Deactivate cloaking device. How can we know what the good roses are for your area when we don't know where that area is?

Also, what size plant are you looking for? Some you list are short climbers or 6 x 6 shrubs.

Hi all-

I'm technically in zone 5a. I'm in central NH. I can accommodate at least one very big shrub and 1-2 mid size (3-4 ft x 3-4 ft) or smaller. I am looking for a climber as well, but not sure that the Austins would grow tall enough. I would also like to try one or two roses in containers to see how that goes ( I could do that with the Sharifa I currently have- it is still so tiny, or maybe Benjamin Britten as DA seems to recommend it for containers). The garden areas are all full sun.

A climber would go in the back, in-between the two windows and would have to be tall enough to be seen over the peony/daisies (I would be taking out the mallow-type plant with the pink flowers that is currently in that spot).

The roses currently planted in this area are about 40 inches apart. The tomato in the back will be moved.

Here's a key to the current plantings:

1) Abraham Darby (can barely see from this angle)

2) Falstaff (would be a lot bigger at this point, but I broke a couple of new canes when I moved it about a month ago).

3) Claire Austin

4) Mary Rose

5) All The Rage (trying to compare hardiness with the Austins)

6) Molineux

7) Sharifa Asma

8) Little Mischief (trying to compare hardiness with the Austins)

What side is your house facing? I grew Graham Thomas as a climber and he did show significant dieback in a few winters. Didn't make a good climber asba result.

The only own-root Austin I have ever managed to get bigger than 2 wimpy canes is Lilian Austin. Grafted ones have done much, much better over the years. I don't spray them, and a fungicide would have helped, but there are a lot of roses besides Austins. One of the keys seem to be that most modern roses appreciate a fair amount of heat during the growing season. For short, cool summers, roses that don't die back do much better. Those would be Explorers, rugosas, and a pile of once-bloomers. Unfortunately, those can be hard to find at garden centers.

My house faces south. I did mix in a couple of the Easy Elegance roses that are listed as hardy to zone 4 to see how they compare with Austins. I will look into the Explorers as well.

A hardy rose that you might like is 'Quadra'. It has an OGR look that I quite like myself, and it's one of the previously mentioned Canada Ag Explorer roses; maybe one of the most Austinish ones?

Good luck,

Virginia

I'm in a completely different zone but really like Potter and Moore. If you look further down the page I have pictures of it in my last post. For me it has no disease and is a smallish, graceful bush that blooms often and sometimes has more and sometimes less cupped blooms that are always beautiful. Wife of Bath is also lovely and on the small side. It was too hot for it in my garden, however. The Dark Lady is beautiful but was bright red in my garden and looked too modern for my taste.

Although my garden has experienced a couple of zone 5 winters, I'm mostly passing on advice I've heard over the years about roses in your region.

Probably after a typical 5a winter the Austins will mostly be damaged back to the ground. Possibly some will die. Others will grow out and bloom, with or without survival of some of last year's cane stubs.

The Griffith Buck roses may be somewhat hardier, but reportedly don't do as well in the far Northeast as they do in the Midwest. The hardiest one is 'Applejack', which should make a large shrub for you. Others would have at least some winter damage.

The reliably hardy repeat-blooming roses are the ones developed by Ag Canada scientists and known as "Canadian Explorer" and "Parkland" series. There is also a new series just starting to be released. They offer a wide choice of shrub and climbing roses, including the excellent climber 'Quadra' already mentioned (but it may be too big for your space). If I were you, I would consider devoting the rest of the available real estate to these roses or to June-blooming old roses--gallicas, albas, and early yellows. Otherwise for the spring flush you will have a yardful of small plants just struggling to come back from winter damage.

Are you anywhere near Goffstown? Unacnoonuc Mt Perennials has a good selection of hardy roses.

Most of my DA roses are grafted so I am not going to try to suggest how your own root selections will do. I do grow DA Scarborough Fair own root, and it's been quite hardy and healthy. I'd worry about the survival of bands rec'd so late in the summer. I might look for gallon plants at this point. My best own root rose that I grow and which is phenomenally vigorous and hardy is an Easy Elegance variety called Kashmir. Of your list of "wants" here's my experience (all grafted, buried deep, no other winter protection):
Jude: slow grower barely survived the 1st winter, struggling during this 2nd summer. I've heard he can be slow to establish, so I haven't given up hope.
Tamora: Excellent, vigorous
Graham Thomas: gorgeous blooms but maddening growth habit, super long canes without a lot of bloom. I moved an established plant which had been healthy for several years, and after the move it withered and didn't survive the winter. Sad to see him go.
Ambridge: good to very good hardiness, not a tremendously strong grower but lovely, fragrant definitely worth a try.
L.D. Braithwaite: excellent hardy, very eye catching.
Ben Britten: exceptionally hardy but I didn't like the blooms. They shriveled in the sun and tended to ball in the rain, and just never achieved the lovely form I saw in other people's photos.

Three of my best and hardiest DAs:
Lady of Shallot
Boscobel
Crocus Rose

BTW I have not had much luck getting DA roses to overwinter in a planter. I've had a couple last the winter but then struggle and die in the long run.

For a cold-winter zone, this sounds like excellent advice, Michael.

ratdoghead is only a half-zone warmer, so that is advice worth heeding, as is mad_gallica's.

ratdoghead: Thanks for the suggestion of Unacnoonuc Mt Perennials. It is about 1 hr 15 min from me, so yesterday I made the trip. What a wonderful place! It was really nice to see the display gardens showing how many plants I've been eyeing look when more established. They had roses in mixed plantings as well as a lovely rose display garden. I spent a lot of time looking at the varieties they had growing there- they had many David Austins, a few climbers, some Easy Elegance roses and floribundas. The Lady of Shallot, Golden Celebraton and The Dark Lady were all covered with blooms. I came home with 3 rose plants and a sedum, I was tempted to bring back a few more, but don't want to try to have too many to get in the ground at once. I can always go back! I met someone there who made the trek all the way from Connecticut to buy roses.

Nicole, I'm so happy that I've enabled an Unacnoonuc fan! I visited the gardens on Saturday, we just missed one another :) Isn't it inspiring to see what a rose garden in New Hampshire can be? I disciplined myself and didn't buy anything new, what did you end up getting?

I admit that I bought 3 more roses that need protection, because I was so inspired by what I saw there! I discussed winter protection with Nettie. I have very easy access to hay- so I will bed the roses down after the ground freezes. The microclimate in my tender rose bed should be very similar to their rose garden. I will use hardy roses in the all the other places in my yard though.

My Falstaff is growing nicely this year even after I planted it in November (!!!), then completely botched the winterizing and pruning, and also accidentally broke off two of its new canes and moved it in July. It would probably have have been much better without all my mistakes.

I bought Lady of Shallot because it was just beautiful in full bloom in their rose garden Saturday and Charlotte because they listed it as the hardiest of the Austins. I also bought Zephirine Drouhin because she encouraged me to try it and it has done well in their garden. We will see.

They had a couple of hardy cultivars, but didn't have what I wanted for a hardy shrub along my driveway. I did find a couple of nice looking Therese Bugnets hiding in my local garden center, so I bought one of those yesterday. I will have more space on the other side of my house and will look at hardy options for that bed during a future visit.

Ratdogheads, I hope my L of S gets to grow up and be as pretty as yours someday

Beautiful, ratdogheads. I love the bloom colors and the shape of the bush. Diane

Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing. :)

Wow - Lady is just beautiful!

Here is my new Lady

and also Charlotte

Wonderful! Are they planted near one another? I think they are such a perfect combination.

They are in the same bed, but not adjacent to each other, though I agree that would look great. Right now, Charlotte is between Sharifa Asma and Molineux, with Claire Austin and Mary behind them in a staggered row. Lady of Shallot is in the back row, with Abraham Darby and Falstaff staggered in front of it. I expect that I may eventually move some around as I see how well they do and how all the colors compliment each other.

Give us a report next spring as to whether they were cane-hardy.

I'm not expecting them to be cane hardy. I will be using salt marsh hay or something similar for winter protection and see what happens. I will report back on my experiences.

Vmr423/Virginia, I can't seem to message you privately at your homepage so I am wondering if I can ask you if you grow Quadra in South Carolina and how it does there please? I am in central NC and am wondering how it does in the Southeast.

Patty