A few that get bigger for me here - Party Hardy, Savannah, Pompanella FT, Abigail Adams is wide but not that tall yet - second year band, Bliss, Crazy Love, Polar Ice - gets large!, Cherry Frost - new for me but I think can be grown without support, Olivia Rose Austin.

Therese is usually my first rose to bloom as well. Usually starts in the last week of May.
I get rare re-bloom here and no hips.

Steven

Yes, I remember these...they are VERY memorable!! Amazing!!

Agree that Therese Bugnet is one of the best low maintenance, yet showy roses. Exactly the same as Steven - first ones to bloom, they rebloom, but no hips.

Other large bushes for me are Cinderella Fairy Tale, Flamenco Rosita and Mother of Pearl. Princess Charlene de Monaco looks like she's going to be a big girl. John Davis, John Cabot, and Rosearie de l'Hay don't mind being whacked on to maintain the size you want.

I got a baby Therese Bugnet from Corn Hill and it is great here too, just like it was in Alaska. New this Spring. It bloomed all Summer and Fall too.

My best two are Home Run and Bulls Eye. They get about 4 ft high and 6 ft. wide! Both are very good bloomers and very winter hardy as well.

Seil - what a gorgeous Bulls Eye!! I've never thought the blooms were all that much...but seen on a bush!!! Oh my!!!!! WOW!!

Wow Steven, Therese is stunner. How would you rate drought tolerance? I have a spot in mind that is out of reach of my hoses. Sheila, how large did yours get in Alaska?

Seil, I adore singles. Homerun is so cheery, and your Bullseye has really caught my attention! I've always admired it but somehow I thought of it as an upright grower.

Thanks for your suggestions Dingo and flowersaremusic... making a list and heading off to HMF.

Drought tolerance? Well; I NEVER water my Therese Bugnets except as newly planted babies.
Granted, our hot and droughty weather isn't like the horrors of California that never end, but I've not put the hose on either when the dry spells stretch on and on. On that note, my Belinda's Dream, Betty Prior, and Sunny Knockout around the mailbox by the gravel road generally don't get extra water either, and they're pummeled mercilessly by the endless dust (we have a surprising number of eighteen wheelers and big rigs due to farms and a country gravel pit just down the road).
So, from a southern Great Lakes point of view, pretty darn tolerant.

I've never seen her wilt!

Steven

Thanks Steven, she's a must have. How big does your Betty Prior get?

Therese Bugnet was graceful and large in Alaska, but not as large as Hansa, Rosarie d' la Hay or Rosa Glauca. She has such a graceful shape. Another winner I had in Alaska was Mrs. John McNab which I also got from CornHill now again last Spring. I also got Martin Frobisher, another beauty.

For my current project I'm looking for a few big, showy, modern roses for one side of a rose bed opposite some floribundas. It's a wide space and previously I tried to plant three deep but it's inconvenient to maintain the middle and I'd like to fill it with larger roses.

However the rugosas have my attention for another project, roses to grow along the edge of the woods that surround our yard. They'd need to survive on rainfall, which is plentiful. Partial shade would be another challenge. Many years ago I planted rosa glauca and a couple of the Explorers in that setting but deer kept nipping the tips so that was a failed experiment. I've heard that deer will (might?!) leave rugosa alone. The deer that frequent our neighborhood are shy and stick to the edges of the woods and so far haven't had the courage to get close to my rose beds.

I think maybe I will try Therese Bugnet and Rosarie d' la Hay next year for starters. I visited Suzy Verrier's North Creek farm years ago and have dreamt of someday growing the big grand rugosa varieties.

Great thread for cold zoners! Beautiful pictures of everyone's plants. Nice to see how some larger roses look in our zones. Steven and Sheila, your Therese Bugnets look great. I love that nice purple-pink coloration. I've been debating trying her out. Good to know she does so well and reblooms. Seil, I really love that Bulls Eye, the flowers really pop.

Ratdogs, I've been trying to figure out some deep garden beds this way, where I don't have to get to the middle. Good luck with the project, it sounds like it's going to look great. I hadn't heard of Rosarie d'la Hay. I like the vibrant coloration her flowers have. I'll have to figure out some spots to try some of these.

Wasagaming is another must have rugosa (HCR or Corn Hill). This rose has beautiful Fall foliage here and hips. It reblooms here. I got mine from Suzy Verrier in 2015 along with Souvenir de Philemon Cochet which is another winner.

Sheila, Wasagaming is the most beautiful rugosa I've ever seen. I've no clue why I've never tried to find one. The blooms are unbelievable.

Ratdog, I can vouch for Rosearie de l'Hay surviving without supplemental water. Mine is in my defunct veggie garden of knee deep weeds. She carries on, looking great despite being totally on her own. I can't even get to her until we tackle that area.

Another fairly large rugosa that doesn't need pampering is Scabrosa, known for her bright red, crab apple sized hips in the fall.

I believe Therese Bugnet could also do fine on her own, but might not be as beautifully shaped as Steven's.

As for deer, mine went for ANY rose, regardless of type. But, mine are aggressive and not skittish around people or big dogs. I had no choice but to put up deer fencing.

Roses edging a wooded area will be absolutely gorgeous and will set off the deep green beyond.

Therese Bugnet

John Cabot never pruned or deadheaded.

Flowers, it is amazing how some fabulous roses are not better known. It was a star in Alaska too.

IME, rugosas are not very shade tolerant. They really are beach roses, and like their sun. Once bloomers are very good for areas like that, since they will hopefully have enough buds to go around.

Flowers those are gorgeous! Sheila I love the fall colors, I need to try Wasagaming. I have Polar Ice & it is yellow in the fall - it might do ok in part shade, it's more of a once bloomer with some rebloom toward August. Hoping it starts blooming more with age. Does ok without supplemental water.

Sorry! I've been on my work schedule, and still am, but haven't been on the forum much with time to participate in a fashion I'd prefer.

Thank you all for the kind words regarding my Therese Bugnets.
I love the way she looks coming up onto the porch! Beautiful!

My Betty Prior is from spring 2018 from Roses Unlimited. Betty is quite the cheery gal and generally healthy, and I do see some black spot on her nearing summer's end, but virtually everything here will black spot in some degree from negligible to repeated deadly crisis depending on variety.
On that note though, I don't believe I've ever seen black spot on my William Baffin, Therese Bugnet, or Rosa setigera (I raised from seed and now four going on five years old!). Come to think of it, I think big ol' Billy B is/was my healthiest and biggest rose.

Betty died back to within about three inches winter 2018-2019 but rebounded acceptably and is around 2.5' tall I'd guess.

She's on the North facing side of the yard by the road with open field to the north, and with bitter Arctic gales blasting down from Canada right into her face, she's done admirably so far but it's still early.

The only roses I have long time experience and definitive success with (20 years +/-; I started young) are my Therese Bugnets and William Baffin. I feel those are the only roses at this point I can confidently provide excellent insight for versus initial impressions I generally experience with so many varieties. I basically do not coddle any of them. (That's how I had Sterling Silver for about three years in a pot versus dying in the ground before August at the insistence of a friend that I not leave it. Then it died back from the tips into the bud union and gone).

These two varieties are ones that have proven their value absolutely, and they are considered "easy" ones if I am thinking correctly.

I enjoy having some divas from time to time just to see them at least or to note them as the historic point marker they may deservedly be.
Whenever they feel consumptive or threaten their own rapture, I either tell 'em to do it and quit dragging it on or I just get the shovel and... SCOOP! SCOOP! 'Bye'!

Someday I'll put up my Rose Centric Horticide list. It's a doozy!

Steven

Sheila, Wasagaming looks incredible! I love that autumn foliage. It reminds me of our glorious Sugar Maples when they don their fiery autumn finery!

Steven

Steven - SUCH a BEAUTIFUL shot of TB!!! :) Wow!!

Rose Centric Horticide list. It's a doozy! Mine too!!!

Sheila - that's a GLORIOUS Wasagaming!!! Glorious!!!

Flowers - holy crap! Your John Cabot is excellent...and the color is fabulous!!

Flowers, I am in love with your John Cabot in all his natural glory!

John Cabot is blushing. He's not used to being noticed. I take him for granted. The Canadian roses are like that - dependable without needing any TLC.

I also grow him as a climber. The shrub never gets pruned or deadheaded, but the climber gets whacked on a lot. Neither complain.