Decobug,
We're in zone 5a...most everything starts out about 2-3 inches tall here, except for a few Explorers!

Of your list, we have had Golden Celebration x2 (love more than Graham T, who died after first winter) and Winchester Cathedral (an awesome white) for at least 5-6 years. They are great, though they do start almost as small as the others.
Others that do well for us are The Herbalist (very little dieback), The Reeve, Abe Darby, Lilian Austin, Tamora, Teasing Georgia, Charles Rennie MacIntosh, Wm. Shakespeare 2000.

We also grow Bow Bells, Blythe Spirit, Pat Austin, William Morris, Geoff Hamilton and Falstaff, though they start out a little smaller.
Hope this helps.

:0) Phyl

Some of the roses he lists in the catalog as being "hardy" are not so much as others.

The hardiest DAs for me by far:
Brother Cadfael
Crocus Rose
Chianti (once-blooming climber)

Hardier than the others I've grown:
Mary Rose
Redoute
Winchester Cathedral
Eglantyne
Crown Princess Margarita
Gertrude Jeckyl
Abe Darby (once established)

By hardy, for me, this means the least amount of winterkill to the canes. Any Austin can survive for me if the bud union is planted deep. They usually recover 100% even if losing all canes down to ground level.

On the DA list (above), I have grown G. Thomas and LD Braithwaite and don't find them any hardier than other roses. I even lost G. Thomas during a very bad winter. A Shropshire Lad needs pruning close to ground level each year. Charlotte fares ok considering she is a yellow rose, but not nearly as hardy as others. The Mayflower is about average.

At least that's what happens in my garden.

I'm in zone 5 as well. I have some of the roses on your list including, Crocus Rose, Eglantyne and Mary Rose. All are doing just fine. Other additions to my garden of the David Austin variety include: Queen of Sweden, Rose Marie, Glamis Castle, and Tess of Duberveilles. All made it through the winter wonderfully.

I grow about 30 David Austins and they are all quite hardy for me. Crocus Rose and Queen of Sweden are two of the hardiest. I do have to prune many of mine back each spring - the canes are hardier than many of my roses, but our winter weather and heavy snow cover often result in canker lower on the canes, and I have to prune below the canker. This happens even though I use dormant spray each fall and spring - just seems to come with the climate here. The heavy pruning doesn't seem to phase the Austins - they quickly put on new growth and bloom beautifully by the end of June. It is such a joy to have re-blooming roses that are hardy here, but also have that lovely (and fragrant) old rose look.

In my zone and my garden, I find the Austins are very cane hardy, does very well in the winter months.
Last winter I did a test on all of my roses, I did not winterized, mound soil or wrapped any roses, and all of my Austins bounced back alive and kicking with 95% green cane.
Jubilee Celebration
Orthello
Queen Nefertiti
Golden Celebration
Evelyn
Graham Thomas
Pat Austin
Christopher Marlowe
The Pilgrim
Lilian Austin
Tamora
The only one that not doing too well is Abraham Darby and that's cuz he has been under the weather for the last 5 years. But is days are numbered.
Niecey

These are my Austins that did the best last year without any extra winter protection at all. They had only tip damage (4 inches or less)

Eglantyne
Mary Rose
Mayflower
Queen of Sweden
Redoute
Rosemarie
Scepter D'Isle

The only other one that I have on your list is Crocus Rose which I just planted a few weeks ago. I'm hoping that it's as happy here as it seems to be in everyone else's garden.

Have fun deciding which ones to get. I can't wait to see your photos of them.

I find the Austins to be hardy, Eglantyne and Sharifa Asma especially.

I didn't protect mine and we had a cold winter.

Hardy:
Mary Rose (exposed position)
Abe Darby (in a warmer location)
CPM (in a warmer location)
Gertrude (exposed position)
Shropshire Lad (exposed position)
Queen of Sweden (exposed position)
Heritage (exposed position)
Jude (warm position)

Not very hardy but OK:
Jubilee Celebration (first year plant, own root)
Crocus Rose (first year plant, own root)
LD Braithewait (first year plant, own root)

Poorest showing:
Graham T (2nd year grafted)
Graham T (3rd year own root plant)
Graham T (2nd year old own root plant, I think it's dead)
CPM in an exposed location (2nd year plant)
Abe D in an exposed location (2nd year plant)

Cheers,
Michelle

My 2 hardiest this winter were Sharifa Asma and a new one called Rosemoor. Had 2 feet of cane left.

Gertrude Jeckyl, The Prince and Lillian Austin had about a foot of good cane left. William Shakespeare 2000 had about 8 inches left. Graham Thomas had about 6 inches.. and Tamora and Evelyn had to be cut back the most. I did apply some protection in the form of about 5 inches of mulch at the base. Coldest temp in my yard was -5. We did have snowcover during the coldest nights.

I only have a few Austins here in coastal NH, but these are all hardy for me.

Tess of the D'Uberville x2
Redoute
St Swithun
Generous Gardener
Jude the Obscure
Wm Shakespeare 2000 x2
The Mayflower x3

The ones that sadly didn't make it

Abraham Darby
Graham Thomas

Brenda

Golden Celebration, on its own root, never thrived here, and eventually died. Ditto Grace. Of course, we all know about my track record.

In my blog I said that Sharifa Asma was barely surviving. That could be an error on my part. I may have confused it with one of the Bucks. If Sharifa is the plant I'm thinking of, it did amazingly well in its first winter here.

And then, of course, there's my 21-year-old Gertrude Jekyll. You go, girl!

Saint Cecilia is in my experience the most winter hardy Austin rose. My two plants were cane hardy to the tips to -30C for the last two years, can compete with Ag Canada roses for hardiness in my climate.

Others that are only slightly less hardy and manage to keep a significant amount of cane through the winter without protection are: Mary Rose and her sports Redoute and Winchester Cathedral, as well as Lilian Austin, Saint Swithun, and Cressida.

My hardiest yellows are: Crocus Rose and Teasing Georgia. These two are significantly hardier than Graham Thomas, the Pilgrim, Molyneux, etc.

Cheers, RRL

My Austins (as well as most of my plants)get no pampering-the ones that look the best are 'Crown Princess Margarethe'-planted along a S/E wall, covered w/ buds...Others that are doing well-Christopher Marlowe (I love this one, 3 plants), Gertrude Jekyll (horribly thorny), Janet, Bishops Castle, Golden Celebration...

Several Austins died on me including Golden Celebration, Eglantyne, A Shropshire Lad, Molineux, William Shakespeare 2000 and Heritage.

These are my Austins that I have. They are listed in order from most Hardy to Least Hardy. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are pretty much the same - about a foot of live cane. I winter protect with plastic bags filled with shredded newspaper.

1. Brother Cadfael
2. L.D. Braithwaite
3. Golden Celebration
4. A Shropshire Lad
5. Mary Rose
6. Molineux (pretty tender - about 3 inches of live cane)

L.D. Braithwaite and Golden Celebration are my favs of these.

Carol

Rideauroselad, you mentioned in another thread that Charles Darwin is a favorite of yours. How's its hardiness?

Hello alisande,

Unfortunately I've only grown Charles Darwin for one winter thus far, 2 plants. Last winter was also warmer than normal with record snow cover. I covered my two small plants with straw, so I can't say much about hardiness yet, except that they both made it through their first winter very well and are healthy and putting on lots of new growth right now. I'll have to grow them another couple of winters in order to properly evaluate their hardiness.

Cheers, RRL

Thanks, RRL. It's a beautiful rose.

Heck, they're all beautiful.

Hi,

I live in Northeast Wisconsin, which is usually a zone 5, but some winters can count as a 4b. :)

I have Tradescant, which I have had for 10 years. I mulch it a bit in the fall, and that is all the protection I give it. It is on the southside of my house next to a screen porch.

I have a Heritage, which is going on six years old. It is in a back garden, more exposed than the Tradescant, and it, too, receives leaf mulch as its only protection.

In my opinion, my Austins have been much less fussy, healthy, and vigorous than my other roses.

I had Tess of the D'Urbervilles about four years ago, but she died during her first winter. I think I planted her too late, so she didn't get established. Some of the root system remains, because I get a little shoot each summer, which never flowers.

I ordered Jude the Obscure, Emma Hamilton, and Charles Mackintosh this year. I hope they will be as successful as my Tradescant and Heritage. I love their fragrance and multiple bloom cycles!

Cheers,
Nora

I'm in Michigan, Zone 5, and have lost one of two Abe Darby. Very pleased with two Judes, Pat, WS 2000, Bishop's Castle and Crown Princess Margareta. I have three Golden Celebration and two more WS 2000 on order for planting as soon as they arrive.

I've been lucky so far. No diseases, BS, etc.

I'm quite a novice, but have had success in Michigan planting bare root with either Austin's Rootgrow that contains mycorrhizal fungi or Espoma's Bio-tone® Starter Plus which is an all natural plant food enhanced with biostimulants, beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae. These must be in direct contact with the root to maximize effectiveness at planting. So planting bare root is a great way to go when using this approach. The theory is the fungi tap back into the soil to draw massive quantities of minerals and nutrients, mainly phosphorus, which a Rose desperately requires to bloom.

I follow a regular schedule of Bayer All-in-One (3x per season, first as soon as I see first sign of growth), Rose Tone(3x per season), and Alaska® Fish Emulsion(4x per year).

I know I contradict my otherwise organic approach by using the All-in-One, but I'm not a sprayer kind of guy.

Someone told me that the Mycorrhizae improve plant growth and help the root system be more resistant to soil borne diseases. The roots give the Mycorrhizae sugars in exchange. They supposedly help improve performance for less-than-perfect soil, watering, and fertilizing. I understand the fish emulsion helps sustain the Mycorrhizae.

Again, I'm a novice. Very much so, but so far, this has worked for me.

I've been mounding the base and wrap with burlap in the winter. I've got small buds already on WS 2000 and its only May 11 in Michigan! The Judes are über happy this spring, Abe will have small buds in a week or so. I grow Abe on a pillar - burlap was enough to winter protect ... and this past winter was quite rough, cold, windy.

Anyone growing Teasing Georgia?

KAryn

I almost ordered a Teasing Georgia...forget now why I didn't..sorry..know nothing about them.
Thanks Flushing...I bookmarked your advice. I have a Crown Princess and Gertrude...newly planted and I'm also a novice.These tips will help me. I do have leaves growing and both look very well so far. I used Rootblast on mine about a week after planting but didn't use a lot...was trying to be careful. When should I start with your treatments next?? Which one first? All at once or spaced out and how far apart? Sorry so many questions....thanks for the advice!! :))))
JLJ/Ky