How many of you in more southern climes have had your roses going nuts
in mid-January? Most of my roses have been bustin' out since the
second week in January.

I was concerned and was sure that the new growth would be killed
pretty quickly, but it seems like the new growth had time to harden up
a little, because it's been in the high 20s several times and the red
growth has survived nicely. We had a week or two of very mild weather
with no frosts at night.

I was specifically worried about last night because we had rain
earlier in the day, but fortunately, it dried up before sunset. My
biggest worry is ice at this point because they seem to be acclimated
to temperature. However, this week will be a big test because we're
going to be under freezing for a few days in a row.

How are the rest of you zone 6ers and 7ers dealing with this very mild
winter? Personally, I think I'm going to have to recalibrate my
"dormancy watch" because I think that a lot of this early growth MIGHT
have a chance to survice. Usually I don't do anything major until
around April 10th, which is the last official frost date (although we
haven't had a serious frost in April since I've been growing roses). I
might just push the envelope this year and start fertilizing early
(not yet of course). Any thoughts about this?