Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mmmm12cozone5

Zone 5 and colder, which roses would you buy again

mmmm12COzone5
last month

Was/am considering a new rose bed. Alternatively could just replace rose in my current rose garden that I wouldn't buy again. If you live in zone 5 or colder could you share which ones you would buy again and why? Also post a full bush picture if you have it.


Roses I'd buy again include:

  1. Winnipeg Parks - First to bloom in the spring. Last to have living blooms in the fall. So prolific that the Japanese Beetles can't eat everything.
  2. Fred Load's - Gorgeous pillar of bright orange rose for me.
  3. Candy Land - Blooms last a long time on the bush. Attractive (still small for me) climber that is easily shaped.
  4. Parade Day - Lots of gorgeous blooms.
  5. Amiga Mia - Great scent, gorgeous bush, lots of flowers.
  6. Dick Koster - Not a great bloomer but what does come lasts a long time and the Japanese Beetles don't touch it. Also find the flowers really cute.
  7. Iceberg - Good performer.
  8. Pretty Lady Rose - Has been more of flusher as it has aged but the blooms are gorgeous and I love the scent.
  9. Easy on the Eyes - Gorgeous flowers.

Don't have a complaint about but not sure I would buy again.

  1. Livin' Easy - Gorgeous flowers, blooms alot, nice bush but I don't really love it like some of the others.
  2. Calico Gal - I emotionally love this rose as for me it has an appealing bloom form but I feel that there may be better choices out there. It can be stunningly pretty. Probably will keep it.


Roses I would not buy again:

  1. Above All - Blooms are short lived and come late so they are eaten by Japanese Beetles.
  2. Neil Diamond - Flowers fry in the sun. Scent is strong but doesn't appeal to me.
  3. Lady in Red - Advantage is it blooms in the heat of the summer when nothing else does. But I hate that it dies to the ground every single year.
  4. Robusta - Too many thorns (rugosa).
  5. Sally Holmes - Eaten by Japanese Beetles all through the summer. Never got as big as advertised.
  6. Denver's Dream - Flowers last a long time but the color palate doesn't go well with my other roses.
  7. Dainty Bess - Gorgeous blooms but too easily eaten by Japanese Beetles.
  8. Love Song - Stayed small and blooms well for it's size but is really too small.
  9. Fourth of July - Hasn't taken yet. Love the blooms but they fry in the sun and there aren't alot of them.


Based on the list above I could have 9 spots that I could try new roses in without opening a new bed. Or I could just take the first 3 out. I really wouldn't mind losing those three.


Decisions, decisions...so if you have some you really love I'd love to see if they would work for me also and maybe replace some on my list that are nice roses and do well but that I wouldn't buy again.


Comments (19)

  • strawchicago z5
    last month

    Great list .. fantastic reference for cold zoners. THANK YOU. Will write about my zone 5 garden later.

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked strawchicago z5
  • strawchicago z5
    last month
    last modified: last month

    I highlight in BOLD below Austin roses for my zone 5 that I would buy again, the ones which are not highlighted: I won't buy. Below are the dimensions of Austin roses in my zone 5, rock-hard clay, high rain, and cold winter (-20 F windchill factor): VERY SMALL OWN-ROOT Austin Roses: St.Cecilia (ultra wimpy at 1.5' x 1' always chlorotic), A. Shopshire Lad (1' x 1.5') died after 1st zone 5 winter, Jude the Obscure (1.5' x 1.5') died 3 times, Noble Antony (1.5' x 1'), W.S. 2000 (1.5' x 2) as 12th-year-own root, Lillian Austin (1.5 x 2'), Sharifa Asma (mine was only 1' x 1' even as 10th-year-own root), Boscobel (1' x 1') and both gallon-size own-roots died in its 1st zone 5 winter, Leander (2' x 1') and died twice in my zone 5 as own-root,

    Wise Portia is 1.5' x 1.5', William Morris (stingy as 1st-year-own-root, this hated my heavy clay but does well for Pakistan Rosarians in sandy & hot climate).

    TINY AUSTINS even as grafted: Young Lycidas (1.5' x 1') and died in its 1st winter, Eustacia Vye (1.5' x 1') and survived my zone 5 winter.

    Also compact OWN-ROOTS: Carding Mill is less than 2 feet across even as 11th-year own root, Christopher Marlowe (1.5' x 2'), Pat Austin (2' x 2'), The Squire (1.5' x 1' wide), The Dark Lady (2' x 2'), Tess of d'Ubervilles (3' x 2'), Mary Magdalene (2' x 2') as 12th-year-own-root, Abraham Darby (2.5' x 2'), Teasing Georgia (3' x 2') but died in poor drainage clay, Wenlock (2.5' x 1.5') and died in spring flood, Sweet Juliet (2.5' x 2.5'), Royal Jubilee (2' x 2'), Darcy Bussell (bloomed more than grow & needed fast drainage & died in spring flood).

    Medium-sized OWN-ROOTS: Evelyn (3' x 2.5') as 12th year own root, Munstead Wood (1.5' x 2.5'), Charles Darwin (2' x 2'), Golden Celebration (3' x 3'). Pat Austin (2.5' x 2').

    MONSTERS OWN-ROOTS: L.D. Braithwaite (6' x 4') as 2nd-year-own-root, James Galway (15' x 2.5'), Radio times (4' x 6'), Lady of Shalott (5' x 4'), Crown Princess Margareta (7' tall x 6' wide), Princess Anne (5' x 3'), Scepter's Isle (5' x 3') in 2nd year so I gave it away (scent smelled like dirty socks and myrrh).

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked strawchicago z5
  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    last month

    Grand Amore, Earth Song, and Molineux. A deep red, a pink, and yellow.

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
  • summersrhythm_z6a
    29 days ago

    I love Sally Holmes blooms. Many moons ago I got 2 from Walmart at $6 each, they were wonderful until a cold winter killed them. I will buy this rose again, this time I will buy enough for a hedge since the winter here is much warmer now.

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked summersrhythm_z6a
  • mmmm12COzone5
    Original Author
    29 days ago

    I like Sally Holmes blooms also. I bought 3 in my first round. Then replaced one when it didn't make it. But they don't do well for me here. The one that I still have is a squat sprawling bush. I wanted a big tall wall of white which is why I bought 3.

  • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
    29 days ago

    My Sally Holmes didn't survive the first winter.

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
  • summersrhythm_z6a
    29 days ago

    Mine lasted about 5-6 years. But I was in zone 6a, now is 6b. Last summer I planted 12 rose trees in the garden to test out, they're all ok.

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked summersrhythm_z6a
  • Dave5bWY
    26 days ago

    Thanks for starting this thread. This will only be my third season for my current garden and so time will tell but of my non-OGRs, some of the standouts have been Silas Marner, Pretty Polly White, Pretty Polly Lavender, True Love, Apricot Drift, Sweet Drift and Bordeaux. I’ve mentioned the OGRs in another thread and so I won’t list them here right now but I’ll add to this when I’ve had more experience gardening in this cold climate.


    Is your Iceburg cane hardy? I’m looking for a non-rugosa hardy white(ish) rose that’ll grow to 3-5 feet each season. I’ve heard Susan William Ellis is quite hardy but I’m not sure if I’m crazy about the bloom form. Have any of you grown Lichfield Angel?


    mmmm12COzone5 thanked Dave5bWY
  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    26 days ago

    pereretty PollypretblAVE avender is a lovely rose in zone 5 Mine. Pretty Polly Lavender

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
  • rosecanadian
    26 days ago

    Mad Gallica - yes, I agree...that color is wonderful!

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked rosecanadian
  • mmmm12COzone5
    Original Author
    26 days ago

    I don't think we trim much off iceberg. Somewhere I have a post about my cane hardy roses from last spring. I'll have to go find it. It may not be tall enough. It is probably less than 3 ft, but just barely.

  • mmmm12COzone5
    Original Author
    26 days ago

    https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6375517/-20f-in-co-rose-survival-report#n=43

    Above is my survival report from last year. Only 3 roses kept some cane for me. Iceberg was not one of them. This year more will have cane because it didn't get as cold.

  • Josg Maggsib
    26 days ago

    umbra, cherry frost, above and beyond, high country banshee, lady of shallot, marianne, james galway, st swithun, therese bugnet, john davis, madame plantier were all hardy to the tips for me this year. we had a very mild winter but it was super dry with no snow cover, and some other roses like madame anisette suffered from that. i should have got out and watered. z4/5

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked Josg Maggsib
  • mmmm12COzone5
    Original Author
    21 days ago

    Thanks Josg Maggsib,


    Cherry Frost and Theresa Bugnet from your list are of interest to me.


    How do the blooms on Cherry Frost age? Do they last a long time? Does it bloom well in the summer? How big has it gotten for you?


    Theresa Bugnet is described as a rugosa but one of the reviews says thornless from 12" up which is very attractive to me. How do you find yours? How big has it gotten for you and where do you live?


    Any pictures of each of them? I like full bush pictures, if you have them, to see the shape. Any other comments on growing them?

  • Josg Maggsib
    21 days ago

    hello, i don't have good shots of them, sorry...


    there are nice and accurate pics of cherry frost on helpmefind. they throw sprays of many roses which bloom at the same time. great rebloom and absolutely bulletproof - we had an awful, hot drought summer here in minneapolis last year and it bloomed a ton as well as throwing new basals to over 4' in the first year. i got it in a 1 gallon pot though. no cane damage. first year it grew to four feet, this year i suppose it will grow a bit more over my head. there are some big strapping specimens in local rose gardens here.


    my therese bugnet i got as a little band last year so i don't have as much to comment on yet. came through the winter great and is already leafed out which none of my other roses are quite yet.


    ps- i highly recommend above and beyond. it is a stunner in person.

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked Josg Maggsib
  • mmmm12COzone5
    Original Author
    21 days ago

    I have seen Above and Beyond once and really loved it. However I was told it had a good spring flush but very little after that. Just a few scattered blooms. Is this what you found?

  • nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
    21 days ago

    mmmm I list Therese Bugnet among the roses I won't be replacing. It was tip hardy and huge and bushy like others mentioned, but it was barely a once-bloomer. Maybe two weeks of scattered blooms on a huge tree-like bush. For about a week it would look decently covered enough for me not to pull the plug and dig out that monster. It's one of the roses that was actually a relief to lose in my great rose purge last year because now I had to dig it. It was in prime location so the only thing that might have limited its bloom is our relatively alkaline soil. Not so alkaline that multiflora hates us -my Palatine roses on mf do fine. Also other rugosas like the lovely Linda Campbell or Mrs. Anthony Waterer bloom regularly and profusely in much worse conditions. TB was among my earliest bloomers and also the first to quit.

    YMMV of course

    In answer to what roses I'll be replacing, my answer is almost all of them (I'm embarrassed to admit what percentage of my previous 850 roses that is). Most urgently the Delbard painter series and the irreplaceable rose list I've posted elsewhere.

    Besides TB, others that I was glad to see go: Fimbriata (ugly, sparse), Rountuit (same), What a Peach (boringggg), Mountain Music (same), Mystic Fairy and Macy's Price (I love the Easy Elegance series but these were boring), Eutin (scruffy and huge blackspot), Rembrandt (blink and you miss it), Crown Princess Margaretha (never bloomed in 12 years on copious canes, except for 2013), Madame Alfred Carriere (same as CPM), Yolande 'dAragon and Duchess de Rohan (lovely blooms but mad crazy suckering and spectacular damask crud on YdA) to name a few.

    Cynthia

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
  • rosecanadian
    20 days ago

    Cynthia - I've gotten rid of lots and lots of roses over the years. You want roses that make your heart sing. :) :)

    mmmm12COzone5 thanked rosecanadian