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24 FEB
Public
Today is Saturday. Two days ago on Thursday it was 60 degrees. Yesterday it got up to 49 and I finished the rough pruning. About 6 PM yesterday the temps had dropped to the mid/low 30s and it started to snow - really hard at times. All in all maybe an inch fell, which the sun is melting right now even though the temp is only 30. Tomorrow the high temp is forecasted to be 59, and then 63 and 73 for Monday and Tuesday. Vivid evidence of crazy Chicagoland weather I suppose.

I am glad to have the moisture - we have not had any precipitation at all in the past 2 or 3 weeks. I even contemplated getting the hose out yesterday to do some watering but then resisted the urge. Given the long-range weather forecast I believe it IS going to be an early Spring.
23 FEB
Public
Update - the rough pruning has been completed for all bushes.

I will add the rose Papa Meilland for consideration to the most winter tender list.
22 FEB
Public
It was over 60 degrees yesterday so the rough pruning continued. Still a lot to do but there's 98 down with 112 still to go. There is so much green cane - Savoy Hotel for example is green right to the tips with the very top buds pushing out. That's great, but it worries me that growth will be starting soon but then be reversed by the inevitable cold spell(s) coming sometime in March or early April. I think we are going to have an early Spring this year but that is both good and bad from a rose-growing perspective. Time will tell I guess.

Supposed to hit 60 degrees today - so may as well tackle the remaining 112 and enjoy the warm weather!

8 hours later update: I was able to rough-prune another 73 bushes which means there's only about 39 bushes to complete. Every year I am reminded how much easier it is to deal with hybrid teas and floribundas than it is with modern shrub roses. It's so difficult to work with modern shrub roses when it comes to pruning - and to add to it the difficulty chopping those shrub clippings to go into the yard waste bags. Glad I only have about 10 modern shrub roses!

One benefit of all this is I get to assess all the bushes and see how they have come through winter. I honestly can't remember all the big basal canes from last year that I am pruning now. Once again it amazes me that huge basal canes can and do die back more than canes that have pencil thickness or even less. It's one of rose growing's mysteries to me.

One thing I can comment on are which roses have died back the most - closest to the mulch line. Presumably, these would be my most winter tender varieties. The winner (loser?) in this regard is none other than Firefighter. Honorable mention goes to Bliss Parfuma (own root planted mid-April 2023). I know Firefighter is tender - one bush really struggled to recover from that first winter of 2021/2022 and it took two years to do well again. I'll give Bliss a break - it performed OK in its first year, but it should improve this year and be stronger heading into next winter. It's own root so it will always come back I guess.

But all in all, many bushes have little dieback, and a few have no dieback at all - take a bow Savoy Hotel and Apricot Candy. All of my 10 Ring of Fire bushes look great.
20 FEB
Public
Another 50 bushes rough-pruned today. It's amazing how much green cane there is. For example, I noticed a budding out growth on Mister Lincoln that was a good 20-24" above the ground. Fingers crossed all that green cane sticks around until mid-April. If it holds, this will be the least amount of winterkill I have ever had.
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