I think Polar Joy is the only tree rose that is hardy enough to be planted outside and left out all winter. It is not the typical tree rose as it is not grafted on top, just trained to a standard. I have not had one 12 years, but the one at my client's is going on four years old and has had no protection over the winters. On the one hand, Polar Joy is nice because it is the only tree rose that can be grown through our winters. But on the other hand, it is a single, is that same kind of neon pinkish color as William Baffin, and is not fragrant.

I have a Mary Rose tree rose that I have had for going on five years. It is in a large pot and gets brought into the attached garage for the winter. It doesn't seem to mind this at all. The key is to keep it as dark as possible. I bring mine indoors some time in Nov. I haven't heard about the increased canker risk you mention, nor have I experienced it. By late winter it starts putting out shoots and then begins the dance of pushing it in and out of the garage (bringing it in when there is going to be a hard freeze). One year it started growing extra early and had longish shoots, but recovered once I got it outside. It blooms its head off all summer and needs to be pruned quite a bit after each flush so it doesn't get top-heavy, and to keep it looking neat.

David Austin Roses offers tree roses for sale through the catalog.

The RBG in Burlington Ontario has had tree roses that are older than a decade. They do spend every winter in the RBG greenhouses and are carried to and fro in special wire baskets. The roses are once blooming ramblers. At least one is Dorothy Perkins and another is Turner's Crimson Rambler.

Wow, Anne. I got to check out Dorothy Perkins, a fantastic once-bloomer that occasionally has a tiny bit of rebloom and is zone appropriate 4b and upward. The once-bloomer Turner's Crimson was also very lively. These must be great weepers/standards, I love their photos on HMF. Unfortunately I didn't know at the time that my hybrid tea tree roses I chose were actually zone 7b and they had fragile genes as well. But the great thing was that they bloomed like crazy no matter the condition of their foliage.

I think the major difference is that the Burlington tree roses spend the winter in the greenhouse where there is light and warmth and can be carried back & forth. Mine stayed in the dungeon of my garage with no light and they were not carried back and forth if we ever got a warmer break in the weather. Not that this would have helped that much because our winter remained record-breaking cold anyway. But even a little bit of light and fresh air in February through March might have helped the tree roses a lot! Instead I waited until it was "safe" to bring them out. But I also think that non-stop rains are detrimental to my tree roses. The canker always starts right at the bud-union and spreads upwards on the stem or simultaneously down to the bud union and it always occurs when we get slammed with flooding rainstorms. This drives me crazy! If the canker had started on the upper portion of the stems, it would be a piece of cake to solve (you can easily prune and cut). But invading the bud union from the get-go is absolutely maddening!

Next year when I restart my tree roses I will definitely carry them in and out of the garage more frequently and I will also start my severe pruning in winter instead of waiting until Spring.

Veilchen, I checked David Austin's tree roses but the only ones they had were Austins and not the Old Garden Roses. Maybe one of these days David Austin will carry them perhaps? that would be nice.

Serena,

Did you ever think of mounting one of those giant 8ft umbrellas near your tree rose? Then when it rained alot you could open it up over-top the rose. LOL

I recall seeing The Fairy as a tree rose at White Flower Farm, in Litchfield CT, which in Zone 5.

Blossom Blanket and Tamora have survived for 2 years. I do not winter protect but they are somewhat sheltered from the wind. Go figure...

LOL, Jim, I bet the tree roses would shower you with gratitude. I think that's what I need a special rose-umbrella invention! We kept getting drenched over and over during the fall with chilly non-stop rains. This spring it's the same way, what a nightmare. Last year we had a very nice, pleasant dry growing season and all the roses were in prime health in Spring and Summer because of this.

Well, Susan, it will be fantastic when they live up to their decade benchmark. Many nurseries and gardeners I talked to when I first started growing mine said that tree roses are very difficult to keep past a certain number of years. Shelter from the wind is also very important. So you mean you kept Blossom Blanket and Tamara outside for 2 years??? Yikes, which state exactly are you in???? are you sure you are zone 5, if I may dare ask? In Kansas your tree roses would be as dead as doornails, I can guarantee you this! even with wind protection. The only way I can think is if you kept them in an indoors patio enclosure perhaps? or you brought them in and out of doors depending on the weather?? It is true that Tamora is zone 5b, unlike my tree roses which are 7b, but still...It is hard for me to imagine an exposed graft rose surviving 0-3 degree temps in a zone 5 which is our lowest point for this year and it was consistently cold at that, not just for a handful of days.