Jim in zone 6 had a friend who grew Distant Drum as own-root and it was wimpy on her. Distant Drum is best as grafted.

Mine is still in it's pot, in the garage, but Distant Drums grows perfectly fine at the Rosarium, high on a windy plain, in Spokane, WA, a solid zone 5. So, if your 4b isn't too different, I would try. An added note, they do not winter protect any of their roses. An own root would give you the benefit of coming back from the roots if the top should die.

Isn't Spokane supposed to be 6A-6B, based on the USDA map? (But of course, the weather exposure in a given exact location makes some difference.)

Chicago Botanical Garden, zone 5b has a big bed of Distant Drums. They were grafted on Dr.Huey and I was impressed at how much they bloom and super-healthy in loamy soil.

Joey in zone 4, Wyoming grows State of Grace (Distant Drum x About Face). About Face is EXTREMELY VIGOROUS as own-root in my zone 5a. I got so tired of it being over 7 feet tall for the past 5 years that I pruned it down to the crown.

Yes, Steve. Spokane, the city, is zone 6a and 6b. Spokane county is 5b. Diane

Steve, the zone maps show Spokane is z6, but as you suspected, there are a lot of variants. There are 76 lakes in the Spokane area, a mountain, many elevations, wooded areas and plains. I live north of Spokane, in a snow belt, so our lows are lower than Spokane. Our most recent winters have been exceptionally mild, closer to z6. This winter is an anomaly. Diane said it best.

Thank you @strawchicago z5 and @flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA for the info. I’m already pushing it with several roses and so maybe this is just another one to experiment with. It would be in a protected location. Maybe I’ll try one own root and one grafted. I wish I could more easily find it grafted on MF instead of DH.

I grow a grafted Distant Drums in my zone 5a. I often feel like our windy hill is close to zone 4. It does beautiful for me and I never give it any protection. However I do have it in a spot that is protected from north and west winds.

Thanks Ashley, that that’s helpful!