Last year, my first of being brave enough to plant roses, I didn't do
anything special to get my roses ready for the winter except stop
deadheading. At hte time I had a Duchesse de Brabrant, Old Blush and
Knock. This year I've added two Buck roses, a Dart's Dash and what I
think of as the yellow Knockout(Carefree Sunshine?). Do I need to
anything special to get these roses ready for winter? Should I cut
them back or just heavily mulch them. I'm in zone 7, central VA.

Thanks.
Beth

<bethgsd [at] aol.com> wrote in message
news:1126224509.055347.155640 [at] g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Last year, my first of being brave enough to plant roses, I didn't do
> anything special to get my roses ready for the winter except stop
> deadheading. At hte time I had a Duchesse de Brabrant, Old Blush and
> Knock. This year I've added two Buck roses, a Dart's Dash and what I
> think of as the yellow Knockout(Carefree Sunshine?). Do I need to
> anything special to get these roses ready for winter? Should I cut
> them back or just heavily mulch them. I'm in zone 7, central VA.
>
> Thanks.
> Beth

The American Rose Society www.ars.org has some
articles on winterizing (and other topics). Click on
articles in the paragraph beginning "There are many
articles..."

Most of the articles refer to regions colder than
yours. One article is written by someone who lives
in Zone 6 and who only winterizes the most tender
plants.

You might not have to do much if anything
depending on how cold it actually gets where you
are and how well the roses are protected (close to
the house, protected from wind by other plants,
etc.). The Buck roses tend to be cold tolerant
anyway, and I think most of the others are also
hardier than a lot of modern roses.

Gail

Gail wrote:

The American Rose Society www.ars.org has some
articles on winterizing (and other topics). Click on
articles in the paragraph beginning "There are many
articles..."

Most of the articles refer to regions colder than
yours. One article is written by someone who lives
in Zone 6 and who only winterizes the most tender
plants.


You might not have to do much if anything
depending on how cold it actually gets where you
are and how well the roses are protected (close to
the house, protected from wind by other plants,
etc.). The Buck roses tend to be cold tolerant
anyway, and I think most of the others are also
hardier than a lot of modern roses.


Gail,
Thanks for reminding me of the ARS link. I actually have it
bookmarked, just didn't think to look there. Apparently my benign
neglect method is perfect for my area. I do know enough to stop
deadheading and fertilizing. The roses that are blooming right now are
drop dead beautiful. I'm really impressed with my two Buck roses. If
they handle the winter like they should I may plant nothing but Bucks
in the future.

Beth
Zone 7

<bethgsd [at] aol.com> wrote in message
news:1126472187.875129.64000 [at] f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

> Thanks for reminding me of the ARS link. I actually have it
> bookmarked, just didn't think to look there. Apparently my benign
> neglect method is perfect for my area. I do know enough to stop
> deadheading and fertilizing. The roses that are blooming right now are
> drop dead beautiful. I'm really impressed with my two Buck roses. If
> they handle the winter like they should I may plant nothing but Bucks
> in the future.
>
> Beth
> Zone 7

I love it when benign neglect works! :) You can
see the kind of gardener I am.

My first Buck rose was "Distant Drums". I have
really enjoyed it and got two more (now have
3). They do well which is weird because it's
hot as you-know-what around here, especially
this summer. Apparently they aren't only adapted
to the cold.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

My first Buck rose was "Distant Drums". I have
really enjoyed it and got two more (now have
3). They do well which is weird because it's
hot as you-know-what around here, especially
this summer. Apparently they aren't only adapted
to the cold.<<<

The man were I bought several of my roses this year takes a rose garden
road trip most summers. He said he had a chance to see the Buck
gardens in Iowa(?) and it was hotter than Hades and they looked great.
My two have done very well with several weeks in a row with temps in
the nineties. And the nasty Central VA humidity.

Beth

<bethgsd [at] aol.com> wrote in message
news:1126566821.734269.277450 [at] f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> The man were I bought several of my roses this year takes a rose garden
> road trip most summers. He said he had a chance to see the Buck
> gardens in Iowa(?) and it was hotter than Hades and they looked great.
> My two have done very well with several weeks in a row with temps in
> the nineties. And the nasty Central VA humidity.
>
> Beth

I first read about the Buck roses in _Peter
Schneider On Roses_, 1995. To quote one
paragraph from his section on Buck roses:
"Buck's first mission at Iowa State University,
where he was a professor of horticulture,
was to study and improve rose understocks,
the 'wild' roses onto which garden roses are
bud-grafted. Later, he set out to breed shrub
roses that would be healthy in summer and hardy
enough to survive a winter on the Iowa prairie."

Somehow when I first read that I ignored the
part about "healthy in summer". :) I guess
he succeeded! Your summers can be worse
than mine. (I'm originally from Maryland.)
We both got lucky with Buck roses. They can
be hard to find, but worth the search.

Gail