I have Westerland, but this will be his first winter, and he is now in a 22 inch pot in my shed. I sure hope he makes it because I loved the colour of the blooms. If mine was in the ground, I would plant it 3-4" deep, and then mound it after the ground freezes in mid-November. That might work, especially if you get lots of snow to help insulate it. Go ahead, try another one.....
Judith

I have Autumn Sunset, one of the Westerland sports. IME, this is one of those roses that has real problems with canker. If I don't take care to clear out any leaves from around the base in the fall, I have no canes left in the spring.

I'd plant another, if I were you, but I certainly wouldn't do anything that might fall into the category of smother love with it.

Is Westerland or Autumn Sunset susceptible to canker or both?

Here Westerland grew to 10', trained as a climber, in just 3 years. It had no winter protection. There was no die back or canker. Most of my HT's suffer canker damage each spring. Temps reached maybe -5 but never for an extended period. Normal mid winter lows here are in the teens.

Overall Westerland has been a big success here with many blooms and above average resistance to black spot. You might want to skip the winter protection and see how it adapts over a couple of years.

Westerland trained on an arbor.

{{gwi:222609}}

Thanks for the replies and info. especially the lovely picture of Westerland on your arbor. I will certainly order another one and plant it 4" deep as Judith suggests. I didn't have any problem with canker during the two years it bloomed, and it didn't look diseased when I dug it out just dead. Better luck this time I hope Thank you all

Good advice. Yes, plant the bud union down 4" below the soil line and you shoud be just fine. I've grown Westerland for about 7 years now planted deep and it does great.

It isn't very cane hardy at all here, but it does have such outstanding vigour that by the end of the season it is 6'+ and covered in blooms during its 3 main flushes.

Harry,

That is a beautiful picture. I remember when you were planning this for your garden and I also recall expressing my doubts that it would be cane hardy enough for you even in zone 6. You were most obviously right that you have some wonderful microclimate effect going on in your yard. I'm happy to see that it was all you envisioned! However, all that said, no way is Westerland cane hardy in Quebec in even the mildest winters here.

I'm in London, ON, not exactly Montreal. Westerland dies to the ground each winter. Its bud union is planted at least 2" deep, probably more, but it comes back well each summer, sporting 6 to 8' canes. It is completely disease free. A keeper. Plant it again. It's worth another try.
Steve.

Thanks morden man and elks, I am just about to go to Pickering on line to order another Westerland