormant as they're going to get. Sometimes the dead leaves fall off on their own, and sometimes they need to get pushed out of the way by new leaves in the spring. Our huge oak tree does the same thing of hanging onto dead leaves well into the spring, so we have the lovely chore of raking in the spring when everything starts growing. Either way, the leaves aren't not doing any harm where they are and they'll fall off at least by the point the rose starts growing. They're also not doing anything particularly useful for the rose, so if you wanted to neaten them up you're free to pull them off. For me, that's way too much like work and not at all needed. Just let 'em be and consider them "winter interest". Sure a lot more interesting than miles of ice and snow, eh? Cynthia |
|
| Some of them will blow off by spring. When you prune you'll probably take off a lot more. What ever is left you should remove. Some of my roses drop all their leaves nicely for me but others hold on to them for dear life. I've found though that after I have to prune off the winter damage there usually isn't a whole lot left to pull. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Roses Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
