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130 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
When and how shall I cover my roses? are the questions 
most frequently received by mail and telephone. We would 
be fortunate if we could definitely state the date to protect 
the roses. Some seasons all our coldest weather comes be- 
fore Christmas, and other years the lawns are green until 
after the New Year and then the cold snaps come. It is 
evident that adequate protection for the coldest weather, in 
the early part of the winter, is sometimes too heavy during 
mild, wet spells coming later. During such periods the plants 
may start prematurely and damage results from the stems 
rotting. In normal years the roses should have some pro- 
tection by Thanksgiving time. The best plan to follow is 
in the fall to mound some soil around the base of the plants 
and later, when colder weather approaches, to add some 
other protecting material. Those having only a few plants 
may apply this heavier covering when the colder weather is 
predicted, but those with many plants must protect them 
earlier, before a change to colder weather takes them un- 
awares. In normal years roses do not suffer much from tem- 
perature changes until after the New Year. From January 
to April is the critical time for roses. 
Before mentioning the various materials that may be used 
for protecting roses, it might be well to again emphasize the 
fact that the word ‘‘protection’’ does not mean that all frost 
is excluded but simply that too rapid change from one ex- 
treme in temperature to another is prevented and the plant 
shielded from the wind and the sun. The impression is firmly 
fixed in the minds of many that in protecting roses all cold 
must be excluded, with the result that the roses are smoth- 
ered with too much covering. 
Plate 38 illustrates methods of protecting roses. The hybrid 
teas have bundles of ornamental grass leaves tied around 
them and then the soil drawn around the base to steady the 
““straw men’’ and further protect the base of the plants. In 
some cases stakes are necessary to prevent the bundles of 
straw from blowing over. Another bed of dwarf roses has 
been entirely covered with coarse material, which may be 
the stems of goldenrod, hardy asters, or any material of like 
nature. Such ‘‘roughage’’ forms a_ protecting cover that 
