Off course you can have one. "Easy Does It" is the only AARS winner for 2009 (maybe 2010,officially?). Therefore most people planted it last spring for the first time and witnessed it performing fantastically for the entire season. It has had many continuous blooms in a very healthy nature (no disease). As I see it, if you can find it this spring, grab it.

It might need winter protection of some sort.

It is new this year, so you might wait until next year, first seeing how it does for people in your zone this year. Since it is an AARS winner, it will probably be available for 2 or 3 more years, especially if it proves to be a good performer.

Here is a link to the AARS test garden locations -- if you want that info now, your best bet is to call one of these and ask someone on the staff of the particular garden. Per the rules of AARS, no one is allowed to have the roses that are up for the AARS award (or even to know the name of them) until they are commercially released in June of the year before the year they are awarded that prize, and then they are supposed to be equally distributed to all members of the AARS organization for commercial release. This rose was first available to anyone outside of the original hybridizer (Harkness in England, which doesn't have a zone 5) and the test gardens in June 2009. Therefore, no one other than the test gardens has had a chance to test it through a winter season in your zone.

So, take a look through this list and see if you can find a garden in your climate zone and place a phone call or two to see what they did (if anything) for winter protection, and see if their plants survived.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: AARS test gardens

You do not post what zone 5a you are from, they are not all created equal. My experience with floribundas is that depenending on its lineage , your particular climate would dertermine how long it would survive. For me I lived on the edge of zone 4b/5a for about 8 years. There wasnt a hybrid tea or floribunda (I tried harkness Victorian spice, died that winter)that lived more than 4-5 years at max. I had alot I would try , they would flower and die that winter, even with protection. Just way too much freeze thaw cycles. IT wouldnt be much better here in zone 5b, I moved 36 miles southeast of my previous location. They still wouldnt live more than 5 years max, they would also dwindle in performance every year.

I dont bother with it now. I still know people who basically by HTS , Floris every year or two and then replace them. They figure the 100 dollars or so in replacement costs is worth it to them.

Welcome to zone envy world =). For me its more to do with the Teas and noisettes that will be always out of reach.

Silverkelt