I'm around the Peoria area and have a few climbers amongst my 300 roses. 'Crown Princess Mar' is more of a huge shrub with big long octopus arms; self-standing and I grow clematis thru her. Needs lots of room and blooms its head off throughout the summer. Very winter-hardy with little dieback. 'EvS' only gets only 5' tall; pom-pom rosette blossoms; very healthy foliage. Will take shade with no problem. 'Super Jane' is thornless and has light pink single blossoms. Own-root, so be prepared to wait several years for it to mature into a big plant. Mine's going on 4 years and is only about 3 ft. high and maybe 2 ft. wide. Not much of a specimen plant yet...needs more time to attain its full potential. 'Aloha' is a Kordes rose that is a salmon pink and is stellar and BS-free without spraying. Gets tall and reaches to the eaves of my house...I took the support off it this Spring and its self-standing. Continual flushes throughout the year. 'Aloha Hawaii' is absolutely divine; sunset colors and gets 10-12 tall and requires a trellis or pergola to be wrapped upon. Great spring flush, but periodic sparse rebloom. If you don't mind pink, 'Brite Eyes' is a Radler rose classified as a climber but is a big self-standing shrub that can get 8-10' tall and is covered all year with gorgeous blossoms. Healthy foliage as with any of Bill's roses. Shrugs off our harsh Illinois winters also. Pretty much all of my roses are armed with thorns, but I've found there are thorns...and there are THORNS. None worse than the 'Sir Thomas Lipton' rugosas that we yanked out a couple of years ago. They required a metal suit of armor to prune. I am glad they are gone.

GROW VIKING QUEEN!!! it is sooo BS resistant (I am all-organics and in the BS Black Zone); this rose requires no care and is a continual and prolific bloomer. It is also rabbit resistant because it has enough protective thorns to the plant. It drapes beautifully too, and is mannerly so far. You can either let it grow wide or train it vertically/upwards to save on space. (I've seen Florence's beautiful VQ done this way). Viking Queen's canes stay green all winter long too.... I got mine from Long Ago Roses. The foliage is very beautiful, shiny like mirrors. Many condolences about your mother.....But your mother will smile because it is a very fragrant rose and so beautiful in bloom form, and I can't think of any other rose that "has it all" the way Viking Queen is.... Unfortunately, my garden is very clumsy so you aren't going to see it in its prime the way you'll see Florence's/Zeffyrose. Here's a link that I also shared with my friends in Europe concerning how beautiful this rose really is. And here is mine, a far cry from hers, but my friends in Europe still like VQ the best out of all my roses.

I've grown two of the Vigorosa series from Kordes, Innocencia and Emely. Both were short, very disease resistant and bloomed a great deal. This was in the southeastern US - it's rated to 6b by default on hmf, but may well withstand colder temps, being Kordes. Emely is one, I think that Pickering is phasing out, but I think it's still available from there. I grow Kordes' Cream Veranda and have found it to be very bs and mildew resistant here; very pretty bloom. hmf rates it to 6b but I notice that Celeste in New Hampshire grows it. New to me this summer, but I really like Tantau's Sweet Haze, which has a very pretty single pinkish bloom; Heirloom rates it to zone 5. I think hmf zone rating is in error, 8 to 9. What colors are you wanting?

Hi Aliska, Lilies grow in Alaska & Canada so cold weather alone won't do them in. The bigger problem with cold weather is in the Fall. Late blooming lilies like the orientals (such as Stargazer) don't have much time after blooming to feed their bulbs before cold weather sets in. That's why Asiatics & Longiflorums are safer bets for the very cold zones. As for your Stargazers, they're safer than your lilies that are already up because they are still underground where they are insulated from weather swings. I'm 2 zones warmer than you and my Stargazers still are not up (which I'm thankful for). Hopefully my LO's will be OK 'cause we're also getting hit with this cold snap. Yes, it would be great to have a big conservatory - but in my case that would take up most of my yard! :) While Stargazers prefer acid soil, as a modern hybrid they are pretty tolerant of less than perfect conditions. You mostly have to be careful that they get reasonable drainage. (lilies can't take being soggy.) If you like, mulch them with peat moss, shredded pine bark, and/or pine needles and that should make them happy. -Helen