This hurricane season is fairly active, so I’ve decided to change this week’s rose gardening topic to preventing tropical weather damage. For the last seven years I’ve only resided in areas where hurricanes are common. Deciding how to best protect your plants when you have a topical storm or major hurricane heading for you can be confusing, below is what has worked for me.

Generally once you’re positive a tropical storm or hurricane is heading for you there are hours or a few days at best to get ready. Protecting your family and property comes first, so typically your roses are on the bottom of the storm preparation list. If you have time to do anything with your roses you’ll need to take the size of your rose plants into consideration as well as their location in the garden.

If you have any roses or other plants in pots they can and obviously should be placed into a garage, sunroom or other area of your house with a water proof floor. I would avoid placing outdoor flower pots on indoor carpet or hardwood flooring. Finding the room to store potted plants indoors is usually the only issue you’ll have with container plants during severe weather.

Roses planted out in the garden can be more difficult. If you’re expecting a weaker storm such as a tropical storm or a very low category one hurricane cutting off all the blooms can be enough to prevent most damage. When left on the bush the rose’s blooms become weighted down and droopy with rain. Water logged and bent limbs receive a severe beating from strong winds. Simply cutting all the flowers off will prevent a lot of movement and cane damage. You can leave small flower buds, but remove anything flowering now or that will be during the storm. This approach also works wonders with large blooming plants such as crepe myrtles or hydrangeas.

If you’re going to be hit with a strong category one, two or three hurricane attach your rose to a nearby sturdy structure if possible. This would usually be a house or fence. You’ll want to use rope that is stronger than basic garden twine. Ensure the entire rose is attached, even if more than one rope is needed. Only securing the back half of a large rose can mean the front half is ripped off while the back portion is still in place. You should place clear soft plastic tubing over the rope where it has contact with your rose. This will prevent damage from the rope rubbing on your plant.

It’s likely you won’t be able to attach all of your roses to a structure. In this case it’s best to trim back your roses, just pretend you’re doing a drastic early fall or winter cleanup. Use your pruners to trim the bushes to a height of about three feet. This can make a huge difference in the rose’s ability to not be pulled from the ground by the storm.

If the forecast is showing a category four or five hurricane heading your way, I’m at a bit of a loss. I would follow the steps listed above for a category two or three storm. If you’re going with the trimming back method, perhaps consider cutting your roses back to two feet. The chance of your roses surviving will be greatly reduced due to the increased winds and storm surge, but if you have the time it can’t hurt to give it a shot.

With all of these methods your roses still won’t be looking great after the storm, but they will have a higher rate of survival than if simply left as is. I’ve found you should never underestimate the feeling of control you get from doing something to help your plants. None of these methods should kill your roses and all should give them a better shot to be looking great in the spring once they’re actual hurricane survivors. My best wishes to everyone in hurricane zones this season.