Re: winterizing Z5 beds

>
>For the roses, I use rose cones with the tops cut off stuffed with chopped
>leaves, and the individual perennials get a little mound of compost, only
about
>2 inches and 2 more inches of chopped leaves. BUT -  all this goes on
after the
>ground has frozen. (Sometimes I've been out in December in a couple inches of
>snow doing this). I've always thought the idea of winter mulch around here
was
>to keep the ground safely frozen until spring was truly here and to avoid the
>freeze-thaw cycle that breaks roots and heaves plants out of the ground.
>Freezing and thawing can occur even in January when we get a "January thaw".
>Another thing I have done in the past is to spray things like rose canes and
>other woody things with an anti-dessicant - I suspect the cold, drying
winds in
>my yard are responsible for some plant deaths! 
>
>-- 
>Barb P.
>SE Wisconsin, Zone 4
>
It's interesting and surprising to me to see so many people are using rose
cones stuffed with leaves for winter rose protection. Here in SW Idaho,
we're told by extension people that leaves as mulch won't protect roses --
we should use soil as mulch. 12 inches of soil over the crown of the HT
rose. Of course that may have something to do with the fact that we have
mostly brown winters, and on an average of every ten years we have zone 4
temps...But here's Barb P. in zone 4 using leaves and it sound like she's
accustomed to using them. She may have snow cover too, though. When we
lived in Michigan years ago, we had snow cover (same snow, piling deeper)
from Nov. to about March.Snows last about one week here, then they melt
away. Margaret L

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