Well, I know the old saying is to wait until the native trees start to leaf out. I suppose that's roughly about the time that I uncover mine, which is around the end of April. Right now on my south bed, I've got 6 hardy roses completely out of the snow, whereas my tender roses are still under 2 feet of snow. It just may be the end of April before all this snow is gone anyway! ;^) If the mulch that's on your roses is fairly damp though, it could cause mold to form, so I'd keep an eye on that.

Laurie

If your snow disappears or your mulch is damp (as Laurie said) and you remove it, you can always keep some old blankets or burlap handy in case there is a very cold night forecast. I tend to think it is more healthy to wrap loosely in breatheable materials than to leave thick mulch on at this time of year anyway. My rose garden just started reappearing from under its snowbank yesterday - it's far from being thawed ;0)

Thanks! I think I'll remove it tomorrow. I do have some rose cones that I could put over if necessary. I didn't use them this year, because they didn't appear to work. But they might be just the ticket for this time of year.

Carol

I think there's differences of opinion because every one has their own timeline for uncovering things. Whatever works for them.

For me, I usually remove mulch by mid april (or even April 8th or so) as I find if I wait too long the rose starts to sprout leaves under the mulch. Of course it may depend on the weather that individual year. I think hybrid tea roses can take some cold, but if it gets colder than -10 you may want to cover.

Sometimes if the mulch is still frozen you may have to remove it gradually, a bit each day.

As for uncovering burlaped-wrapped plants, I found out the hard way that conifers may come through winter just fine, but they may burn if they are kept covered too long in spring, especially if we have warm sunny temps and the foliage ends are touching the burlap. Once the ground shows sign of partial thawing I remove the cover, which is pretty soon after snow melt. In theory, as long as the ground is partially thawed the conifer won't experience burning as it can take up water.

Glen

This is SO exciting - I really hope that most of my roses will make it!!! I've got to get out there!!

Carol