How to Winterize Your Potted Roses

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By mikeg21v
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Winterize Your Potted Roses

Roses are beautiful and amazing creatures that can be tricky to take care of. As I am preparing to winterize my garden and especially my roses (which are potted), I thought it would be beneficial to explain my potted-rose-winterizing technique. The idea is to keep the rose plants at a consistent temperature throughout winter.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Non-heated garage or room, if available.
Shovel
Soil
Mulch/raked leaves
Extra large trash bags

Step 1

You do NOT want this to happen

As I prepare my potted roses for another brutal Chicago winter, I start to slow down the watering to about every 4-5 days. I have not fertilized/fed them since August 18th of this year. They are done flowering and I have used my garden shears and have trimmed the tops down to the stem that has five leaves on it (a trick form my Grandpa).
Step 2

It is October, and the nights are getting colder. Take your roses into an unheated garage. An unheated room will also suffice. The trick is to keep the temperature consistent. Roses need to be maintained and cared for at temperatures above 40 degrees in winter, that being the reason for an unheated garage. Keep a thermometer by your roses and if the temperature surpasses 40 degrees, care will need to be given. Small amounts of water will need to be given, but give some time in between winter waterings in case the temperature drastically drops. You do NOT want your roses to be victims of fast freezing!
Step 3

If you have to water your roses during the winter, assuming the temperature rises above 40, the beauty of your roses might start growing earlier in the spring. Once the temperature is consistently staying warmer in the days, set your roses out during the day, and bring them back into the unheated room at night.
Step 4

There are a few other ways to winterize potted rose plants outside, such as digging a hole, placing the pot in the hole and covering up the rose with 6-8 inches of dirt or mulch. There are articles on how to do this specifically, but since I do not do this, I am not going to pretend.
Step 5

This is the method I will be using this winter for my potted roses. I have three extra large garbage bags packed full of oak leaves. One for each of my roses. First, trim the rose plants down to the length you want them to go dormant at. Then tightly pack about 10 inches of leaves to the bottom of the bag. Place the roses in their pots on top of the packed leaves at the bottom of the bag. With the remaining leaves, fill up the rest of the bag as tight as you can without damaging the rose bush. Now tie up the top and you can leave the bag with the leaves and roses outside for the winter. The leaves act as insulation against the cold for the rose bush. The main goal is to not let the roots freeze. It is important to keep the rose above 20 degrees F. The more insulation the better!