| I live in the east valley in arizona. My rose bush is in a container, bumming has slowed down, where the flowers have been there are redish leaves. the rose still blooms, but slow. It is about 2 feet tall, do I do any pruning for winter |
| You won't really need to do anything to prepare your rose for winter. If a frost threatens you can drape a blanket or old sheet over the rose bush overnight. Be sure to remove it in the morning before the sun beats down and overheats the plant. You can do some light pruning now to remove spent flowers along with some of the stem. Cut the flowering stem down to a 5-leaflet leaf and a new flowering stem will develop just below the pruning cut. The reddish leaves are new growth and as the growth matures it will lose the reddish cast and turn a deep green color. Since your roses will continue to grow throughout the year, you can prune them back hard in December. New growth will emerge and your rose will begin blooming again in February (growing roses in the desert can be really, really rewarding!). |
