Funny how forsythias look even brighter on a foggy day. Mine is just glorious today.
The rain gauge blew over in the wind, so I'm not sure how much rain we got last night. Enough to make mud, not enough to soak the deep roots. Snow would be nice, would buy me some more time! I have indoor projects to finish before I can go outdoors!
After pulling back mulch on roses I thought were dead, I'm going to revise my assessments. Many of the roses I planted last fall have 2" of live cane, so they go into the mostly dead category. Some really are dead, and look dried out instead of frozen. I learned a lesson on Palatine plants. It's better to plant them in pots in the fall, and keep them in the garage over winter instead of planting outdoors in November. Spring shipments didn't work because some don't break dormancy, or some years, we get hot temps and wind and that kills them. If I had a sprinkler system, I could mist bare root roses several times a day, and would have much more success in spring. The potted roses look much better than even the established roses. I say potted, but I was lazy and put 4 roses together in a rubbermaid tub with good potting soil, and they seemed to like that.
