I'm growing a large number of roses but only a couple that would fall into the hybrid tea/grandiflora/floribunda category. The vast majority of them get no winter protection at all. For the ones that do get a little protection timing mostly depends on the weather and somewhat on my own personal schedule. This year I'm WAY behind but the decent weather has been helping me out. I think the standard suggestion is to shoot for mid-late October. The last few years my form of winter protection has been put in place early November. OTOH I'm dealing with hardy to semi-hardy roses which don't require nearly as much work as the tender HTs.

I'm driven by the weather. I want to mulch my roses. Do it too soon with the soil is warm and the plants are not quite dormant, and you get fungus problems. Do it too late, when the mulch freezes, and you have to take sledge hammer to loosen it up. Or, the big snowstorm comes and everything is covered with snow that lasts for months and you can't get at the roses.

I pay attention, but I usually get them covered up by the 2-3 week of November unless a huge weather event is on the way. I uncover in mid--late March.

Helen,

Thank you for including me in your poll. I generally try to mulch at the end of October. I do watch the weather and agree with John, I don't want to mulch and have it too warm that the roses cook or start a whole new flush of growth and I want it to be cold enough that the ground begins to freeze or stay cold.

I use half peat moss and half soil piled as high as I can on any hybrid tea roses, roses newly planted and my Austin roses or other tender roses. I also will add piles of leaves on the more tender roses in addition to the soil/peat moss mix. I am behind this year also, due to the never ending greenhouse project.

In the Spring I then work this peat moss/soil mix into the ground around my roses. I helps keep nice composted soil for my babies.

Helen, most of my roses are Kordes, Bucks, and Canadian roses etc. that are hardy. You can find some really nice repeat shrub roses in all sizes that are hardy, have the look of the hybrid tea rose and repeat bloom all summer. In fact I still have quite a few roses blooming.

I will try find some time to add some photographs of some of my favorite shrub roses when I have a little more time.

This evening I planted quite a few rose cuttings. I hope they all root. ;) It is rather late in the year to be trying this, but hey...I do have to find something fun to do in this new greenhouse....eh?

Tj

I'm like John, I won't mulch until the ground actually starts to cool down. My zone 6 rose will get buried in at Thanksgiving unless it's really really cold before then.

-marie