What do you do? You schlep. In and out. Out and in. Hopefully you have a nice garden cart or a little red wagon that can help.

It probably wasn't the light that was the issue, but the temperatures. In order to keep the roses dormant until later, the storage temperatures really have to be kept around freezing. That isn't a trivial matter if the roses are kept in a garage that isn't temperature controlled. So you go into this with the understanding that there will be a few weeks this time of year when the roses have broken dormancy, and need light, but it is too cold for them to stay out permanently. So you watch the forecasts, and if it gets too cold, they get carted around.

Freezing itself has little to do with problems for hardy plants. We almost always get frost after the hardy plants have started growing, and it isn't an issue. Temperatures of concern start around -3C, and even that isn't necessarily a problem for plants that are acclimated to the outside since they've been out there all winter. Now if you have a lot of soft growth, it's toast no matter what you do. The trick is to start the hauling earlier.

Thank you for the detailed response. That makes sense! I will put them on carts or dollys and move them in and out as the weather permits. Im hoping the weather calms down after this week and they can stay out longer

Mad: to where should Marble have started hauling the roses earlier?

Marble,

Good advice from Mad Gallica. I've personally benefited greatly from the advice given in the past. All I can advise further is when the spring frosts have pretty much passed, evaluate the situation,then prune heavily, even to below the weak growth made so far. You may have to prune back to the point of calling into action even dormant buds lower down on last year's growth, growth that under better circumstances would not have been called up. However, it's better to get thick, vigirous, new growth than try to baby weak, the possibly sorry growth made thus far.

In the future you have to find a wintering over spot that keeps your roses as fully dormant over winter as is possible to minimize premature growth breaking. Not easily accomplished. Otherwise, the 'Rose Shuffle,' will be a yearly unpleasant drudge for you.

Moses

"to where should Marble have started hauling the roses earlier?"

Outdoors. Sun.

Nights in the garage, days outdoors in the light.

i used to use the kids wagon to pull things in and out of the garage ... just left the plant on it ...

you have to pot the tree.. asap ... preferably in media for trees.... high sharp drainage ...

in my cold z5 MI ... i came to the conclusion that my attached garage was at least a z7 ... and the pole barn at lest z6 ... its the lack of wind affecting the pots and plants .. as well as retained heat on those sunny days ...

and that is why your plants budded out so early.. FOR YOUR ZONE 5...

if you can open a window and leave it open .... that might keep the garage a bit cooler ...

its about this time of year.. i used to move some stuff to the north side of the house.. right up against it.... frost rarely hits right next to the house ... and being outside kept the plants more in tune with z5 weather ... [no direct sun either]

the key here is.. get your plants dormant.. and keep them dormant.. as late as you can.. to avoid frost/freeze issues ... your garage didnt do that ...

ken

ps: if you had the option .. you may have been better off planting the roses in the ground for winter.. even if you repotted them in spring ... what we would call... healing them in ....

Thanks cearbhaill. I don’t know about these container considerations, aside from the odd house plant I move outside in late May.

Had Marble started hauling the containers out and back in earlier, would this have prevented development of soft growth which would be toast at Marble’s place this spring?

If ”yes”: what is it about the new growth arising from daytrips outdoors that protects it from the fate apparently consigned to Marble’s current new growth. Less ”soft” because it’s less leggy? Something else?

@Marble _

Hauling them out during thexsunlight & warm and back to the garage when it us freezing temps-usually at night.

However, if you have a sunny window in the house you can setvthem by that wibdow all the time until tready to plant. i have a large bay window w/morn or afternoon sun depend depending wich side I pit them on. My roses & other plants grow well there until I move them outside.