We didn't have a yoyo winter, it just got cold and stay cold. And cold it was. Our average daytime temp this winter was about 20 degrees, so it was way too cold to try & winter water. I bury my unions about 2-3" below the surface and then pile about 4-12" of mulch on top. That's why I didn't lose as many as I was predicting. I did a final walkthrough-pull out of roses I felt were dead (no leaves) and I lost, honestly less than 10 roses. That's out of over 60 I put in the last year, so I don't think that's too bad. I know of some people who lost their entire yards due to the cold. And, with this ridiculous spring we've had (it snowed 3" on Friday night, and got another inch last night.. they're predicting another snowstorm this upcoming weekend, too), it's been tough on the roses. EVERYTHING'S late.. I'm still seeing crocuses blooming, a lot of tulips are just starting to flower, my forsythia still hasn't blossomed, only my purple plum tree has any leaves, the crabapples haven't blossomed.. bleh. The ornamental pears are blossoming, but they should have been showing in March with high bloomtime around Easter. Even my lilacs are barely thinking about putting out leaves, let alone blooms! Bleh! But I'm overrun with worms, so that's always a good thing. :D
