Written by Darla Carlock, Colorado Master Gardener

As autumn kicks off and winter is around the corner, use these guidelines to help get your roses prepared for colder weather and spring success.

Stop fertilizing
In Colorado, it is time to stop encouraging growth and encourage dormancy. Because our winters fluctuate, there could still be growth. It is okay for them to grow on their own; we just don’t want to give anything to encourage that growth.  To have the best blooms and growth in the spring, we want them to sleep for the winter as much as possible until we have consistent increased temperatures and moisture without the risk of freezing.  The first step in this process is to stop fertilizing your beds.

Pruning
Pruning should be kept to a minimum until spring. The exception to this rule is Rambler and climbing types of roses. To protect these long canes from wind breakage, you might need to loosely tie the canes together with twine or fabric strips. You can prune them back, and the best technique for pruning back these vigorous canes is to make your cuts a quarter of an inch above an outward pointing bud. This should be at about a forty-five-degree angle with the lowest part of the cut away from the bud.  This will encourage growth in the correct direction when it starts. You will also want to protect the open cut by covering it with a small amount of white or wood glue for any cane thicker than the diameter of a pencil. It is not recommended to prune back branches more than one-third of their length.

Winter protection
Especially in Colorado, once the temperature drops below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, the roots of all bushes should be protected by mounding several inches of soil around the base of the plant; some recommend as much as 10 to 12 inches. This keeps the ground around the plant uniformly cold and prevents damage that can be caused by cycles of freeze and thaw.  You can also cover your roses loosely in burlap.

Stop deadheading
Rose hips are the fruit and seeds of the plant that form after blooms are spent.  It uses a lot of the plant’s energy to produce hips, and most rose growers want that energy used for blooms and not the production of hips, therefore, they will deadhead their roses in spring and summer. In the fall, this is no longer necessary, and we can allow the hips to grow.

Rose hips
Rose hips can be harvested by simply cutting them off. They are high in antioxidants, vitamins B, C, E, F, carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols. Studies have shown that they have higher antioxidants than other well-known antioxidant rich berries like blueberries and more than ten times the amount of vitamin C than oranges. They are edible but they contain tiny little hairs that irritate the mouth and intestines. Rose hips can be used in several ways: they can be utilized whole in teas, you can cut them open and remove the seeds and hairs to dry them or use the fruit in jams or syrups. Generally, hips are ripe in October in Colorado.

The taste of hips is slightly tart, fruity and floral. Hips are ripe when they are orange to red in color and firm to touch, like the consistency of a ripe avocado.  Mushy, damaged, or wrinkled hips should not be consumed.

The seeds can also be dried, placed in the refrigerator and planted.  Some growers say that it is easier to grow from seed than cuttings.

Winter Watering
Lastly, winter watering is important in Colorado. There are months that even though we get snow, we don’t get enough to maintain the rose bushes.  It is recommended that we water once a month on a warmer day. They need at least an inch of water a month. The snow to water ratio is 10:1. That would mean that we would need to get 10 inches of snow in a month for the rose plant to have enough water.  There are lots of microclimates in Colorado.  Some areas will get more than enough, but the southeastern area of the state might not.

By taking care of our roses well now, we’ll be able to ensure a strong spring kickoff and, hopefully, excellent blooms to follow!