I haven't tried any yet, but I've read that Gertrude Jeckyll, Charlotte and Eglantyne are all very hardy...at least to zone 4.

It's hard to find very many plants rated to zone three-they're chicken. If it's rated to zone 4 or even 5, it's worth a try.
David Austin has test gardens around and has a page of cold hardy roses. Here's the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: David Austin

That's good advice, I think.

Also, maybe you could contact Riku, z3, Canada, here for some advice. Riku grows God knows how many gazillion roses in zone 3, although I think he's also a bit of a zone stretcher. He knows his stuff though. Just look him up on the member page or enter riku into the search box for this forum.

Good luck!

Andrea

Thank you for the reference Andrea.

I have looked previously at the Austin list for zone 4, and have tried all of them overtime with some form of protection. There is only one I question even trying in zone 3A and that is Graham Thomas, never survived beyond two winters or me. By the way Moulineux is in the same boat for me so your doing well if it made at least one winter.

There are also some stars missing that comeback well that are not on the list. Out of the missing the stars are Queen Nefertiti and St. Swithum.

The list below are ones that still survive as of last season and one back to 1999. There is a large cluster that survived from 2002 to 2003 when my experimental planting frenzy was at it's maximum - there are others but names have been lost so I can not confirm ID, or out of multiple tries only maybe one survives and even though it is for a long time I leave them out.

By the by, YMMV.

Abraham Darby - since 1999 but in a very shelter south garden
Benjamin Britten - couple of years - north garden
Brother Cadfel - toughy - north garden
Charles Darwin - north garden
Cordelia = star - north garden
Cottage Rose - north garden
Crocus Rose - north garden
Crown Princess Margaretta - survived and flourished after I moved them to the south facing garden from the north one
Eglantyne - north garden
Evelyn - fluke I believe - north garden
Falstaf - poor bloomer but keeps popping out - north garden
Gertrude Jekyll = star - north and south garden
Golden Celebration - south only
Heritage - south only
Jude the Obscure - south only
LD Braithwaite - north now
Lilian Austin - only one of many tried but very old
Lucetta® - north garden
Mary Magdalene - north and south gardens
Mayor of Casterbridge - north garden
Mistress Quickly - north garden
Queen Nefertiti® = a star, bush looks like hell but terrific blooms - north garden
Sharifa Asma® - north garden
Tamora - north garden
Tess of the D'Ubervilles - south garden
Tradescant - south garden
Wenlock - north garden
Wlliam Morris - out of ten own root planted at once, only one survived and now since 2002 - genetic fluke?

Riku, out of curiosity have you measured the temperature difference between your north and south garden? Is it also the wind factor?

Very impressive list. Amazing that some of those roses are grown in Florida, too.

Sherry

Back up in zone 4 in Wisconsin I knew of a couple of folks who had Heritage and Mary Rose survive the winters up there.

the very best, my advice:
Mary Rose, and the white sport of MR - Winchester Cathedral.
Mary Rose roots very well from cuttings, and I suggest you take cuttings, of just simply use the technique called "layering", which also works very well with MR.

that way, even if it gets killed back to the ground it will still regenerate from the root. in my zone, the bush keeps getting bigger and bigger each year. if you have plenty of snow, this will protect the bush well. otherwise, use compost, or ground up shredded bark, or something like that, to help you bush survive and thrive.

I'm 4B as well and find I agree with both Riku and Klinko's recomendations. There are two however that I find to be very hardy that do not appear above. They are St. Cecilia and St. Swithun.

St. Cecilia is particularly hardy. It has survived here for at least 5years without protection and virtually no cane damage with ambient temperatures to -31C and wind chill values of at least -45C. It is in my garden as hardy or hardier than many of the Explorer series roses. Add to that potent fragrance, excellent bloom form, very good rebloom and good health and you have an exceptional cold climate Austin.

My list of hardiest varieties is:

St. Cecilia,
Redoute,
Winchester Cathedral,
Mary Rose,
Lilian Austin,
Crocus Rose,
Mayflower, (Said to be bred from Therise Bugnet)
St. Swithun,
Mrs. Doreen Pike (Rugosa)

and I would also agree with Riku about Charles Darwin and suprisingly Evelyn if she is protected. Evelyn is very vigorous grows back fast and produces huge fragrant blooms with great frequency. Plant her deep, cut her short in fall and cover her with leaves or straw and I expect she will do just fine in zone 3.

Cheers, Rideau Rose Lad.

Here is a link that might be useful: St. Cecilia at Help Me Find Roses

Suzie, I am a great believer of planting the graft 6” below the dirt. All of my grafted David Austin roses do great planted that way. A word of caution when planting, though... be careful to take “sinkage” into consideration. You know, you plant the rose, water the rose a lot and it sinks in the hole. If you fill in with more dirt, the graft then is 7 or 8 inches below the dirt. I now start with 4” and go from there. My 2 grafted Evelyn that I planted last year started out with the graft at 6” deep. They managed to come up out of the ground through the 8 inch deep burial (after extra dirt was added), but I’m not sure they were happy to do it. I think I may have had more canes come up if I wouldn’t have been quite so aggressive with the hole digging. :)

Rebecca

Rebecca, thanks for the tip and sinking them after watering . I will watch for that. So you are in z 4 as well? What all varieties of David Austins have survived for you up here in this colder climate? And do you do anything for winter for them. Thanks. It's nice to hear from gardeners from our area.

'Gertrude Jekyll' has survived in my NY state zone 4 garden since 1992.

Suzie, I can get anything to survive if I plant it within a foot of the house. Almost all of my roses are planted there. Some, like Crown Princess Margareta have done well in my middle yard own root from DAR. I do put a wood bark mulch on my roses at planting time and that stays there. I do not do anything else to overwinter them. I just chop them off at ground level and wait until spring. As long as I bury the graft or have big root own root roses from DAR, or plant them to within a foot of the house, I can plant anything and have it survive. Some come back better than others. I always change my mind and redecorate my yard, so a lot of my roses get treated like annuals. :) Just go for it. I love to dig holes!

Rebecca

Rebecca, come to my house! I have plenty of holes that need digging.

Cath

I am in Madison, WI which is zone 5. I have had the following DA roses in my garden for at least 10 years. I do not provide any winter protection for them and they come through every winter unscathed.

Winchester Cathedral

Queen of Sweden

Leander

Eglantyne

A Shropshire Lad

I have recently added Tea Clipper and St. Albans about three years back and they seem to be doing well also. The majority of roses in my garden are OGR.... Lots of Gallicas, Albas, Bourbons and a few Hybrid Perpetuals. I like most of my roses to be done blooming before the Japanese Beetles descend upon us. But it's nice having a few DA to provide flowers through the summer