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When I bought this house this summer, there were some roses in the yard. They bloomed and looked great. I don't know what kind of roses these are but I think they might need some winter pruning and protection. So what should I do to keep them from dying over the winter?

A rose is a rose, but not when it comes down to winters in Michigan. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to divide the rose herd into four groups. The first is climbers. They have long canes and could probably be more correctly called "leaners." They end up interwoven into trellises, fences or lattices. They don't have any little parts that grip the thing that they are climbing. Many are extremely durable and don't need any protection. It's best not to prune any roses in the late fall because you don't want to keep the plant from going into dormancy. Wait until green growth begins in the spring and then remove dead canes or shorten long ones, if necessary. Another group are called shrub roses. Most have more than one cane growing out of the ground. Many are very disease resistant and winter hardy. They usually handle winter in Michigan without a problem. If you worry about them and want to do something, wait until the ground freezes. Cover them lightly with evergreen boughs to offer some protection. Remove the boughs in March or April before things warm up too much. The little dinky guys are the carpet roses and miniature roses. Carpet roses are very tough and miniature roses aren't far behind. The evergreen stuff will work for the miniature roses, if protection is desired. The one group that usually benefits from winter protection are the hybrid tea roses. These have one cane coming out of the ground. A couple inches above the ground, there is a bump that sort of looks like a knee or an elbow. That's the graft. The plant branches into multiple canes above the graft. This is a little Frankenstein Junior. It is made up from one root system and another top; but your Frank won't terrorize the village. The weakest part of this rose is the graft union. It will benefit from winter protection. Dig up some soil and put it in a place where it won't freeze. After the ground has frozen, take this soil and heap it over the graft union. Pack straw or leaves over the soil. In March, as soon as the soil is thawed enough to remove, et it off the graft. If it remains, the top might root into this soil and you don't want the associated problems. You could also just heap straw or leaves around hte plant for the same period of time. Be very careful with the Styrofoam rose cones. They trap heat and moisture and can cause more problems than they prevent. Even if you poke holes in the cone, it can still pick up and retain way too much heat on sunny winter days. If you use cones and love them and have good luck, go ahead and use them. But just as many people swear by rose cones and swear at them.

Why do I find bugs on the south and west sides of my house on sunny days? I think they are up to no good but when I spray them, they rarely die. How do I get rid of them?

The magic two words that you're waiting to hear are "shop vac." This is a grand and powerful insect eliminator. They come in various sizes and prices and can be used for dozens of other jobs. This includes dust bunnies and house spiders. Your hangers-on are insects that that overwinter as adults and want house protection. This mob includes the likes of ladybugs, 
boxelder bugs, pineseed bugs, elmleaf beetles and cluster flies. There isn't any insect sitting on the side of your house now that isn't suck-worthy. Vacuum them up and dump the contents of the canister into a bucket of soapy water and let them marinate for a day or so. It's so much 
safer and more effective than pesticides.

Gretchen Voyle, MSU Extension-Livingston County Horticulture
Agent 517/546-3950

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