DIY Life

I am not really a gardener, but as I've mentioned before, I love my roses: a begonia or turnip could never inspire me, yet I'm happy to dig, weed, and water for hours to keep the Queen of Flowers happy. Roses have a reputation for being fussy, but aren't necessarily so. If you get hardy varieties that are appropriate for your planting zone, put them in good soil, do some basic winterizing, prune judiciously in the spring, and are careful about how much you water and fertilize them, rose maintenance shouldn't be too difficult, and they should come back year after year.

That's why I was surprised when my Climbing Colette bush made it through last winter (my first with roses in this cold area) easily, with almost no special care, but almost died after a minor one-night freeze in late April. At the time, I didn't have anything to cover it with, so I thought: Well, it's only going down into the upper twenties; this bush was fine all winter when it was much colder for weeks on end. I won't worry about it.

I was wrong. Within a week or two, every branch had blackened and withered. It's been slowly recovering all summer, and is now looking good again, but it hasn't managed a single blossom this year.

This could have been avoided, if I'd been a smarter rosarian instead of the cold-weather novice that I was. Freezes are coming soon. Join me after the break to learn what to do to protect your roses when the chilly days come!