Regional Growing Guide: Northern & Central Midwest

Harsh winters and humid summers are the greatest challenges to growing roses in our nation's midsection. Preventive measures in the northern states are extreme. In fall, the "Minnesota tip" involves loosening the roots, digging a trench, then tipping over the rose and burying it beneath leaves, branches and straw. In southern states, gardeners who can't rely on snow to insulate their roses wrap them in rings of newspaper filled with mulch. Planting cold-hardy roses helps ensure success, as does selecting new hybrid teas, floribundas and shrub roses that bear thick, waxy leaves and have been bred to resist disease.