I think you should still use HMF to make good cross refferances to your final selections. It would be ideal to see them in person but there aren't alot of people growing roses in Northern Montana for you to actually see them while they grow but maybe someone on the forum can add to your post and I included a list for you to look over.( Alot of pink too)

Perhaps after you make some inital selections see if there avalable at places like www.pickeringnurseries.com or www.roguevalleyroses.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Basic growing guide and selections for Montana

Welcome!

There is at least one other member who lives in Montana so I hope she'll chime in.

Here in balmy Zone 4 I've had good luck with the Albas (white to light pink, sorry...), Gallicas (anywhere from white to purple to striped), the Damask rose 'Leda', Moss rose 'Deuil de Paul Fontaine' (dark purple-red), the Portland roses (OGRs that repeat their bloom; they may die back to the snowline in winter, but bloom on new wood so a severe winter won't ruin your chance of bloom). Examples of Portlands include 'Portland from Glendora' and 'Rose de Rescht'.
I do not grow 'Harison's Yellow', but it is supposed to be one of the hardiest yellow OGRs.
Some Rugosas qualify as OGRs. 'Roseraie de l'Hay' is deep pink to crimson in color and its scent is out of this world. 'Souvenir de Philemon Cochet' is a fragrant, very double white Rugosa from that era. There are lots of gorgeous, fragrant and hardy PINK Old Garden Roses that will also recommend themselves to you.

I've had good experiences with Pickering in Canada (great selection - ordering for shipment to the States is no problem for them), High Country Roses in Utah (their advice on hardiness is very reliable), and Vintage Gardens (they sometimes have interesting and rare hardy OGRs and shrubs available).

Good luck and happy gardening!

Thank you both, especially for the suggestions on where to order. I have started my list and I will see what I can find for next spring.

Montana_rose, Mrlike2u's list is primarily Canadian roses, okay, but they're not really OGR's. Most of the Gallicas, Damasks, Mosses, and Albas should make it in your area, but the Bourbons and Portlands probably won't...they're marginal in my Z5 climate. A lot of hardy species roses will survive and yes, Harison's Yellow will likely do very well.

I'd second High Country Gardens and add Heirloom Roses as sources. A good book for you to pick up would be Osborne and Pownings "Hardy Roses" which has a revised edition out. It lists most of the roses that'll make it in the far north and has good pictures and descriptions for you to choose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Early Roses for the Prairie Blog.

Hi Montana rose,

I'm in zone 4, in eastern Washington, right by Idaho. I would also recommend Northland Rosarium and Rogue Valley Roses. Just curious, what floribundas and HT roses do well for you? That might help determine what OGRs will do well in your area.

You might want to try a variety of different OGRs to see what will do well in your space. Right now, I have Fantin Latour (centifolia), Ispahan and Celsiana (damasks), Belle de Crecy and President de Seize (gallicas), Snow Pavement and Therese Bugnet (rugosas), Madame Plantier (alba) and also Trier and Darlow's Enigma. Canadian Explorer roses might do well for you, too. I have four John Cabot roses in the kitchen garden :)

Good luck with you rose search. How cold does it get there in the winters? Are you below -30 F? With a little protection, zone 4 roses may do very well for you...maybe even zone pushing to a 4/5 occasionally.

If you're growing HTs and floribundas in northeastern Montana, you're doing pretty well. Do you winter protect or just expect a lot of loss? It's been my experience they'll make it about two years here.
I grow own root roses, mostly. They are slow to start but will eventually make a big healthy rose.
I know you don't like light pink, but those are the hardiest, usually. Therese Bugnet, Konigen von Danemark, Chloris.
For white, I grow Madame Hardy, alba semi-plena, alba maxima, madame Plantier.
I grow Apothecary rose, Rosa mundi, Variogota di Bologna, Gruss an Teplitz, Charles de Mills for reds.
Harison's Yellow, of course.

Thanks again for the responses. I really appreciate the responses. In answer to the questions: we typically get at least some below 40F weather and the wind just howls in the winter. We usually have rather spotty snowfall. I do a lot of winter protection, but also try to be realistic that some HTs just won't come back no matter what I do--my mother grows hers basically as an annual. The last few years I have had about a 75% retention rate. As for what I currently have, I pour over the Jackson and Perkins catalogue and just pick the one I like best--there hasn't been any real rhyme or reason up this point. Kaylah, as a fellow Montanan, where do you buy your roses?

I am in zone 5, southern NH, so don't deal with quite the degree of cold you do. I have been very impressed with everything I've received from Rogue Valley. Another northern tier supplier is Suzy Verrier, North Creek Farm, in Phippsburg Maine. She wrote two beautiful books -one devoted to Gallicas and one to Rugosas.
Albas have great scent, and my Alba Semi-Plena is a giant - tops out at over 9' this year, canes arching so they are probably 12'. Needs very little spring cleanup, and is in an exposed location where the wind whips through.

A rugosa hybrid that seems indestructible here is Linda Campbell - a true clear red, unusual in rugosa hybrids, and unlike Robusta, another rugosa red, has healthy foliage all year. (Robusta gets nekkid real fast w/black spot or whatever is the crud of the moment.)

Nurseries I have tried-Rosarie at Bayfield(out of business now.) Those were grafted(15 years ago) and have either traveled off the graft or failed.
Vintage Gardens, High Country Roses, Rogue Valley Roses, Greenmantle Nursery, and Ashdown.(out of business.)
I try to get things as close as I can because our mail is erratic.
High Country Roses will get on the phone with you and steer you away from bad choices, sometimes. They have the biggest plants.
Alba semi-plena doesn't get 9 feet tall here-about 5.
Greenmantle has the best plants, but you have to call her up in January and mail her a check, so she'll hold your plants til May. That is a very small nursery.
I got rosa centifolia out of Canada-Hortico, I think. That is deep pink. Theirs are grafted. I asked for ungrafted, and they sent me a sucker. That is one of my favorites.
I haven't tried Northland Rosarium yet. They are doing a lot with growing hybrid teas on their own roots and testing roses for cold-hardiness. Still, their climate is a lot milder than ours.
Mostly it is the graft that fails. I bury them 4 inches deep, but I've stuck with own-root for years.
For your first choice, I'd get High Country Banshee. I think it came from plants developed in Canada and North Dakota.
It's tall, and a deeper pink. How much room have you got?
High Country has a sale going on.

Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Banshee