Welcome to November in Connecticut! Do you know why weathermen and ladies love to live in New England? Because the weather is always changing. Last week, we were visited by Hurricane Sandy and the shoreline got devastated again. Today, we are having a snowstorm with 50 mile an hour winds: a classic Nor’Easter. As I write, it is snowing at a pretty decent clip and the wind is howling. After our long, hot summer I am just loving this! Soon, I will build a roaring fire in the fireplace and light some candles on the mantlepiece to enjoy when Bob gets home.

Autumn

Some years we get a longer fall. This year my roses are speaking to me and saying it’s time to cut back early. We have had hard freezes every morning this week. When that happens, it’s a pretty fair bet that rose season is over for this year. What’s left out there looks really pretty with a snow coating on it, but the buds and blooms are really history now.

It’s supposed to warm up a little by the end of the week and into the weekend, so I will begin the last job of the year in the rose garden: overwintering the roses. My roses are planted really deep and their crowns and bud unions are 4″ below soil level, so they are pretty well protected from the freeze/thaw cycle already. That’s why we want to protect our roses for the winter…to get them cold and keep them cold so they aren’t tempted to wake up and start growing during winter thaws. Also, winter winds and heavy coatings of snow and ice can damage and splinter exposed canes during big winter storms. Many of my roses are 10′ tall right now after our extra-long season this year. Here’s what my weekend plan is!

Pruning

I will have Bob sharpen up my Felco Bypass Pruners and my big extendable loppers. Nice sharp tools make nice clean cuts and also make the job quicker and easier. I call fall cutback ‘gross pruning.’ There is nothing fancy about it. I just want to take my hybrid teas and floribundas down to knee-high or a little shorter.

You don’t need to worry about cutting to an outward facing bud or anything like that…just whack them back and we’ll deal with the ‘fine pruning’ in the spring. My mini roses and minifloras will be cut back to about 8-10″ and I will take shrubs back by about a third just to protect the canes from too much whipping around in the winter winds. Overwintering will prevent too much damage.Climbers will have any loose canes tied to their supports for the same reason. First year climbers will benefit from wrapping with burlap, but most of them are pretty hardy and will be fine unwrapped when they are well established.

Overwintering: mounding

If your roses are not planted deeply, you will want to mound up over the center of the rose. Some rosarians bring in soil for this job, but then you will have to remove it in the spring. I prefer to use mulch for overwintering with and then I just spread it around in the spring. I like to wait until there is some frost in the ground before I mound up. Additionally, I also prefer not to use leaves anymore because I have had major problems with voles in the past and mounded leaves (whole or shredded) are like an invitation to a vole hotel! If you live in a really cold and windswept area, you can try Rose Kones, but keep an eye on the temperature. If it warms up they can become a hothouse inside and cook your plants.

Potted roses will do fine in an unheated garage away from windows, preferably off the ground to protect them from rodent chews. No need for overwintering! Water them before you put them away and don’t worry about watering during the winter. Dormant roses won’t be needing much in the way of moisture. Potted roses will also do just fine in a sheltered spot up against the house. The idea is to keep the wind off them as much as possible.

And, so the annual ritual begins! Time to tuck the babies in and enjoy a winter’s rest. A Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!