October Rose Growing
...one of a series, for a complete year!

October Rose Growing is the start of planning for winter dormancy on the Rose Growing Calendar. Time to start thinking about preparing the rose beds for winter and watching out for those nice, plump red (or orange) rose hips. Use all the months of the rose growers calendar and build yourself a working “how-to” for your next years rose garden.

Things To Do For October Rose Growing:

-Keep roses in containers moist but hold off on repeated watering of your roses in the ground, unless the weather is unseasonably warm and dry.

-Spraying with a fungicide can continue, if you like, while the temperature ranges between 10-16° C but should be discontinued in November if there's a frost.

-Keep tidying up the rose beds - weed, pick up fallen petals and remove faded blooms. Leave hips you wish to keep in place for winter interest.(ie: ...don't deadhead!)

-Start thinking of materials (compost, old leaves and mulching stuff) to be used for winter protection if you have some tender roses you think could be vulnerable to winter kill. Also, plan as to where to over-winter any roses in containers.

-Enjoy the last blooms of the season - notice the color change in some of them as the weather cools down.

Over-wintering Containers:

- Roses growing in containers need special winter treatment to prevent their roots from freezing. Pots can freeze hard in just a few hours, dry out and die, so it is important to give them some protection.

If you are lucky enough to own a greenhouse, store your containers there with minimal heat over winter. Other options are to bury the pots up to the rim in the garden or in piles of leaf mulch or to place them in an unheated garage.

An open carport would also work by putting the pot inside a box, plastic bag or other container that you can then surround with house insulation, leaves, straw or crumpled newspaper.

You want the rose to be in a cold enough area to encourage dormancy but also to be protected from the wind and sudden changes in temperature and from freezing.

Prune the roses back, water very occasionally but do not fertilize them.

Time to get ready for winter cold, heavy rain and darker days...now doesn't that sound like fun? ...okay, now go look at all those gorgeous photos you took of your roses!

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