Thanks for posting this great info. I am so lazy, it always astonishes me the lengths people will go to to have roses in very cold (or very hot like in a desert) areas.

Jackie

Thanks for the information! I planted some of those last year (my first year rose gardening) and am excited to see what comes back after their first winter in the ground.

Andrea

Very well done! I'm a zone warmer so some of those in categories 3 & 4 do better for me without protection. But that's a very useful list, thanks!

Wow, Nippstress! This is such thoughtful and amazingly useful information!

I have been reading through your lists for the past couple of days trying to process and absorb this new info. My head still spins when I think of your success with Barcelona/Francis Dubreuil, for example! I have now spent many happy hours on HMF looking up roses that are unfamiliar to me.

I have decided to add Folklore and Barcelona to my garden based on your experience of winter hardiness. Even if they do not turn out to be quite as successful for me, I will sure be having fun experimenting! :-)

Can you tell me more about Tantau's Black Lady? Not many people seem to grow it, and it appears to be a fragrant dark red HT that many people overlook.

Thank you again for taking the time to compile and post the amazing info in all three of your hardiness posts.

Ispahan

Hi folks

Glad you find this list useful! I realize it's a bit of overkill of information when you might only be looking for suggestions for a few roses, but like Seil I enjoy comparing notes with others to see what survives (and decide if it's worth trying a rose that died one more time). And Jacqueline, the point for me in a list like this is to see what to grow to be as lazy as possible, since anything in my yard has to be hardy enough to thrive without spray or fussing. Enjoy the first rose season, Nummykitchen, and don't blame yourself if roses do die - I fear the HTs that have died in my yard may be as long as the ones that survived, but you never know till you try.

Ispahan, glad to help and I hope this isn't too much info to process for what you'd asked about. Like you I spend a lot of time double checking information on HMF, but it's always nice to hear from someone in a similar zone with their experiences too. As for Black Lady, I dearly love that rose and it's tough as nails. It truly is that elusive burgundy dark red color all the time in my yard - no pinking out like some dark reds - and it's thoroughly hardy and disease free as far as my strains of blackspot go (we don't get mildew much here). It's one of only a handful of roses I have multiple plants of in different beds and it holds its own on a nicely compact plant of around 3' or less (both sites have some part sun). My only quibble would be the relatively small flowers compared to other HTs - no more than 2" across or less - maybe between an apricot and a plum size on a good day. I can't vouch for the fragrance with my nose, but I certainly don't detect much of a scent. Still, it's a good rebloomer and entirely trouble free from me. Tantau is another breeder I like a lot, though they do stretch into some roses that aren't good for my zone at times.

Glad this is helpful and you're welcome to ask for more input on anything else I grow.
Cynthia

You must have a fabulous rose garden!

What is your experience with Gov. Mark Hatfield? I ask because I bought Ivory Triumph, a floribunda by Von Abrams, last summer and I was astonished to see that it got no BS at all in my damp yard. OTOH, Arpeggio from the same breeder was a BS magnet in its' first year. If I can't get Arpeggio to grow better this summer it may become available for trade to a warmer and dryer climate.

Hi Nastarana

Thanks for the encouragement - I was recently complaining about a rotten rose year last year, but I'll try to catch them being good this year and post some pictures. Like all of us, it's a work in progress - that's the fun.

My Gov. Mark Hatfield was from Cliff's mother plants when he broke up the Eurodesert collection, so it was already an established plant and I think it's grafted onto Dr. Huey. Cliff had recommended it as a better dark red than Matilda, though I bought that one too later. I'm not the best judge of BS, since I have a fairly high tolerance for it (being essentially lazy). It blooms fairly regularly and is a tall bush, between 4-5'. I don't recall it losing too many leaves in the season, but being behind other roses might make its BS less noticeable. I definitely think it's worth a try if you liked Ivory Triumph.

Cynthia

Wow! You do your research don't you?!?!? Even though I'm a couple of zones warmer (6b/7a) I still have problems with some of the more delicate roses and dieback. The fact that you can actually even grow HTs without protection amazes me. Your list is helpful to me because if they're hardy for you, they surely will be for me :)

Tammy

Tammy - glad this is helpful, and there seem to be plenty of HTs that are tougher than we think of for that class. To balance it out, though, there are plenty of HTs that I can't overwinter to save my life. And I did mention a bit of a hedge that I winter protect almost every rose in my yard, at least with oak leaves at the base, if not full circles of leaf bags in between. My judgments of hardiness are based on what has survived above the protection in spite of me, or without the protection being very consistent. This year's protection is quite minimal and it'll be interesting to see what survives in the long run.

Cynthia

Thank you Cynthia for that great information! The only one I have from your list is Memorial Day. I have 2 of them, one in the ground and one potted in my garage we'll see who survives and thrives come spring!

Just found this old thread, very educational. Thanks Cynthia! I have been collecting more HTs as long lasting cutting flowers. I am wondering if anyone grows Michelangelo in zone 5-6. It's rated for 7b.