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Winter Rose Care & Pruning

Although major rose pruning is not done until late February into early March, there are a few things I do to get roses settled in for the winter. First, I wait until the first frost has occurred before I do anything. That happened on December 1 this year, a little later than normal. If you do any pruning prior to that, new growth will be encouraged, and it will just be nipped later. I will then do minimal pruning, about 1/3 of the plant or to about waist-high. It does not matter how you make the cuts. More precise pruning will be done in late winter. Giving roses a slight pruning at this time will decrease the damage from strong winter winds. Roses are not deeply rooted, and any long canes can spell trouble. Pick off any remaining leaves, if possible. I know that can be a big job if there are still many leaves left on the plant but you don't want leaves, especially diseased leaves, left to fall and harbor spores for next season. Clean the area around the base of the rose. Rake out ...
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The Deep Freeze



We are in a prolonged freeze with snow cover (I am guessing 3-4 inches).  Thankfully, this was a dry snow. It all started on Friday night with the majority of it hitting us yesterday. The temperature plunged to 18 where it remained all day with a constant snowfall. Actually, I am appreciative of the snow since it will help insulate plants during this long cold spell. It may be Thursday before we climb above 32 and freezing rain is predicted for Tuesday.

We had advanced warning and I covered some plants on Friday. 




I was more concerned with the hummingbirds and it is an endless job trying to keep them unthawed. At present, we have six feeders in the garden. I brought four of them inside for the night and the other two, the ones that are the most difficult to access, I covered with fleece that Michael rustled up for me. The next morning, the two feeders left out were frozen the next morning, but not solid and the hummingbirds were using them. I've been following that same cycle since then but today I put Christmas lights one of the feeders and hope that will do a better job. After all this, I'm seriously thinking about trying the hummingbird feeder heaters. It is rare, however, to have such a long stretch like this of freezing weather. 




We are fortunate that we did not get the harsh winds that Portland got and so far, we have not lost power. There have been power outages in our county but the worst areas are in Portland.






Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonJanuary 15, 2024 at 10:22 AM

    Your garden looks lovely with its snowy blanket, Phillip. I hope that blanket protects your plants against the icy rain you expect later this week. I saw an interesting trick for keeping hummingbird feeders liquid on Instagram yesterday. My recollection is that the poster taped handwarmers to the bottom of the feeder.

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    1. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2024 at 11:02 AM

      Yes, I have heard that as well. I have not tried it yet.

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  2. tz_gardenJanuary 15, 2024 at 1:07 PM

    Your garden does look pretty with the blanket of snow. I can't believe how many days of freeze in a row! So glad your power stayed on.

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