Melissa -- Anita Clevenger (cemeteryrose) from Sacramento is presently in OH, overseeing the wind-down of her parents estate.
She may be able to give you some good tips.

Also, plan to visit the Garden Of Roses of Legend and Romance, for some ideas on what you would want to grow. Different, for sure, from our area in SoCal, but I've been doing a catalog for that garden for the past couple of years, and they grow things I envy.

Ohio is hardly a Region of Outer Darkness for roses! Indeed the area around Mentor, OH, was once a major center of rose breeding and production!

Jeri

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance

Thank you so much, Jeri! That garden is only a half hour from where we'll be!

I realize I DID sound a little dramatic, huh? I'm a southern california girl, and seeing everything covered in 4 feet of snow made me wonder how ANYTHING can grow. The link is great...super helpful and encouraging. :)

mm.

Hi, Melissa -
I should be doing something useful, I guess, but I'm taking a break from clearing out my mother's house. It's cold and windy and wet here today (we are in Sidney, north of Dayton). But signs of spring are all around, including the first wildflowers in the woods and some intrepid daffodils by the side of the house.

Where exactly will you be? Will you be in Ohio by June 11? That's when the Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance will be having an Open House. You may not be able to grow Mrs. B.R. Cant, but just wait till you see what you CAN grow- the best moss roses ever, huge damasks, albas and rugosas.

I don't know if you'll have any time to get involved with this garden, but Kelly, the manager, could use some help. I have tried to assist from afar but it's tough.

Another place to visit to see roses in northern Ohio is Peter Schneider's place - he's one of the editors of the Combined Rose List and has rare and wonderful roses. His Open House is the 12th of June, and both Sat and Sun of the following weekend. He's in Mantua. He's very fond of Lens Hybrid Musks, and once you see them there, you will be too.

Oh, dear - must run - will talk with you more! Don't worry, roses can still be in your life!
Anita

Missy,

I did the same thing 8 years ago and moved from the Pacific Coast of Canada, zone 7/8, to near Ottawa,Canada, zone 4b which is as near as I can tell at least a full climate zone colder than where you will be moving. I'm jealous!

I found the following information by doing a climate query for Wooster, Ohio. Wooster is in the Eastern broadleaf oceanic forest, and is within Hardiness Zone 5, a temperate zone.

Another query showed that minimum winter temperatures in January are normally around -10F or warmer in much of Ohio. That puts you right on the line between zone 5b and 6a, so no worries. You are a full zone warmer than I am and I grow a lot of the English Roses. I've posted the ones I favour here in an Eastern Continental climate in the past, for hardiness, vigour, rebloom, etc. But the the fact of the matter is that where you are moving, all of them should be hardy even without winter protection.

With respect to OGRs, go for it, all of the once bloomers, Gallicas, Albas, Centifolias, no worries, Wichurianna Ramblers, Bourbons, Portlands, Mosses, Damasks, go for it.

Based on my personal experience, most modern roses, and repeat blooming OGRs, aside from Teas, most Noisettes and very tender HTs, can cope with zone 6 temperatures without too much winter damage.

Starting a new garden, I would recommend grafted plants on Multiflora rootstock for vigour. It is going to take rose plants 3 or more years to build up root mass. Ohio is not California and time to maturity will be longer. For the longer term, bare root rose are OK too but only the vigorous ones establish quickly on their own roots. Plant them deeply, bud union 2 to 4 inches below grade. That's it! As they say in L'Acadie: "Worry pas ta brain" (Translation - "No worries!)

More good news, besides being close to the Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance as noted by Jeri, you will be in the same climate zone as two of the best Eastern Canadian rose nurseries, Palentine Roses and Pickering Nurseries. So, for a start, you might wish to check their website to see what they have to say about rose hardiness.

Did I mention Griffith Buck roses, they were bred for your new zone and some have OGR and English rose ancestry and traits. I and others in colder parts of the East, also like many of the Brownell roses, while not OGRS, they are, in my view, American Heritage roses, that are fast becoming rare. Vintage Gardens has some that I can only dream of acquiring. Charlotte Brownell, for one is very rare and gets fabulous reviews from those who grow her in the East. I cannot get her in Canada, or quite a few other Brownell varieties for that matter. I have Orange Ruffles, and Break O'Day and four more Brownell treasures arriving next month. You will not have to dream, you can still order from all of your favorite West Coast nurseries.

So, as Jeri says, your rose growing life is not over, in fact, think of it as a blank palette in a new environment. I had the same fears when I moved, but 8 years later, my rose garden is mature, satisfying and will be hard to give up when I retire and move back home in a few years time.

You will however, have to come to love the changing seasons, sitting by the fire and looking at rose catelogues for four months, and learn the hardest part, waiting for the late, but oh so worthwhile spring to begin.

Do you like Maple Syrup? Maple Syrup is the best thing about the Great Lakes Region. No matter where I live hereafter, I will have to have Mapel Syrup!

Cheers,

Rideau Rose Lad

Melissa - you might want to get Peter Schneider's new book, "Right Rose, Right Place". It is full of great pictures, and lots of advice re what roses grow well in his fantastic garden in OHIO.

Jackie

Thank you all so much! Half the fun of all of this is the planning, reading, and thinking phase...so you've all given me lots to do, and a ton of encouragement. :)

Melissa

Good luck Melissa----You've already received excellent advice-
This will be an exciting new chapter in your life---

Can't wait to see pictures of your new garden.

Florence

Hi Melissa, from an Ohioan to a future Ohioan :)

I'm in the Cincinnati metro area, which is listed as 6a, but for all intents and purposes, you'll be growing the same roses. As said before, bye-bye teas and noisettes :(, but hello to albas, gallicas, mosses. Bourbons and polyanthas do well here with spraying. You'll be trading rust and mildew for blackspot ;) David Austin roses love it here. Multiflora rootstock does well in the alkaline clay soils that are present in most of the state.

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your garden.

Eric

Melissa, seriously, the Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance is spectacular!

What Rideau Rose Lad said..

Pickering is your friend =).. Grafted on multiflora is king... OGRs are terrific.. they come out unscathed in winter, bloom in terrific colors (well except yellowing blends.. which I always drip in jealousy over when I see the teas and noisettes pics) usually heavily scented and bloom alot of times before pesky JBs arrive.

That is one thing you ARE NOT going to like JBS suck.. to put it midly.. all of your hard work is eating in a matter of weeks sometimes.

Silverkelt

I moved from Southern CA when I retired a lot of years ago. I grew roses there but my passion was really Camellias for which I had 100 or so even in my small lot there.

Well enough of that. I live in Upstate NY Z 5. On 10 acres. My rose growing is done in less than ideal soil mostly because the sunny areas have shallow soil under lain with shale. Also on the clay side.

I also agree with grafted on multiflora and Canadian nurseries as American sources such as J&P graft on Dr. Huey which is less than ideal for cold zones although it seemingly is hardy. I wander off.

Mostly I want to put in plug for Kordes roses. They are one of the biggest and oldest growers of roses in the world and they are in a cold zone. They have worked for a very long time to hybridize using hardy wild roses. They are not well represented in the US partly because of a prejudice against things German a left over from WW2.

Anyway I have found there roses great for me. Brownell's were hybridized for Z6 as their breeders lived in RI, Z6. They have a reputation for being hardy partly from their marketing label - Sub-Zero.

Anyway look into Kordes roses. I have found them not only hardy but also beautiful roses and chosen for over-all great performance.

Looking forward to seeing your wonderful discoveries for your Ohio collection.

Mmm Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar Candy :)

Pickering is a great supplier up this way.

Gallicas, Damasks, Portlands, Albas ... these will thrive in the colder winters. Up here, I also grow bourbons, HPs and David Austin roses with success. There is winter dieback, but not all the way to the ground or anything like that. I even over-winter Celine Forrestier (noisette) with success. She doesn't climb too much here, but will reach about 5 ft during the summer. She dies back to the mulch/protection line, but still ...

I think there is still a TON of variety in the roses you can grow up in northern zones, plus the peonies ... OH the peonies :)

Agreed with Kordes roses too. I don't have any yet, but there are several that I desperately want :)

Its a whole new challenge for you, and so tough to leave an established garden ... but there are lots of new and beautiful rose options waiting!

Welcome to Oh! You will find that repeat-blooming roses are prone to damage from winter cold, summer heat, blackspot, jap beetles, deer. We have grown roses in central Oh for 30 years.
As noted by others, you should consider growing various kinds of peonies: the common herbaceous; tree peonies; intersectionals. They are unfazed by all the plagues listed above.

Thanks again...I'm so encouraged and actually excited about getting a fresh start. I can probably believe and actually follow guidelines for spacing now that I won't be in Southern Ca. :)

Three things: I was looking unsuccessfully for the 'Maple Syrup' rose that you guys had to have. It took me a while to realize that it was actual, sweet, edible maple syrup we were discussing. ha!

Two: Yes, I'm am THRILLED to be able to grow peonies.

Three: I had completely forgotton about Japanese Beetles. I always skip that part of anything I'm reading. Oh, blissful southern california ignorance. :)

You will find Japanese beetles to be a singularly aggravating curse!!!!!

(All the more so if you have hopes of growing rose family fruits such as raspberries or blackberries, which they also adore, or the grapes that can be grown in the Northeast, which they like only very slightly less than they like roses! You'll even find Jb's eating the leaves of peaches, cherries, and other rose family trees! The State of California has long gone out of its way to do whatever it can to make certain Japanese beetles never established themselves in that state. So far their strategy has worked, but you're leaving all that for a place where Jb's are long established.)

I'd like to add that JBs aren't an automatic curse just because you live in the Midwest/Northeast. Some people here like Harry in Pennsylvania have had a horrible time with them (you should see his pictures), there are others like myself who have hardly any at all. The degree of infestation can vary due to surrounding geography and climate conditions.

Eric