We received a rose tree as a gift from a NYC florist. I believe it
was raised for indoor office or lobby decor. We live in the Hudson
Valley mountain range. My question is does this type of tree become
dormant in the winter and does it require pruning? It certainly looks
dead! How can I determine if it's alive?
Linda,NY

<greenthumbenator [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141302213.534742.223060 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> We received a rose tree as a gift from a NYC florist. I believe it
> was raised for indoor office or lobby decor. We live in the Hudson
> Valley mountain range. My question is does this type of tree become
> dormant in the winter and does it require pruning? It certainly looks
> dead! How can I determine if it's alive?
> Linda,NY

All roses will go dormant if it gets cold
enough. Is your tree rose still potted? Is
it indoors or out of doors?

Tree roses and patio roses are particularly
susceptible to cold, hence probably more
likely to go dormant than a bush rose or
miniature. Dormant roses do tend to look
dead.

You might wait to prune until it warms
up at your house. If you see new growth,
then the rose is alive. Then you can figure
out which canes are alive, which are dead
and need pruning.

Here's one article I found by goggling
"tree rose":
http://www.rosemagazine.com/articles04/tree_roses/
It appears to have some good information
about standard roses.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

Hi Gail,
My friend and I were thinking about moving to Port Isabel since he
liked the climate. Unfortunately, health problems changed the move!
We'll stay put in NY. Thanks for the website and information.
I have 3 rose bushes in the front of the house which are protected by
evergreens and a forsythia bush. The rose tree was outdoors til fall
then brought indoors. Should it be watered even though it's dormant?
Linda,NY zone5

<greenthumbenator [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141382511.556109.227130 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hi Gail,
> My friend and I were thinking about moving to Port Isabel since he
> liked the climate. Unfortunately, health problems changed the move!
> We'll stay put in NY. Thanks for the website and information.
> I have 3 rose bushes in the front of the house which are protected by
> evergreens and a forsythia bush. The rose tree was outdoors til fall
> then brought indoors. Should it be watered even though it's dormant?
> Linda,NY zone5

I believe it's a good idea to water some during
dormancy, not as much as when the rose is
actively growing, but at least enough to keep
the soil a little damp.

Gail

Hi Gail,
I gave my sister the information and the website. It was very
helpful.I'm in zone 5 and she lives in a higher elevation. She was
also looking at that website for winter hardy roses and found other
links.
We still have cold weather forecasted for the next few weeks so I won't
be doing any trimming !
Linda

<greenthumbenator [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1142248792.186613.178590 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hi Gail,
> I gave my sister the information and the website. It was very
> helpful.I'm in zone 5 and she lives in a higher elevation. She was
> also looking at that website for winter hardy roses and found other
> links.
> We still have cold weather forecasted for the next few weeks so I won't
> be doing any trimming !
> Linda

Howdy Linda -

I'm glad the web sites were useful. My
problem in this area is heat rather than cold,
although we have had late frosts that killed
newly planted roses.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8