The holidays are over and winter finally arrived this season. Are you missing your roses about now? Looking ahead to the coming growing season, are you hoping the same thing I am hoping? That your roses make it through these harsh wind chills accompanied by windy dry days.

If you were wise to give their roots water before these below freezing temperatures arrived, your roses are off to a good start. If you mulched with leaves or wood mulch, that too would mitigate the amount of damage to the root system. It all starts at the roots.

Healthy roots start with the proper nutrients from the soil. Recently, I spoke with a Rosarian from the American Rose Society who no longer uses chemical fertilizers. The chemical fertilizers can cause plants to overdose on nutrients. The excess is released in the soil becoming a “pollution runoff.” The excess amount in the soil can reach toxic levels for the roses. This is much like continually putting a manure in the vegetable garden. The salts in the manure have a disastrous effect of creating a barrier for water and nutrient uptake from the soil. Too much of a good thing.

Natural organic substitutes recommended are alfalfa pellets, fish meal and bone meal mixed. All are good for the roses and beneficial for the soil. Alfalfa pellets act as a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer with some micronutrients. Fish meal helps the roots absorb nitrogen in the soil and contain both macro and micronutrients beneficial to roses. Bone meal adds phosphorus to the soil. However, there is plenty of phosphorus in the soil and bone meal should not be added until you do a soil test. Phosphorus moves very slowly in the soil and it is not readily absorbed by the plant roots. It takes a long time for the plants to utilize it. Too much organic fertilizer can also add an oversaturation of nutrients in the soil and become “pollution runoff.” A little bit goes a long way.

Here is the difference between the chemical versus organic fertilizers for roses. The organic has low concentrations of nutrients to be released in the soil. Plus, they work as a slow-release and without the assistance of bacteria and fungi in the soil, the plants cannot absorb the nutrients. According to Oregon State University Extension, organic fertilizers don’t create a crust on the surface of the soil like chemical fertilizers do. The organic fertilizers improve water movement in the soil and feed soil microbes. In turn this makes the soil easier to work. Oregon State University Extension goes on to say that chemical fertilizers are concentrated, very soluble and it is easy to apply too much. Too much can damage your roses. Check into the organic fertilizers such as Mills Magic which comes with the recommended application.

If you happen to lose a rose during this winter season, here is a link for you to Colorado State University’s Fact Sheet on Selecting and Planting Roses: https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/selecting-and-planting-roses-7-404/. This link gives you choices of Hybrid Teas, Floribunda, Grandiflora, Miniatures, Climbing Miniatures, Climbers, Shrub roses, David Austin, Canadian Hardy, Hybrid Rugosa and Buck roses.

Pay attention to Buck roses. These were hybridized by a breeder Dr. Griffith Buck. He wanted people to enjoy roses without having a hard time keeping them alive. Hence, Buck roses were born. These roses are particularly hardy in severe climates such as Colorado.

Lastly, remember to give your roses water if we have no snow cover each month during winter. Don’t prune your roses before Mother’s Day. Typically, we have snow on or around Mother’s Day. Pruning encourages growth. Prune too early and you lost a lot of good healthy growth. Be patient and they will be blooming in no time.