Oh my goodness!! I have been dreading tonight's temps for a week now. All the roses are budded up all gorgeous, peonies standing proud covered in buds, not to mention the azaleas and oak leaf hydrangeas just waiting to go BOOM!! But NOOOOOOOOO, our temps are going to be in twenties tonight!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I could just scream!!! Didn't mention the mopheads bc they're already going to have a bad showing anyway!!! Sorry for all your snow Seil!! Enuf already!!! Judy

The reverse to that coin is, send me all the water you don't want! Less than 40% of annual rainfall in the past three years. Voluntary 20% water use reductions, plus higher water rates. We have been 'fortunate' to have had recent
'cooler' weather (sixties and seventies) interspersed with periods into the mid nineties, all with nearly no rain. Established trees are drying up. New foliage is looking great...until the edges begin browning. Salt build-up in the soil is left over from last year (and the year before) and it's showing itself. Even with shaded pots full of moisture control soils, seedling pots require watering at least every other day. I don't envy your temps, nor the months of snow, or even the flooding which is sure to follow the 'thaw', but I would gladly take some of your run-off! I'm getting flowers, but they sure aren't anything worthy of showing! Kim

My situation is similar to Kim's except we haven't heard anything about water restrictions yet. Still, I think I would lose my mind with all that snow which as I remember began earlier than usual, at least in some places, and for you to still have it must be almost unendurable. All I've seen on the TV weather news is "yet another major storm" to hit the eastern U.S. week after week; it's just crazy!

Ingrid

Yup, we got snow yesterday that hung around for the morning but melted by afternoon. Then we had a freeze last night, I covered my tulips but the daffodils took a hit. Old man winter needs to take a vacation until December because this is becoming a real headache.

Seil, lets hope this all bodes for lovely roses, reduced bugs and disease....
Well,we can hope, can't we?
It will be spring soon enough....
Hang in there.
Susan

We got dumped on too. Argh! Ack! No! Most of my new roses had come in over the last week, but I'd potted a lot of them so I humped those into the shed and mounded and covered the ones in the ground. The good news: already much of the new snow is gone and things should warm up again (9C!) by Thursday. At least most of the perennials are slow to emerge and so should be ok. Sigh.

snowed here too... :-/

It may not be much consolation, but I really do feel for those of you who are having to wait so long for spring, I'm sure the wait is agonizing!

I was amazed to hear how much money some of you have to spend on watering your roses in the summer because of drought... :-o

Dropped down to 23 degrees here last night... :-/

so.....the roses in the garage were dragged out last weekend.....just in time for snow and freezing temps on their new growth.

Yesterday I put a spray in a thin rose vase and today I noticed that it drew down the water in the vase almost two inches. This shows how much water heavily blooming roses take up. Lately I have been running the drip systems 4 hours a day at least every other day and the roses still are barely moist or even dry. You can see how stressed they are. I try to check moisture level every day rating it dry, dry+, moist- to moist. Four hours of the drip system will just raise dry to dry+ or moist-. This is due to the heat but also due to the sandy clay soil which I have amended but this is an ongoing process that takes years.. You simply have to build up the soil in southern California. Now I am wondering how we are going to survive another year like the last one.

I'm glad I provided a place for everyone to vent a little rage at Mother Nature. I know my snow and cold weather isn't the only challenge rosarians face. I think about all of you in heat and drought country all the time and am thankful I at least have water resources.

As I said, we all have challenges we face and none of them are easy. Sometimes I'm jealous of the long warm growing season of the west and south but then I remember the water shortages. I know some of you envy me my reliable water but then you have to think about my short season and winter kill. And that doesn't even go into the diseases and pests we all run into. I don't know...tell me again why we do this...?

"I don't know...tell me again why we do this...?"

Keeps us all out of the pool halls? At least it isn't illegal, immoral or fattening! Kim

Seil, Even in CT we had a water problem because we depended on well water. I never watered the lawn ever and watered the roses as little as possible for fear of running the well down. I never used anything but drip watering and/or soaker hoses. Thankfully it rained plenty in CT but of course all that rain ruined the first flush almost every year. Growing roses in the northeast was a constant battle which is why very few people do it (KO's don't count). Here in SoCal you see a lot of roses but not to many good ones at least to my eye. They look stressed. The truth is here in SoCal growing all that grass and plants with a high water requirement and often not heat tolerant is simply not a good idea. I have 122 roses which is way too many and from here on that number is going to become less and less.

To me nothing looks well cared for at Descanso. It's sad.

Just to thumb my nose at Ma Nature I put on a heavy coat and put the top down on my convertible yesterday--even though it was only in the low 50s. My husband bought the car for my birthday last November and I just decided if Mother Nature wouldn't supply the appropriate weather I could take matters into my own hands!

Same here in South Central PA. Dropped from 80 degrees to 25 degrees in a matter of hours. Rushed home from work to cover the roses as many had leaves. I was getting pelted with sleet balls! 21 trash bags later, I was finished. I guess it helped a little, but appears that some were frozen anyway.

I had just planted 7 bareroots from Edmunds, and am waiting on another shipment from Edumunds and one from Heirloom. Heirloom doesn't plan to ship until the week of 4/28.

Wishing for sunshine and warmer days, that's for sure.

Scott in PA

I guess I'm a glass half full kind of person. I always look at how lovely the blooms are and rarely see the problems. I think Kippy's picture is BEAUTIFUL!

I did not cover my roses and the new growths on my roses were damaged, wilted, and dead now. These are own roots roses. Do you think the roses will send up new shoots? Or are they goners? So sad as these roses were planted last year but the canes all died back to the ground this winter. I was so happy to see new growths from the ground and now these sprouts are all dead.

I think the roses are just rebuilding themselves at Descanso after years of deer damage. Beds have been renovated and replanted. It looks to me like they are going bed by bed and weeding and replanting. A large number of new companion plants were put in the rose garden. The big red Grootendorst was looking superb on Easter. I've always loved that rosebush. It's shaped like a huge many trunked small tree that gracefully spills over on the edges loaded with sweet red roses frilled like carnations. I think every year is going to be better there. Many of the climbers on the arches were doing much better and on the pergolas as well. I love the flow of that garden and the little faux cottage and all the pretty flowering trees that it has. The replanting is a good idea and I hope something good will come in to replace the albas, etc. that never bloomed there. Glad the old bourbons I love stayed.

This year I'm going to work on foliage and mulching and the general health of the plants and grow my bands on. It's been a reasonable spring but nothing spectacular. The rains and heat got the first of it and the last has been ok with some beautiful blooms but not loads of flowers on the plants. I want to see them through the summer heat and try for a good fall flush. I was busy and didn't water as much as I usually do. I've been using the rain water I caught on the bands and they look very good right now. I tried an experiment and dug a depression that I lined with a tarp and caught rain in and dumped all that water on my climber Peach Silk when it filled up. The extra water maybe encouraged it to grow many new basals so I'm happy about that. I'm happy for any overcast days we get before summer.

I'm sending my warm wishes to all of you who are still in the cold. My bare root roses arrived when our temps were approaching triple digits. What -- summer in March??!! I planted them and ran a drizzling hose. Several weeks have passed, and they're all bushy and budded, with some even blooming. So I have nothing to complain about. I can't wait to see all your roses doing the same. Courage.

jannike

No snow here but it froze. 26 for a couple of hrs and didn't get above 32 until after 12 o'clock. 80/90% of my spring growth froze solid. Went through the garden yesterday and cut all the burnt and wilted stuff off. Two 10 gal. buckets full. Well maybe the summer blooms will look good. We'll see in about 6 weeks.

To quote Miss Piggy, "I've had enough"!!!

Freezing cold and blustery here in PA. Just checked the 10 day forecast which takes us into May and its not to go above 62.

It will be July until we see blooms here.

Scott in PA

Take heart fellow cold rosers!!! I took the winter cover off all the potted roses today and lo and behold there is green cane there! I think there is hope!

For those of you enduring the hideous snowfall of 2015 in New England, it was just as bad last year for some. From what I've read, Boston has nine feet and Worcester has a little more than nine feet of snow. If it snows again before May, it will break the all time record for those areas. I wonder how much snow Maine has had. My sympathies; I cannot imagine such a snowfall. May you be free from watering all summer. Diane

We just had the coldest February on record for Toronto. At this point I'm glad for the two odd feet of snow on my yard! Hoping it doesn't drag on too long this year, however. No watering - wouldn't that be nice!

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, redwolfdoc (glad we didn't have your record, though), but we just finished our warmest February on record. Weather is so strange. But we did have a very premature "arctic" blast of a few days of very cold weather in November when nothing was dormant. Awful. I think I may have lost a rose or two to this nasty cold spell for the first time ever. Diane

Like redwolfdoc we've had our coldest February on record here in Detroit. However, we've also had way above average snow fall as well. Today was a doozy with snow/ice/sleet/rain in turns...and the snow blower broke down!

No need for a snow blower here but we too had the coldest and wettest February in many, many years. My entire yard and flower beds are so wet they have water standing in them. No telling what that is going to do with everything planted in them. Usually by March 1st you'll find people in the Garden centers in shorts......not this year, we are expecting freezing rain, sleet and snow tomorrow night. I'm so ready for spring!

I just can't believe what all of you are going through. Weather has been turned inside out and upside down. We are just making average precipitation right now, and our snowpack has gone below average because of the warmth. I hope things straighten out so we all have a good spring. Good luck, everyone. Diane

Can't do much in this weather. Hopefully, this is the last snowstorm of this winter.

We in on the luck here. Coldest Feb. on record. Do you believe the mess down south today.

I am smack dab in the middle of the mess in KY. I have spent the day ordering roses and perennials off the internet. Feel like I am in a bad dream...please, spring...hurry up!

Here around nashville we got about 5 inches of snow ! Never thought I'd have to shovel my driveway down here ... But I did! Also because I have no idea what I'm doing in the south , my first order came yesterday ! Antique rose emporium sent the biggest nicest roses, one with buds! Looks like their new home will be my kitchen table for a while ... Lol

Hurry up spring !! Tomorrow I am gonna venture to the nashville garden show to see what goodies I can bring home. Very limited budget tho :( since I had to miss work . Bummer.

Karan I am not sure where in pa you are but your neighborhood sure looks like mine did when I lived there! I was in verona . Till I saw the horse and buggy ( so charming !!) I thought you might be living in my old house ! Lol

Hi, Lilyfinch. Verona as I googled is near Pittsburg which is much farther west than me. They actually do not get much snow from this storm today. I am in southeast pa, near Dutch Wonderland. Can't believe the Amish still brave the weather to go out on this awful day. We have got a foot of snow today, the most of this winter.

Wow, you already receive your roses. How exciting! I am so sorry about the weather. I agree "Hurry up spring!!" Please!! This weather is killing my pocketbook. I finally succumb and place an order for 3 new Weeks roses from Brecks. They just look at me and say "you will be so happy to grow us in your garden" and I just can resist. They cast their beautiful blooms at me and I am moved to order as if under a spell. :)

Lesley, can I ask what you order today?

Karen, it is killing my pocketbook as well ! I should be setting aside money for mulch and to pay someone for a little help clearing my new beds. And I order in increments of four because for some reason I feel like that makes the shipping worth it ! I have one order to place with brushwood for some honeysuckle and Clematis , and I swear that's it . Unless someone has a sale ! :)

Oh, what are you ordering from Brushwood? I have been eyeing Arabella for awhile. There are so many beautiful clematis. I don't know what to get. I know exactly what you mean about buying more plants to make it worth the shipping because I am very guilty of it.