That's great! My rugosas and shrub roses have done great this year (see runaway rugosa post) but my HTs and floribundas haven't done much at all.

If your EC has very flexible canes, you could try bending them down and putting burlap &/or leaves over them. Otherwise, I would just pile some leaves over the crown of the plant and plan to do some pruning in the spring. I'm not sure if Emily is cane hardy above the snow line but I'm guessing not. I'll have to ask my mom, she has EC that I bought her 2 years ago.

Emily Carr is quite hardy here and doesn't really need any protection. You might get some dieback in the spring but that's not a big deal.

I always water like crazy in October and give them some 0-10-10 no later than right now.

I guess it must depend on where it is planted and so on, because my EC's are not cane hardy at all above snow. In fact, last year when we had all those hard frosts with no snow on the ground, both of my EC's died right to the ground, but came back from the roots.

However, I do agree with shazam that dieback in the spring really isn't a big deal; you'll get fast growth and tons of blooms regardless. I'm definitely going to start piling straw over the crowns of mine though, because they grow back MUCH faster in the spring if they don't have to come back from the roots.

Just my experience. But yes, NAF...Emily Carr is my favorite! (so far, anyway)

Had one in the old yard, it was mostly cane hardy. Never had it die back to the ground in the two winters it went through.

I asked my mom and her EC is only hardy to the snow line. It's a good 3.5 feet tall and covered in blooms right now though. I would agree that dieback isn't a big deal on this rose. Hers has some beautiful thick basals and lots of canes, it's very vigorous. What an incredible colour, it's the perfect red IMO. That's why I bought it for her.

Interesting. I bought three for the new yard and planted them deep (bud union's about six inches deep), and this backyard gets a tremendous amount of snow cover, so it'll be interesting to see what'll happen.

I did plant a John Davis and an Alexander MacKenzie in the same area last year and got zero dieback on the JD and a very small amount on the AM. I think both are much hardier than EC, though. But last year was so screwed up I can't really use it as an accurate gauge of hardiness.

Maybe they just like the chinook winds here, LOL.

I'm glad to hear there's no special treament for my Emily Carr. The older I get, the less I want things to be labour intensive.

I should have mentioned my other rose is a George Vancouver. It didn't do nearly as well as the EC.

BTW Does anyone have, or has anyone seen and smelled a Vavoom rose? It's amazing!

My John Davis is cane hardy too. It's getting to be quite tall now, an actual climber in our zone. If Emily grew to 3.5' and performed like that every year, I wouldn't have a problem with it dying back at all.

I wonder when they will release some more Canadian Artists?? I'm anxious to see what else they'll come up with.

Rumour is a new one is coming out this month!

My EC is only hardy to snow level. However it grew to at least 6 ft this year and is still blooming away. This is the second year for it.

It will be interesting to see what other artists series roses they come out with.