Rose Calendar
What to do in the rose garden each month and season — pruning windows, winter protection timing, dormancy and chill hours, and zone-by-zone care schedules. New monthly calendars are added as the seasons turn.
Winter Rose Protection for Zones 6 & 7
Most hardy shrub roses in zones 6 and 7 need nothing more than a late-fall mound of mulch over the crown — 10 to 12 inches of compost, shredded leaves, or bark applied after the ground has begun to freeze. Grafted hybrid teas, floribundas, first-year plants, and marginally hardy varieties benefit from a bit more: fall cleanup, canes tied against wind, and for containers and tree roses, actual shelter. Everything else — rose cones, burlap, burying — is optional for the roses on our zone 6 and zone 7 lists.
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Zone 9 & 10 Rose Care Calendar
In zones 9 and 10 the rose year is organized around the late-winter reset: hard prune and clean-up in January–February, a feeding program that starts with the first growth flush, deliberate heat management through July and August, and — the reward of warm-climate growing — a second spring in fall, when the best blooms of the year open in October and November. The calendar below walks the full year.
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Do Roses Need Chill Hours to Bloom?
Most roses do not need winter chill to bloom. Modern repeat-blooming roses — hybrid teas, floribundas, shrub roses, and nearly every rose sold at a garden center — flower on new growth, so mild winters simply mean more growth and more flowers. The exceptions are once-blooming old garden roses, ramblers, and some species roses, which need a seasonal rest to set their single big spring show and grow disappointingly in frost-free climates.
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