Michigan Gardener

SIGN UP for our Free E-Newsletter!
We will send you occasional e-mails with valuable gardening tips and information!

Digital Editions

Click on the cover to read now!
Sponsored by:

  • Home
  • Departments
    • Ask MG
    • Books
    • Clippings
    • Garden Snapshots
    • MG in the News
    • Janet’s Journal
    • Plant Focus
    • Profile
    • Raising Roses
    • Thyme for Herbs
    • Tools
    • Tree Tips
  • Garden Event Calendar
    • Garden Event Calendar
    • Submit a Calendar Listing
  • Resources
    • Alternatives to Impatiens
    • Garden Help
    • Soil and Mulch Calculator
    • Public Gardens
  • Web Extras
  • About
    • Publishing Schedule – 2023
    • Editorial Content
    • Bulk Subscriptions – 2023
    • Where to pick up Michigan Gardener
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Advertising
    • Print / Web / E-Newsletter Advertising
    • Classified Advertising
    • Material Specs & Terms
    • Make a Payment
Home Ask MG How-to: Overwinter container roses

Please note that Michigan Gardener has a new schedule in 2023. We will publish one Print Magazine in the spring. This Spring issue will be in stores in early May 2023. We will also publish 10 E-Newsletters from spring through fall. Click to sign up for our free E-Newsletter.

How-to: Overwinter container roses

September 26, 2010   •   

I put my roses in containers this year and they have done very well. Should I leave them out all winter or should they be put in the garage?

Roses in containers can offer the gardener a few advantages over their garden-planted counterparts. When spring is slow to come, a container rose can be moved out from winter protection on warm spring days and returned during evening frosts. Soil in containers will warm up quicker, yielding an earlier bloom and extending the flowering season. A rose can definitely be grown successfully in a container here in Michigan when just a few easy steps are taken:

  1. Place your well-drained container in a sunny location.
  2. Monitor daily during the growing season and keep evenly moist.
  3. Place the rose on a bimonthly fertilizer program during the growing season.
  4. Allow the plant to go dormant before bringing in for winter (requires exposing the rose to heavy frosts and total leaf drop).
  5. Prune only if necessary.
  6. Move the rose into an unheated garage or shed.
  7. Do not allow the container to become dried out.
  8. When brought out in spring, re-acclimate slowly and beware of night frosts.

Filed Under: Ask MG

Previous Post: Finally, a use for those overgrown zucchini...
Next Post: Can I grow sweeter ‘Black Satin’ thornless blackberries?
Copyright © 1996-2023 Michigan Gardener. All rights reserved.