Rose Planting?

[Broke Down Ranch]

DH surprised me with a couple of mini-roses one day about a month ago. They had been marked down to .99 at the local grocery store and each one had about 3 twigs and 4 leaves each. Very sad-looking indeed. So I immediately transplanted into my mix of potting soil and these little darlings are trying to bloom! If the dang hoppers hadn't-of munched, there would have already been blooms.

ANYWAY, they are nice and healthy now - can I stick them in the ground now or do I have to wait for spring?

 

[Greensage45]

It is not too late to get them to set root for winter. Ironically, I just took 3 mini roses out of the ground so I can watch over them a bit more closely; I moved them up onto the patio for winter.

They are pretty tough little plants... you can never go wrong with a .99 rosebush ! :rose

Ron

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Hum.....so now I need to think on where I want to put them. I just think they might fare better in the ground where the roots won't get as cold as in the pots they are in...

 

[Greensage45]

That can be true to some extent. When the ground freezes the ground freezes; although a general rule is that wet soil has a less likely chance of hard freezing roots than with dry soil. So be sure and water in the winter if there is no precipitation (snow or rain). Roots grow while the plant is in dormancy, yet roses never really fully go dormant.

On a patio they can be closer to the building which can provide a bit more freeze resistance; but once it does freeze it freezes hard!

I am going to work out a coldframe this winter for all my potted stuffs.

Ron

There is a trick I learned where you take large stones (football sized boulders) and set them around the plant... The stones pull in the solar energy during the day (even in winter) and exchange this heat at night; protecting the surrounding roots and bush from freezing late at night.