I concur with Charles.

Rugosas & explorers need no protection.

Protection can also trigger premature growth
which can actually cause more damage.

--
Theo

in KC Z5

"Charles Perry" wrote in message
...


mmarteen wrote:

in that zone of Spring-Winter where it can fluctuate between 15
and 50 degrees. Is it better to uncover them a bit so that they don't
get some kind of fungus and risk having them get nipped by a late
frost?


I am also in 4a, in Rochester a little colder than Minneapolis
for some reason that is a mystery to me, My general rule of
thumb is to begin to uncover about the first of April and rake
back the mulch about the 15th of April. Of course you have to be
guided by the weather as well as the calendar. A string of near
70F days in late March would cause me to uncover early and an
early April cold snap would delay the process.

When I say uncover, I mean I loosen the wood chip mulch around
the hardier roses such as the Explorers and Bucks that just get a
little extra mulch in the fall and take off the tarps and begin
to remove the leaves over the tender roses. I keep some bags of
leaves around in case of a late cold spell. About the 15th, I
rake back the wood chips around the hardy roses to expose the
ground so the soil can warm and the dirt is exposed for the first
fertilizer a little later. At this time I remove the collars
from the tender roses but leave the dirt mounded for a little
longer until they begin to bud.

I would not worry too much about the Explorers and rugoses, they
are pretty hardy here.
I looked just yesterday and even Topaz Jewel was green a some
distance above her mound of wood chips. You can err on the early
side with the hardy roses and save the frettin and fussin for the
tender types.

I have come to think that for the hardy and semi hardy roses too
much winter protection is worse than none. I have been
experimenting with Nearly Wild because I have many of that
semi-hardy variety. Last year the ones that were covered kept
more live cane than the unprotected bushes but leafed out earlier
and were set back by a late killing freeze. The unprotected
bushes lost more to winter kill, but did not leaf out as soon and
did not lose anything to the late freeze. By the time they
flowered, the bushes were about identical in size and the un
protected ones had a healthier look about them. For the Hybrid
Teas, the more cane you can save, the better they respond.

Regards,

Charles


--
Charles Perry
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