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sunflowersrus222

Anyone else lose a few rose bushes over the winter?

sunflowersrus222
9 years ago

So far its looking like 3 of my roses have bit the dust due to the harsh winter we had. My fragrant plumb and Just Joey are completely black. Then one of my miniatures is completely black as well. I'll cut off what looks dead and see if anything new sprouts but it doesn't look good at all. This winter was our worst in 20 years.

Has anyone else lost any roses?

Comments (40)

  • lesmc
    9 years ago

    I started my pruning this week and I have lost several. I have cut many to soil level which I have never done. I do hope they can come back. I am in Louisville,Ky and I have never winter protected more than some chopped leaves around the base.Some dead so far, Liv Tyler, Elina, Lime Sublime, Mr. Lincoln, Crimson Glory, Garden Party, Miss All American Beauty, Paris Eves St. Laurent. Might find more tomorrow. This makes me very sad. lesley

  • ken-n.ga.mts
    9 years ago

    It was a tough winter down here also. I pruned several weeks ago and had to dig up Moonstone. Cut Royal Highness and one of my Crystalline's down to 6" nubs. I was able to get out in the garden today and really inspect all the bush's. Stainless Steel is just sitting there. Canes still green but no growth when everything else in the garden is leafed out. Finding dying canes all over the place. Now that the weather has warmed up, all the canes that froze solid are splitting on the north side of the bush's. Lots of them. BUT, I see a lot of new growth on the bottom of most of my roses. I'll know what is really happening in about a month or so. Some of my roses are going to look rough this spring.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    Yes, and it's actually getting worse. Some of the ones I was convinced were dead have put out some new growth from the graft (I had to take all the old canes out down to the graft). And most of my teas are still dying down to the bulb. I just keep cutting down more and more.

  • thebeatgroover
    9 years ago

    This winter was a nightmare! I work at Witherspoon and our display garden has lost at least a dozen plants despite very good mounding. We also had several greenhouses collapse from that big snow storm back in February. The new growth that was just leafing out got burned really bad in the 3 weeks they were left exposed to the wind and ice before we could rebuild them. Now half our potted plants (and ALL our multicolor HTs! so so so devastating) are covered in ugly cold damage and are stuck in the new greenhouses for a few more weeks to catch up, despite the fact that our potted plant season started today.

    LOTS of tree roses got demolished by this winter too. We've sold more than any other year as people scurry to replace the ones they didn't expect to lose. It's helped our sales but I hate to see people's hard work and care undone by uncontrollable weather. I'm just glad spring has finally sprung in zone 7 :-P

  • sunflowersrus222
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I think I'm going to wait awhile before digging up my dead roses. I wonder if there is a chance some might still be alive. When it gets a bit warmer and there is no more threat of frost I'll cut them down as low as possible and see if something new grows.
    In the mean time I'm keeping a look out at the local lawn and garden stores for new roses.
    Such ashame..I even wrapped my rose bushes this year. Something I have never done in the past. But we had ice storms here this winter and record breaking snow fall. It was just too brutal for my babies. :(

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    9 years ago

    Last few years by March 25 tiny leaves were sprouting. This year nothing yet. Temps got down to lower 20's last night...
    I haven't even pruned yet...

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    9 years ago

    Not as bad as I expected, I'm glad to say. I haven't finished pruning yet, but so far, have not encountered any rose that I thought was dead. But I have had to prune to or near the soil line on a lot of the HTs--1-2 inch canes left. On the other hand, the floribundas have fared somewhat better and my three Eutins were hardly bothered at all--that is one cold-hardy plant!

    Today I start pruning the Austins--I already know that Queen of Sweden, Lady of Shalott, in fact, most of the Austins, now that I think of it, are doing fine--leafing out all over. There are a couple way out in back by the alley that I'm not too sure of, but I think they probably are fine. My Austins have always been quite cold-hardy.

    My 2 hybrid perpetuals are doing great--cold didn't bother them at all. The polyanthas had a lot of die-back but I think they have good growth going on near the soil line--will find out today. My rugosa and hybrid musks are OK. Oh yes--the 2 Double Knock Outs survived with little trouble and my 3 Home Runs are fine.

    So what it comes down to is everything is doing fairly well,
    except the hybrid teas/grandiflora types.
    So-so on a couple of the floribundas, fine on others.

    I'm relieved there wasn't more damage!

    Kate
    .

  • Alana8aSC
    9 years ago

    I'm sorry to hear everyone's loses. I lost Sheila's Purfume, Angel face, both had to be cut all the way down, I'm hoping they will come back from their roots. Also Souv. de la malmasion is kicking the bucket, that was a surprise. Le vesuve and Lady Hilingdon Had to be cut back, hope they survive :( Mine are not as bad as some, and I hope we all have luck with them coming back from from roots.

  • view1ny NY 6-7
    9 years ago

    I lost Queen Elizabeth, Love, Honor & Imposter. Oklahoma is down to one cane but I'm willing to try to bring it back to life with extra TLC. Same for Peace.

    All my Austins look ok. Am expecting Munstead Wood, Love Song & Lady of Shalott later this week so that is something to look forward to.

  • susan4952
    9 years ago

    On the critical list, Harlequin, dark knight, Memorial Day, Jeanne la joie, angel face, Nahema, SDLM, Anastasia, countess Sonja, Pam's choice, first prize, peace, flaming peace, sceptered isle, sun sprite, Osiria, princess a of k, Don Juan, paradise, heaven on earth, brides dream. Uggggggg just started cutting back today and iam hoping some of this is canker as opposed to death by winter kill. I just want to cry. They look terrible. Don't have the stomach to pull the mulch off. Hope warmer weather helps them but the pith looks pretty dismal.

  • merlcat
    9 years ago

    I've been afraid to look too close at most of the roses.

    Paradise has one cane left. Memorial Day was moved last year and never took off, and looks like she has officially bit the dust.

    Peace: Dead. My fault, she was potted up and not winter protected. Nor was Brandy, who is also DOA.

    Falling in Love had a hard year last year, and this spring has been cut to the ground, almost. We'll see what happens with her.

    Black Magic threw a couple big canes for me last year, finally, but they are slowly turning black.

    My mini roses that live in pots by the door seemed like they pulled through. On further inspection today, two seem to be shriveling on the green, with bud eyes that are now brown. Ruby Ruby has completely bitten the dust.

    My tree rose, Rio Samba, always had a weak side at the top, but that graft finally gave me a cane last year. It is brown as brown can be now, so I assume that that side has died out. The other side is ok so far, I just have no clue what to do with it.

    The one surprise is Pinata. I planted her three years ago and she had one can or so all this time. I see a new cane breaking ground, which I am hoping came from the graft that I buried deep.

    I'm hoping for the First year they sleep, second creep, third leap scenario. We'll see!

    Essentially, everything is waking up but dying back at the same time. I'm still a newbie at pruning so I am going to wait a little bit longer and see what happens.

    This post was edited by merlcat on Sun, Apr 6, 14 at 17:15

  • David Moore zone 6a nw new jersey
    9 years ago

    Looks like I lost almost all of my 18 hybrid teas.
    I think I am going to plant a vegetable garden after I dig up the roses.
    I will wait a few more weeks to see what's happening with the roses.

  • mori1
    9 years ago

    Dead - Jack Frost & Sonia
    Praying for miracle - Granada & SunDowner
    Green way down but no buds -JFK, Nicole, Chicago Peace &
    Pink Peace

    The rest have are showing signs of life but I'm going to wait until May, otherwise I'm going to have a lot of one and no cane wonders.

  • susan4952
    9 years ago

    These past winters have spoiled me, made me cocky about growing zone 7 roses in Chicago. Many have survived for years with very little winter kill. This year, Mother Nature reminded me of who rules the garden.

  • bellarosa
    9 years ago

    I'm too afraid to look! I'm going to wait awhile to prune my roses. We had a warm weekend, but I still don't trust the weather. It's 42 now, but it was high of 55 today. Still to early to prune.

  • view1ny NY 6-7
    9 years ago

    dmoore, I'm so sorry about your HTs. That's really a shame.

  • twinkletoad
    9 years ago

    I lost Lemon Spice here in Winston-Salem, NC. So far I think that's it. I have been so confused as to when to prune and feed my roses this year! I've gone ahead and done it, but worried it might be too soon.

  • pat_bamaz7
    9 years ago

    I'm sorry to hear of everyone's losses! Mine were minimal compared to some of you guys. Initially, I thought all my moderns had come through this terrible winter beautifully. Most were still green to their tips after temps dipping down to zero with windchills below during the polar vortexes. Then we had another cold snap where it got down in the low 20's late March after they had started leafing out. That was much harder on the roses than the earlier colder spells since they had already broken dormancy. Since then, I've lost a lot of canes...not sure if they all came down with a bad case of canker due to being weakened by the cold or if it's actual freeze damage. The canes were still green at their tips, but black places at the base or varying other places along the canes caused dieback. I cut those off initially, but still finding more and more of the same...so IâÂÂm thinking it's canker. Some are down to only a couple of canes left now, but as long as this stops soon, I don't think I'll completely lose any moderns. I did lose a tea, a bourbon and several chinas to the cold. One china and the bourbon had died to soil level, but had new growth coming back at the base until that last cold snap killed it off. I'm not sure if that was their last hurrah. Still holding out hope for those, but really feel the tea and other chinas are toast. IâÂÂm very glad to finally be through the winter, and seeing new things popping up in the garden each day is helping to ease the disappointment of my losses. Hoping those in colder zones will soon be pleasantly surprised by what spring revives in their gardens.

  • Holly Kline
    9 years ago

    Yep. Wah! I lost a Papageno, my Hypnotize, and my Harry Wheatcroft. Pretty sure there won't be a recovery from any of them. Really bummed about the Hypnotize, as I am crazy for the blooms!

  • lothlin
    9 years ago

    I've got four I'm pretty sure are completely gone - Sharifa Asma, cl. Joseph's Coat, Scentimental, and Grey Pearl - though the Joseph's Coat got really roughed up by my roofers last year, and the Grey Pearl is fragile as all get out anyway.

    My Oshun and St Swithun are looking pretty bad too - a little green near the ground but not showing any buds. I actually thought I'd completely lost my Snowfire too,
    but I've got two buds that were practically buried that I'm hoping are coming out above the graft, not below.

    Everything else is showing a lot of die back, but at least has buds/leaves coming out near the ground. And... a little surprisingly, every one of my Paul Barden bands is doing great, even Golden Buddha, which RvR said was only really tested up to zone 7

    {{gwi:258316}}Golden Buddha - it died back a lot, but look how fast its bouncing back!

    {{gwi:258317}}

    Snowfire... I know its hard to tell, but below or above the graft?

  • buford
    9 years ago

    looks to be above. I'd let it grow out and then you will know for sure.

  • kentucky_rose zone 6
    9 years ago

    I'm watching Louise Estes, Summer Love, and Pacific Celebration. These 3 are on fort. rootstock. All the rose bushes on Dr. Huey, multiflora, and own root survived the winter.

  • meredith_e Z7b, Piedmont of NC, 1000' elevation
    9 years ago

    I'm still waiting for Every. Single. One. of my last Vintage order to show some sign of life from below the soil line :( I already rarely ordered from them because I can't afford the shipping and phyto cert along with the roses. I protected them, but they did that green-shrivel thing once it got warmer. I'm so sad!

    I also have an old Pink Perpetue that I love who got black below the green canes. Surely she'll come back from her roots; they would be so big now! She won't climb for a while again, lol, but she'd better come back.

    Amy Johnson shrivelled up since pruning, but she had nice roots as well. I have hope.

    ALL of my grafted roses are gone except for the few that had gone own-root. Those that did are pushing really nice new growth from low spots, though lol! Those shriveled late, too. So I'm having problems with ones that looked great at original pruning time.

    My gorgeous (grafted) Teasing Georgia is a goner :( I didn't bury the grafts on all of them, but I did protect. I think the bitter, bitter winds and no snow cover for the coldest days was the problem; I'm not used to winters anything like that!

    Oddly, some of my plants that I thought were more tender are doing great, as are the tea roses. Very strange (or just where the bad winds are).

    I still have hope! Except for the grafted ones already yanked out. There's probably dead, and then there are the wimps who are most certainly dead-dead. Borers had already caused low pruning on so many canes this past year that the winter hit especially hard. I'm definitely just nuking (the bore-holes) for borers this year**. No prisoners!! ;)

    Please nobody tell me that signs of life should be evident on my ownroots by now. If I'm in denial, I don't want to know yet.

    (** My borer saga involves holes like are 'supposed' to be just carpenter bees or harmless, yet I find a fat green 'worm' as far as the base of a cane, with a hole the whole way through, from the top. Not all holes do that, but the extent they can bore is not to be underestimated, whatever kind of borer that green monster is!)

  • mzstitch
    9 years ago

    I think I'm losing two out of my four Julia Childs that cover my front fencing. At first I cut them back removing all black I could see on all four plants. Now about three weeks later two of them have leafed out fairly nicely, and two more are continuing to go black. I trimmed them back a second time yesterday and I'm going to feed them today in hopes of saving them. Normally I would have fertilized for the first time two weeks ago but just haven't felt comfortable doing that with the weather still being off.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    meredith, don't give up on the own roots. Some of mine have tiny new growth. What you can do is try to expose as much as you can to the sun, that will help iwth new growth. I've had to cut most of my teas down to just the roots. We got below zero on two nights and that is the limit for zone 7.

    For me, the only definitely dead rose is Sultry. I just bought a Gold Medal yesterday to replace it. I had to dig up most of my teas anyway (county is putting in a new drain pipe through my yard) so having them pruned down to the roots is not the worst thing. I'm just stressing that digging them up now will cause a problem. I don't know exactly when the big dig is happening (anytime April- June is what I was told) So I'm just going to wait.

    Many of my remaining roses are now one can wonders or just new growth wonders. So time will tell on those...

  • ken-n.ga.mts
    9 years ago

    Well, Stainless Steel is gone for sure now. I have 3 miniflora's that took a hard hit. Show Stopper is down to 1 big cane and 1 small cane. I think Focal Point is going to die completely. Then there is my most prized possession, Tiffany Lynn. I have had this bush since 1990. Brought it with me when I moved to N. GA. back in 08. It has been a HUGE bush putting out tons of perfect blooms. This winter has taken out 7 huge canes and left me with 2 medium canes on it. At least it didn't die. It has a lot of new growth at ground level, so it's time to build it back up. My garden is going to look a little strange this year. Speaking of which, I had 1 Tulip bloom this spring. I have about 50 scattered around in good sized clumps that usually put on a great show in early April. I hope they aren't dead. But, all my Lily's look great. Especially my Tree Lily"s. At least I'll have something that looks great in the yard.

  • sunflowersrus222
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I got a better look at my roses today. The temps have been in the low 80's the past few days so everything is sprouting out there. My fragrant plumb made a come back and is not dead at all. It has loads of new growth on it. The just joey is dead. Black as black can be down to the roots in the ground. Same goes for one other I can't remember the name for it. My polka didn't look all that great either. I've only had it a year so its still a baby. But it does have some new growth way down at ground level. The rest of it was completely black. We are expecting a frost next week so I'm going to wrap everything the day before the frost just to protect the new growth a bit. I would hate to see them lose what little green they have left due to a frost.
    Anyone get a chance to check on their roses yet and see if they have a chance and can be saved?
    I'm getting a list ready of what I want to order next to not only replace what I've lost but to fill in other areas of my garden.

  • mori1
    9 years ago

    Its raining today but expecting a freeze and possible snow tomorrow. Of course the tulips and forgetnots just started blooming. I didn't remove compost/mulch on the roses but will make a quick sweep before tonight. This after have several days of 70+ weather. Sometimes I wonder, why I even bother.

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    9 years ago

    Monday night (tomorrow night) the temps here are supposed to drop down to 25 degrees! I've already uncovered and pruned most of the roses, daffodils are almost done blooming, tulips and creeping phlox just beginning--peonies spurting up like crazy (I can see buds on some of them), the early iris ready to pop in a day or two--arghhhhhhh! I'm trying not to imagine what 25 degree weather will do to them all.

    Hopefully, at worst, I'll have to prune a bit more off some roses--I hope that is the worst!

    I check the forecast hourly hoping they will revise that low temp up 5-10 degrees---please!

    Kate

  • jazzmom516 (Zone 6b, MA)
    9 years ago

    I just posted on another thread here and mentioned that many of my roses got severely cut back due to the extreme winter damage.Most of the roses were established and in the ground at least 5 years. One own root 'Hot Cocoa' is completely brown except for some green at the ground level. I will wait for more growth to occur before removing dead stems. Rugosa rose' 'Blanc de Colbert' was unaffected by the winter and is putting out new growth from the canes now. It is what it is. All I can say is try and buy own root roses- at least there is a chance of them putting out new growth.

  • meredith_e Z7b, Piedmont of NC, 1000' elevation
    9 years ago

    I like ownroot roses better here for lots of reasons. Them being young (one season) this past winter was not one of them, lol, but this year was an exception. And they may just come out fine, so I still think I even like bands. Just a bad winter :(

    Thanks, buford :) I have them in sun and clear away any mulch that gets in the way after rains. Still no go, but I have hope! My grafted-turned-ownroots were all much older, so maybe that's why they show new growth more quickly. They are bound to be more vigorous with those nice roots underneath.

    We have a minor freeze coming, and I hope that doesn't zap any existing vigor, though. I'm about sick of rose casualties by now.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    Yes, it's going to be 29 here tonight, on April 15th, I can't believe it. I normally wouldn't worry about 29, but I will try to protect some of those that have tender new growth. Especially if that is ALL they have.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    I figured Mother Nature wasn't done with us yet this year. Everything is still in it's winter protection. The only thing I did was plant a few pansies in the window boxes, lol. they should be just fine.

    I did take a look at all the seedlings in the little greenhouse this week. From what I can see I lost about half of them. I'm hoping a few will come up from the roots because they're all own root, of course, but for the most part all top growth is dried out dead brown. I'll be sad to lose some of them. They were my babies and I liked them. But, I have a fresh crop coming for this year too!

  • clpgirl51
    9 years ago

    My sympathy to all living in this region of horrific winter, and late freezes this year.I am so sad-I live right on the lakefront in a small ohio community.My second rose bed(5-6 yr old plants) is nearest the brutul winds coming off the lake.
    .I lost eight roses this year!! My most mature and beautiful rose, About Face included.Had searched for over four years to find "Amelia Earhart"-one died and my fingers crossed for the second..The constant freezing and thawing was soo bad that they were heaved out of the bed!! My more protected bed on the east side of the house lost none out of 14...
    Only compensation is that I am getting a bit wiser and looking and both own-root, and the roses developed in Canada to replace...I WON"T be caught like this again!!!

  • HU-563333299
    last year

    yep - lost 3

  • Ashley Smith zone 5a
    last year
    last modified: last year

    All 40+ of my roses have came back after a dry zone 5 winter. 🥳

  • GardeningTeenager
    last year

    Had to say bye to love grandiflora and heirloom floribunda.

  • Diane Brakefield
    last year

    That's too bad, GT. What zone do you garden in? I took out Heirloom years ago because the blooms couldn't take our dry heat. Ascot is one tough, cold tolerant grandiflora, as far as grandifloras go (I think of them as just extra large hybrid teas). Another tough one is Wild Blue Yonder. The colors are wonderful on both of these roses. Diane

  • GardeningTeenager
    last year

    I’m in zone 6a
    Tried to move it while it was dormant, and it died. That’s what I had heard was best. I was moving and so I had to get them out of the ground fast.