Winter is a good time to plan your rose garden.
Perhaps your garden isn’t properly zoned, and you have roses, heavy water users, growing next to drought-resistant plants. Winter is a good time for moving roses to a better spot. Prepare new beds now; dig up the roses and move them while they are dormant (if you still have some late blooms, wait). During dormancy is also the best time to prune.
Despite the demands of holiday activities, some gardeners also find time this month to prepare the beds for new planting. To do so, spade the ground deeply and put in plenty of a good soil amendment. Don’t be dismayed if you have clay soil. Roses thrive in it, but be sure to test the drainage, and if it’s severely impaired, install drains or build raised beds for your roses.
Study your rose collection with the idea of weeding out poor performers. Why struggle along with a plant that’s worn out or simply not right for our climate zone? In the interest of water conservation, it’s far better to grow a handful of choice roses than a great many mediocre ones. There are new roses as out that are not only wonderful performers, but are disease tolerant as well!
If you are going to plant roses later, plan your color scheme now, and decisions will be easier then. All too often roses are planted with a shotgun approach; no thought is given to color compatibility. Many of the best-looking rose gardens are designed like a rainbow, with a progression of colors flowing from one side to the other. Make sure that clashing colors are widely separated.
You might also consider planting one bed solidly with a single variety. You seldom see this done in a home garden, but in the right spot the effect is stunning.