Rose Care in the Fall at Hidden Bluff

It is time to put the roses to bed.

Anna Marie Tang

Rose Care in the Fall at Hidden Bluff. November 13, 2023.

It is time to tuck the little darlings in bed. I have been putting it off because some are still providing a bloom or two (or trying to) and I wish to see every bud bloom. However, the buds are now failing to open and are small when they do. Some are getting mushy. For their sake some steps must be taken to ensure the beloved roses come back full, healthy, and happy next year. As the winter winds are starting to move in as well there is a sense of urgency. Now it is time to prepare. Time to put them to sleep. Time to say the long goodnight. Although it has been a good year it is time to put the roses to bed.

This is my first significant year of fall rose care with the many roses added this year. I am still learning much; however, enough reading has taught me the basics of how to prepare the lovelies for their winter nap. Here I have noted the basic chore items for roses in Autumn. Keep in mind your garden zone. We are in a mild zone (8b) in which roses thrive. The garden zone you are in will determine your chore list, and in some zones with colder winters the roses will need to be bundled up more.

Rose Care in the Fall

• Do not prune! Pruning now will upset the internal clock of your rose with not-so-great results. Resist any temptation to get out the pruning shears.
• Clip any diseased petals. Usually, these will be petals with spots. This is to help prevent disease from setting in and ruining your rose bush. Don’t pull them off; clip them off. Because I am new to identifying diseased rose leaves, I may have been a little overenthusiastic on this. Any spot I saw made me nervous- lol!

• Clip mushy, decaying roses. These are not good for your rose. Put them out of their misery.

• Clip any wild, wiry, long branches that might whip around in the wind. I had a couple of these on my climbers.
• Clean under the bush. I used a hand rake and cleaned up leaf debris, etc. from under the roses bushes. Doing this will keep decaying matter from passing disease on to your bush.

• Put mulch around the base of your rose. This will help insulate your rose. Most advice I read said to put 2-4 inches around the base of your rose to help protect and insulate. I used a mint mulch to help keep bugs away. Pine needles are popular as well.

• Finally, secure climbing roses by tying them to some sort of support. My climbers grew far beyond my expectations this year, and I already need to look at long term support for them. In the meantime, I have secured them for the season. For example, the pictured Generous Gardener that sits just outside our bedroom window has been furiously scraping against our window recently. This is due to the ferocious gorge winds. Consequently, I tied them to the fence for now until permanent support goes up.

Have a beautiful day!