Two that have done well for me without anything special in the way of winter protection: Gertrude Jekyll and Abraham Darby. There are many others that can stand our winters, especially as zone 4 morphs into zone 5.

Gary

I live in Minneapolis and have successfully grown DA roses for the past three years. The only protection they get are some fencing & leaves. They survived the heavy (once normal) snowfall we had two yrs ago and the non-existent winter from last year. My favorites are 1) Munstead Wood, 2) Sceptre'd Isle, 3) Winchester Cathedral, 4) Wm Shakespeare 2000, and 5) Molineux. Also have Gertrude Jekyll (sprawls, super thorny, but good scent), and planted Abraham Darby & Golden Celebration this year (both flowered, but this hot summer & the asian beatle was brutal for starter plants). It took 3 seasons for the plants to become considerable in size, but are so worth it for the scent, hardiness, and repeat blooms. Will try to upload some pics later. Can't recommend my first two choices enough.

Munstead Wood, 2nd yr plant.

{{!gwi}}

Munstead Wood; unique bloom off of a 3rd yr plant.

Molineux, 2nd yr plant.

Thanks for the good word. Munstead Wood is one I especially wanted to try. I heard that Scepter'd Isle cannot take midwestern summers--fades, scent fades and blooms do not last more than a day or two. Has this been your experience with SI?

I had five different ones for five years, actually by the end there were only two.

They did OK in the abnormally warm dry weather but once real cold came back they went one by one.

I DID NOT give them the heavy protection I give my H. Tea roses and had done that one or two may have survived.