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Home Ask MG How-to: Overwinter container roses

PLEASE NOTE: In the autumn of 1995, we hatched the idea for a free, local gardening publication. The following spring, we published the first issue of Michigan Gardener magazine. Advertisers, readers, and distribution sites embraced our vision. Thus began an exciting journey of helping our local gardening community grow and prosper.
After 27 years, nearly 200 issues published, and millions of copies printed, we have decided it is time to end the publication of our Print Magazine and 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.

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