My Dad who was a phenomenal farmer/gardener always said, no matter what they tell you "fall is the best time to plant shrubs in MI." I have planted most of mine this time of year. Others will not agree. I say put the babies to bed, tuck them in, water 2 buckets a week if no rain. Good Luck!

Roses usually dislike being indoors...

I'm a springtime to Mid July planter.

So if you get them now you will have to plant them in the ground or overwinter the pots in a unheated garage etc.

Experiment and see what works best for you...

This post was edited by jim1961 on Fri, Oct 4, 13 at 11:59

I'm with Johnny on this one.

Steve

What size of roses do you johnnycabot and elks plant in your colder zones in the fall? Thanks

I play it safe. But then again I only plant own-root small baby bands.

So just wondering...

Two gallons are large enough to plant in fall, particularly if they will have a while to settle in before the ground freezes.

Yes Jim I would not purposely order own root babies this time of year. Anything with canes is fine to plant now. i plant 4" deeper than graft for my climate. Guess I answered quickly thinking any roses from Home Depot would be canes partially grown in their packages. I have seen no advantage to own root stock for me. I leave my roses for the winter and do not winter protect anymore. they have to hold their own until I see them next. Needless to say I cannot grow some of the marvelous Roses I see here but I like to hear about them and take the occasional chance.

I did buy the HD partially grown ones..Thanks for the responses..It may not work out, but atleast I feel more hopeful and gonna give it a shot...

I'm still with Johnny on this one. I also plant the cuttings I started the year before, their first winter covered under oak leaves on the uninsulated, north foundation wall of my house.

Steve

Roses buried under anything can have issues here. I've had rooted gallica cuttings die back to the ground from coverings, and lag seriously behind cuttings overwintered inside.

When you root your own, and have plenty of spares to experiment with, you can play games with them to find out what works. Anything here that has to be covered is going to be a problem. I know that from experience.

Plant the weigala for sure. The roses I don't know about. I don't plant in the fall myself. I've always had terrible luck with that. But if you do plant them make sure you winter protect them heavily with mulch. I'd protect the weigala for this year too.

If you don't plant them DO NOT try to keep them inside the house. I can almost guarantee they will die over the winter. Keep them in an unheated garage or shed and water them about once a month through out the winter. If no garage is available put them in the most protected spot you have against your house and mulch them thoroughly with leaves. If they are in a place that will get rain and snow you don't need to water them but if the spot doesn't receive any moisture you will need to water them all winter yourself.

Things can not be covered here either in the winter because of constant wetness... Found that out the hard way...lol

What about transplanting a rose ? I have a rose I love that I accidentally planted in the coldest micro-climate in my garden. At the time, I didn't know it was that cold, but last year we had snow stay on the ground for over a month ... unusual for my elevation ... and the site where the rose is located is where the snow melted last. Oops.

I'd like to move the rose because it has never thrived in that location, but am afraid of losing it. I put away my hoses for the winter once the night temps hit freezing. We are moving into the 30s, so it is a concern. The usual practice of watering every day while the rose gets established doesn't quite feel right, because the water will freeze. Won't that cause a problem for the rose ?

Yeah, it just happens to be a favorite rose.

Smiles,
Lyn

PS ... putting roses in the garage is impossible in that the garage is located down on the street level and doesn't work well for holding plants over winter. It's colder than the outside temps.

That's a tough call, Lynn. It's terribly late to be moving roses now unless you can be sure to get and keep a really good sized root ball with it. Even then it will need to be kept watered in for at least a little while. Are the day time temps still pretty warm there? If so then maybe early morning watering would give them time for the water to soak deep. On the other hand, it did survive there last winter so it probably would do so again and then you could move it in the spring when conditions would be more favorable. Like I said, tough call.

Wow! What a lot of variation in the way folks approach this and their success. I am limited to over-wintering cuttings outside, but they are under pop bottles under leaves, and the bottle caps come off as the days warm in the spring. There is a fuller description in the link.

I appreciate the struggles all of you have had and solutions you have made to keep your babies alive and thriving.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Overwintering Cuttings

Thanks, Sharon.

Our cold temps are three weeks early this year. Usually, the night temps don't drop to the 30s until the end of October.

Since I am gardening in glacier slurry, it takes two people with shovels on each side of the rose to lift it with enough root ball to transplant. I'll wait until spring when the hoses come out again. I'll put a collar around the crown of the rose and mulch that part of the bed heavily.

It's own root, so even if it dies to the ground, I am sure it will come back because my soil doesn't freeze. I usually don't have any die back in this garden.

Steve ... thanks for the info for starting cuttings in winter. I don't drink soda, but I think I can use a large plastic jar and just unscrew the lid as necessary. I am not sure if I can get coir up here. I'll see.

btw ... an old wives tale that has been tested is to sprinkle cinnamon on the surface of the potting soil to manage fungus diseases on cuttings and seedlings. It's worked for me.

Smiles,
Lyn

Personally, I think the best time to transplant is late winter while the rose is still dormant (but the soil is workable) and therefore doesn't even know you moved it. Have the hole you are going to move it to already dug and ready to receive the rose. Water in well. When spring actually gets there, that rose will start growing right along with the other roses.

However, I have also transplanted roses as late as July and had them succeed. Have never tried autumn rose planting--tend to be suspicious of it.

Kate

Thanks, Kate ...

Mountain weather seems kind of tricky to me determining late winter/early spring. We always get a winter thaw near the end of January/early February, then winter always comes roaring back with more snow and below freezing night temps. Tricks the roses every year.

I've only planted one rose in fall, and it was from a container to the ground and it had a large root mass. The rose came through just fine. However, both day temps and night temps were 20 degrees higher than they are this year.

I've also transplanted a rose in triple digit temps in July and with a lot of TLC brought the rose through the high temps of summer.

My biggest issue is that this rose is not thriving, so I want to give it the best chance I can give it to succeed. Since the cold temps have arrived early, I am slightly uncomfortable transplanting it in fall. Since it is a modern rose and never really goes dormant, I guess it just has to go through one more winter in its current location. I will try to transplant it before the roses start putting on new growth and when my hoses are out, so that I can make sure it is properly watered.

Smiles,
Lyn

PS .... isn't your late winter pretty darn cold ? You may be tougher than I am .... lol.

Fabulous article Steve; I will save it and try this. Very informative. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Another cold weather gardener...