First real snow of the winter occurred yesterday morning - we have about 2 inches of heavy, wet snow. This will melt in the next few days as daytime temps reach into the mid-40s. Last night it dipped down to about 23 degrees, so the 2-inch snow blanket was quite welcome.

The challenge now is avoiding all the promotions and sales for new roses. Both Heirloom and Northland Rosarium are holding big sales right now. My ordering is complete so I will do my darndest to not order anything more!

Only thing on my plate for winter is to figure out what supplies I need for 2024 - fertilizers and such. I have not decided yet what products I'll use in 2024.

I am looking for the following roses:


William Morris


Alan Titchmarsh

Jayne Austin

William Morris

Alan Titichmarsh

Jayne Austin

Message sent to Dezdura in Clovis, NM:

Hi! Thank you for your comment on Ketchup and Mustard. If you can get ahold of this rose, I think you would LOVE it here in NM. Another one I would recommend is Polynesian Punch, an incredible rainbow colored floribunda. I have a ton of pics of it here on HMF. K&M and PP are my two top performers here in this challenging climate, and I would not be without them in my rose garden! They are sometimes available at local nurseries in the spring here in Albuquerque, however they quickly sell out and are expensive (5 gallon size for $50 or so). Another way to get these two varieties in a smaller size is through mail order from High Country Roses in CO. (just google the name) They sell band-sized (quart) roses for $21.95 that are small to begin with, but take off quickly, I've ordered many varieties over the years that have done super well. You can either plant that size directly in the ground (remember to do a LARGE hole with amended soil, even if the root ball is small, because the rose roots WILL fill out that hole over time). Or you can up-pot it to a container and grow it out a season, prior to planting in the fall, or the following season. Either way, you cannot go wrong with these two varieties!! If you opt for High Country Roses, you can get a 20% discount for signing up, and they also give a 15% discount to ARS members (American Rose Society) with the code ARS. If you order more than one rose at a time, shipping is less expensive per plant. K&M is currently out of stock at High Country Roses, however if you create an account, you can request an email notification for when it comes back into stock. You can also create a wishlist (I've got one that is always changing, LOL). Well, all for now... Again, I can't say enough good things about these two roses, I've been growing roses for over 20 years and these two are my absolute top performers. A last word is that I DO feed my roses regularly during the season, water soluble fertilizer every 3-4 weeks, plus compost in the spring, stick to a regular watering schedule, and mulch well. I also do a hard prune in the spring, and keep up with the deadheading. Deadheading is the signal for a rose to keep blooming! The roses can defend against this climate with this regimen, and be the best they can be. Please stay in touch, and let me know if you ever add those two to your rose garden... All Best, Claire G. aka ParisRoseLady