Both the roses you selected should do just fine left on the arbor in your zone. I usually put a 5 gal. pail of wood chips on the crown of 1st year hardy roses but thats all I would do & next year I'd just let them with no mulch. Also remember to keep watering them regularly up until they go dormant. Larry

Thanks! Those are the kind of plants I like. I'm pretty sure that was why I picked them!
Jen

Hi, Jen,
Thought I would give you my experiences with William Baffin in a colder zone than you. The canes are perfectly hardy left with no protection ... I've really not mulched the base either but if your's is young it might be a good idea. Once it is established it is very robust and I try to prune mine to three canes for the summer. I believe that John Cabot is about the same coming from the Explorer series. You might get quite a few suckers from it and I have had good success in digging these out with some root on and passing them to friends.

I grew Cabots for several years in Waukesha County. A little mulch after the ground freezes & prune for dead wood & shape in the Spring. Thats all.

Thanks for this post Jen. I have a similar question so I'll chime in on your thread. Have never succeeded in overwintering a rose, after 4-5 attempts.
My final try this spring was with a shrub rose which was donated. I'm told they are quite hardy so just leave it alone, prune back in spring.
Should I follow that, or mulch after freeze then remove mulch in April or May?

For a new rose I'd mulch it this year. I always baby new roses the 1st winter, no matter how hardy they are said to be. The only pruning I do for the 1st 2 yrs is in Spring and just get rid of the damaged and dead branches. After that for shrubs, I'll prune back if they get too full. Otherwise I just let them grow.
In the colder climates like ours, try getting 'own root' roses. If they do die back to the ground, but the roots survive, you'll get the rose you bought, not the root stock rose from grafted ones.
I'm including a link for Spring Valley Roses in Wisconsin. Great site for beautiful hardy roses and it tells you how to take care of them.

Kat

Here is a link that might be useful: Spring Valley Roses

Thanks Kat, I'll mulch them.

I have also heard great things about Spring Valley Roses ... at least they are in Wisconsin! Most of the rugosas I have are hardy here without mulch or further ado. There is also something known as the Minnesota Tip to protect roses but it sounds like a lot of work to me! One rose that I have grown that is a workhorse is Delicata ... it's a rugosa with wonderful fragrance and hips ... blooms all season.
Linda

Heartsease, I have 3 rugosas myself. I have Blanc Double de Coubert, Hansa and Therese Bugnet. I have 2 of each lining my drive way. BDC and Hansa bloom the most for me. I've had them for 9 yrs. They don't like artificial fertilizer so I put compost and cow manure down every winter. They are fully exposed to all the winter winds, but they come thru fine. Their scent is Heaven! As for that Minn. tip thing...I don't have the time to baby my roses like that. If they don't make it don't make it thru the winter, or they get bs bad, then I'll get another kind that can handle those things. I have a ht St. Patrick that is not the most winter hardy. I'm on my 3rd in 9 yrs, but I just love them. It's also in memory of my mom who was Irish. This last one I got I put in a different bed and it has pulled thru 2 winters just great. I do mound more compost around that one during that winter. My other roses make it fine without any help.

Kat

I love climbing roses and just "had to have" a few - I just got 2 New Dawns, 3 Zepherine Drouhin and 1 Don Juan. I was hoping I could plant two to cover an arbor over my front walk, but read that climbers will not get tall and full in zone 5 due to die-back. So, I've opted for Sweet Autumn Clematis on the arbor and will plant the climbers to grow on my picket fence.

Does anyone have experience with these roses and how tall/full did they get? We're in Madison.

Thanks a bunch,
Laura

Your William Baffin and John Cabot should do fine for you. I live in southwest Wisconsin and we are considered zone 4 (although I think we are more zone 5) I planted both on my garden room fence and do nothing to winterize them except blow leaves around them in late fall. I agree that for the first winter I would mulch around them, but they should be fine. I have yet to have any winter damage on them.
These were planted in summer of 2002. I got them from Spring Valley Roses.
{{gwi:1353286}}
Marylu

Oh, how pretty! Thanks for the picture Mary_lu. I hope my John Cabot looks like that someday. I just got it this year and it has grown very well.

i have just read everything on the spring valley link...thanks so much for posting it katusha...i saw several things i would like to order...love the idea of ordering from a wisc. nursery....even tho i am from ill.....go packers...they won this afternoon...whahooo

thanks, phyl

Can't wait for mine to look like that!
Jen

Hi there,

I just stumbled upon your forum while looking for rose winterizing techniques for my new babys I put in this summer.

1) I live 45 minutes from Spring Valley and DANG! I wish I knew about them sooner - I have got to get me some of those John Cabots. Lots of them. Wow !

2) Those silly styrofoam cones from Menards are going back tomorrow. I like the idea of the chicken wire silos. Lord knows I have plenty leaves to back fill with.

Thanks a bunch! I'll probably be hanging around here a lot and hope to have something valuable to offer at some point.

Deb