Good thread!
That is exactly why I am adding more roses to my garden this year. I am in zone 9a and most of the stuff I grow is either sub tropical or tropical. This means it is either dormant, moved to the greenhouse, or just not blooming in the winter. My yard looks yuck-blah until spring. I have a few roses here in pots and they do keep blooming in the winter. Where I used to live, I had more than 50 roses in the ground and they bloomed all year. I really have missed them! Your rose looks really happy:)
~SJN

Yeah we get freezes throughout winter and the roses actually do just fine. They seem to like the cold better than my 100+ degree summers. I get a lot of dieback and sometimes complete death in the summer due to sunburn. But I've never lost a rose to winter freezing temps. Of course, we don't go much below 34 degrees and not usually for a very long period. I've also got a lot of succulents in pots on my porch and breezeway. I don't believe I've ever lost any of them. The only things I've lost to freezing temps are the Martha Washington geraniums and any coleus I might still have left.

Roses are pretty tough. They can survive a lot of different adversities. And they really seem to like the cold. I also have roses blooming now. My winters are much colder than your normal ones in SoCal. And even so, I'm finding most of them don't really go totally dormant even in our coldest yrs. They have a lot more disease right now, but it's nice to just get a few bloomers here and there before spring hits.

Thanks SJN and Beth. SJN, I wonder where you used to live where the roses thrived? I've had my succulents for five years and roses only one. Beth, I know what you mean about the roses not liking the heat. I really had to pay attention to which varieties do okay in my location. This forum and HMF really help out. What are your favorite roses in the heat? Olympiad did well in my friend's garden, so that's why I obtained it. In the end, it is survival of the fittest in my garden. Hopefully some of my succulents will come back and some I will replace, because I do like them. Succulents, roses and some chili pepper plants and I'm happy. I'm really looking forward to my second season with the roses. I'm actually too excited. It's hard to have patience :)

This post was edited by jasminerose4u on Sun, Jan 11, 15 at 14:58

I lived in Phx AZ in an old neighborhood that received irrigation. Great for roses and we had good soil in our yard. Hot temps in the summer but our roses seemed to thrive there. We had some massive trees that provided some afternoon shade for some of the roses. My grandmother still lives in Peoria,AZ and she has the most fabulous rose garden. She is in her 90's and still loves to tend her roses. She is where I got my gardening bug from lol.
~SJN

I understand what you mean Jasminerose4u. I used to enjoy growing a lot of tropical plants like a variety of Arabian Jasmine, dracaena, Taro, and ginger but it is getting really tiresome trying to shelter them from frost every year. It's also sad to see them grow so big by the end of fall, and then seeing them lose all of their big leaves from frost only to recovery slowly all over again early summer.

Roses recover quick, and some bloom almost year round around here. I'm starting to enjoy them more and more now, and see what you mean when you say "thankful." They are pretty low maintenance as compared to tender tropical plants that need a lot more water in summer, and shelter in winter.

I agree with your sentiments. My roses are still putting out buds even though we had a few nights in the 30's. My brugs didn't do so well and some died back to the ground. Also happened to my Hawaiian White Ginger. I love my roses because I always get lots of blooms for all the work I do. Not true for other flowers I have grown.
Clare

I don't exactly have the tropical plant problems you have, but I agree about roses--they are mostly tough. Mine survive 100 degree days in the summers and winters with single digit temps, and I've never lost a one. For a tropical look up here, i grow hardy hibiscus, and I love them. Diane