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Flower carpet scarlet roses didn't come back

MeToe
10 years ago

I'm hoping someone here can suggest what I should do. Last spring i planted 6 flower carpet scarlet roses, apprx 3' apart, 4 along my driveway & 2 infront of house in partial shade. Last year they were all huge & beautiful. We have early winters here but I had wrapped them in burlap & covered the roots with surrounding mulch. I should point out, they were still in full bloom when I did this, had no choice, a week later (early October, we had our first snowfall) i waited til after last frost, which was also late coming, after May long weekend usually. I pruned them back 8-10", the previous foliage was all "freeze dried" and it was a mess... Water & fertilized them, again end of may, and then I was away for a month! They got plenty of water during this time, but when I returned in mid July! Every 2nd rose was JUST beginning to show off shoots starting, and the other 3 showed no signs of life at all!

My question is, should I leave well enough alone & pray they'll come back next year- theyre only 3-4" now, as I pruned them back further hoping i might "jump start" them, cover them with mulch for winter and do nothing? Or

Do I move the 3 that aren't growing (late fall(end sept) or early spring(early may) and give the 3 that are barely holding onto life more room to grow? Will the 3 transplanted even come back if I move them?

I've added a photo of what they looked like last July, they eventually filled most of the gaps between them by the time i winterized in late sept. disregard the top right plant (its gone now) the top two left bushes are also roses. The drainage is good. They're suppose to be hardy enough for my zone(at least Costco where I got them said so) I have several Annabelle hydrangeas & 2 lilac trees at the edge of the front property, and they're all doing well.

This post was edited by MeToe on Sat, Aug 10, 13 at 11:54

Comments (4)

  • michaelg
    10 years ago

    If you are really in zone 3 (-40 F), it will be hard to grow any roses except as annuals.

    But in case you want to try again, here are a couple of suggestions.

    1. Plant grafted roses deep, with the graft buried several inches.

    2. Winter protection is not to protect against snow and frost. It is to protect against serious cold that would damage the hardened canes and roots. In this case you are trying to save the graft or the underground crown from fatal levels of hard freezing. So do not protect because snow and frost are forecast. Wait until the plants are dormant, this will help them harden up. Protect when temperatures of 10 F and below are forecast.

    3. Burlap is probably useless in this situation. None of the canes of regular modern roses are going to survive winter. Pile soil deeply over the crown of the plant and top with a mulch that will have some insulating quality. The soil will conduct ground heat from further down and provide a "thermal mass" that reduces temperature swings.

    4. In spring, remove the cover and prune the canes down to healthy white pith. This will probably entail taking all the canes down to the graft, or if ungrafted, the natural crown between canes and roots. If you are lucky, some of the grafts/crowns will survive.

    For what it's worth, we had a poster, Riku in zone 3 Alberta, who tried hard to grow roses for a few years. He brought in a truckload of peat every fall and covered the entire bed a foot deep. He got some roses to survive.

    I suggest that you try the Canadian Explorer roses, the bush types not the climbers, for example 'Champlain'. These will be hardier, and some cane may survive. See the link.

    Here is a link that might be useful: HMF

  • donaldvancouver
    10 years ago

    Hello

    There are many, many people that grow roses successfully in zone 3. I suggest you hang out with the folks on the Far North gardening forum here on Gardenweb.

    I grew up in Calgary and grew roses there. A few basics: definitely choose the right varieties. Any old hybrid tea from the big box stores is going to be a waste of time (or an annual, depending on how you look at it). Try the Explorers, as mentioned above, or the Parklands or many of the old garden roses.

    The Flower Carpets vary in their winter hardiness. It's hard to find concrete information on the hardiness of each one. Scarlet may not be a good choice for your area- one site mentioned it is hardy to zone 5, which is not good for you.

    At any rate, when you replace these roses, bury the crown three inches below the soil. Don't burlap them up when they are still growing. Rather, stop fertilizing early and stop deadheading early and allow it to go dormant naturally. Try to keep them covered in snow through the winter; it makes a big difference.

    Champlain is a hardy Explorer that looks a bit like the red flower carpets- you might try that one.

    don

  • MeToe
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you, I'll try those suggestions for this winter. Don't need to worry much about them not being covered in snow, once it starts here... It doesn't stop until march! I'll look for the far north forum too, thank you. I think if they remaining 3 don't come back next year I'll replace with something else besides roses. Something that will survive up here :)

  • michaelg
    10 years ago

    Do try planting the hardiest roses. Some of the Explorers are rated for zone 3.