Winter protection---rose cone or not?

last year

I have a few young roses that I planted this year and I'd like to protect them this winter. Have you used a rose cone or do you just put a lot of mulch around your flowers? I get a bit of wind so I my mulch will erode at some point, which is why I was looking at a rose cone. Thanks for any advice!

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Nippstress Nebraska z5

last year

My vote is "not". The cones are typically made of styrofoam and they don't allow the rose to breathe over the winter. Moisture and other products get trapped and various fungal diseases are more likely to kill the rose than the cold, particularly in humid climates. The cones also can require cutting back perfectly healthy canes to make the cones fit and that decreases the amount of cane that can survive the winter, which a rose tends to need to rebound.

My rule of thumb is to use natural products for winter protection if you do it. I put filled leaf bags around susceptible roses to create a wind break and a "down coat" effect without closing them in. You could do something similar with filled bags of mulch if you're concerned about it blowing away. Many people make rose collars out of cardboard or leaf bags or burlap or other natural materials to hold the mulch in which also reduces erosion.

As important in choosing what (and if) to use for winter protection is choosing when to put it down and take it off. Putting it on too early will encourage critters to overwinter in the mulch and eat your rose for a winter snack. Taking it off too late in spring can encourage fungal diseases. If the rose is already sprouting new growth there is little you can do to stop it, even if you get a late freeze. You can put a temporary cover like a sheet over a rose if you get late freeze warnings.

Just my two cents - there are a lot of opinions about winter protection. The best strategy is not to plan roses that need winter protection, though I can't restrict myself to only those roses. In zone 6b most of your roses won't really need much protection - even the HTs - particularly given global warming trends. You can kill a rose with kindness as much as with neglect.

Cynthia

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Comments (6)

Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
last year
last modified: last year
The varieties of roses you chose matter a lot in whether or not they would even need protection, and no I wouldn't advise the rose cone and I agree with Cynthia above that the best advice is to choose plants that can get by in the garden without winter protection. If they're grafted roses you should bury the graft several inches below ground.
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mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
last year
No, no, no, NO. The only purpose of rose cones is if you are into growing truly interesting colors of fungi.

Without knowing where you are, it is hard to be more specific, but winter protecting in 6b sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me, no matter where you are. Rose cones are out. Other forms of winter protection are probably out also, though they probably aren't deadly in high desert.
intwilight z6a KS
last year
I had been reading about cones because of a post on another forum. I'd decided it was not what I needed to do but I'm glad to have backup information, so thanks for asking and the others for replies.

My hybrid teas all had the bud union at soil level. I'm working on getting them deeper (adding new soil to the beds) and will add a thick layer of mulch for the winter.

Hope yours all come through well!
rosaprimula
last year
Ah, I have no clue about US gardening but I would definitely feel rose cones are not the way to go. Obviously, the sensible thing to do is to avoid growing plants which cannot cope with the local conditions...but we are not sensible, are we? We are gardeners...with mad crazy dreams (although I am giving myself a lot more stern talkings to on this subject).
Aaron Rosarian Zone 5b
last year
I did the cone thing my first year, I just do shovelfuls of soil to mound over the base of the rose nowadays. It's what Peter Schneider recommends in Right Rose, Right Place and that's for zone 5 winters. Honestly I figure the zone 6 and 7 roses that are going to be extremely tender just won't make it at some point and it's fighting nature to attempt otherwise. My Francis Meillands only just make it and they're 3 year own roots that I have to cut almost to the ground.