In your area you really need to be concerned about hardiness. There are many varieties that meet your requirements that are hardy. Look closly at the Griffith Buck roses, Canadian Parkland series, Canadian Artist series, and some hybrid rugosas that stay small.
Do you want to spend time each year providing winter protection to make sure your roses survive your snow and cold temperatures?

I will be getting Molineux (Austin) for a similar situation. I do not know about the hardiness, you need to check out.

Austins will be perfectly hardy in zone 5b. Bury the bud union 6" deep when you plant. Go to David Austins roses dot com and look at the beautiful photos and descriptions to narrow down your search.

I agree with Veilchen. I grow close to 50 Austins here in Northern Michigan (I bury the bud union only 4" deep, but we do get good consistent snow cover in the winter) and they really thrive.

Heirloom's got a sale going on now to March 21 of "hardy roses." Any of these would probably work, although they're not Austins.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Heirloom Roses Hardy Varieties Sale

As a neighbor of yours I can say that Austins do wonderfully here. I have not covered mine for the past 3 winters, and they all still have loads of green cane come spring. They bloom abundantly and reliably and I love mine. As far as suggestions:

Mary Rose: a beautiful rose, fuss-free, about the size you're looking for and blooms abundantly

Winchester Cathedral: a sport of Mary Rose and blooms just as generously, even in part shade, for me. I find blackspot a problem toward the end of the season, and it gets significantly taller in my garden than M.R. does, but nothing a bit of spring pruning can't help

Spirit of Freedom: a great rose with a fighting spirit, I find. I don't think I could kill this one if I tried. My only complaint is that the first flush of roses seems to nod badly, pointing straight down at the ground. The second flush is much more upright...I have no idea why.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles: beautiful red rose that can be kept small with spring pruning. I wouldn't say she blooms as generously as M.R. or W.C., and she does have BS toward the end of the season.

Golden Celebration: is in its first year, so I can't really say much except it took well to the garden immediately and it looks promising.

I'd say that Mary Rose is a great one to start with. Hope that helps.

If you are going to get an austin rose then i must suggest jude the obscure. The scent aone is enough for it, but it also is a nice bushy very healthy plant that non-stop repeats all summerlong and resists blackspot very well. Noe back to the scent, David austin himself described jude the obscure as the strongest nicest semlling of all his roses, and he wasn't lying. They smell like lychees and sparkling lemonade all in one and when i semll the plant it is the closest i have ever came to wanting to eat a flower. I have 7 jude the obscure roses all planted together outside my living room window and the smell in summer is so amazing. I can smell them before i am even near my house and am always getting complements about the look and smell of them. Jude the obscure also has alot of heads on a plant at one time so as you could imagine 7 plants flowering at the same time produces quite a smell.

I must also mention gertrude jekyll as another great david austin rose. The smell isn't fruity though like jude the obscure is, it is more of a traditional rose scent. Very fresh and sweet and just a delightful smelling rose. I also had golden celebration aswell, but i wasn't very pleased with it at all. I can't say that the scent or the plant was very pleasing. Maybe i am a bit hard on it as i am so used to jude the obscure and gertrude jeckyll, but in all honesty golden celebration really does pale in comparrison to the other two roses.

oh yes, the scent of Jude the Obscure!

I have had mixed results with own root Austins (no bud union). Evelyn is very impressive. I don't spray. Jude smells like grapefruit. It doesn't get very big in zone 5a.

Hi Hans,

I also live in Southern Ontario. Newmarket to be exact.

I also grow/tend to roses in two gardens. My own garden in Newmarket and my Mom's garden in PEI, Canada. I have experience with a great deal of the Austin roses and have also been to DA's garden in Albrighton, England to see how those same roses perform there.

It is true that the Sub-Zero Brownell HT roses are largely a marketing name and an enormous waste of time, with the exception of perhaps Maria Stern.

Anyway, I would be more than happy to help you with any Austin or local rose growing questions and suggestions.

I'd like to hear more about the area that you plan on placing these Austins. Exposure, soil, proximity to walls and fences etc. for microclimate.

In general, Austins will not require any winter protection here when planted correctly. A few are certainly less cane hardy than others, but by and large they are just fine in our zone.

As for disease resistance, BS is not an issue with most Austins here, but Powdery Mildew can be and so can rust (older varities) in certain planting conditions.

Send me an email through this site and I'd be happy to assist.

Tim