Dcrosby, You may be right at the edge of zone 5/6. Check the map here. If you are still zone 5, you just need to do some winter protection. It should be fine. Climate affects disease susceptibility. In dryer, more arid climate like AZ or CA, they don't have to deal with fungal disease like we do here in humid East Coast. When you read people's recommendations, you want to see where they live. Different climate gives different results to the same rose variety. Spraying for roses every week or every two weeks is not my kind of fun (anymore). I didn't even want to smell the blooms after I sprayed the bushes. Now I don't spray, most of my roses esp. Austins look naked by mid summer. Here is a link that might be useful: MA new plant hardiness zone map

Hmmm well most roses need some form of deadheading or pruning in order to "thrive", however various others tend to bloom and be vigorous despite lack of treatment...AKA Knockouts. While I'm not a fan of Knockouts, they are available everywhere, inluding your local Lowe's, etc. After that, I only know of a few through minimal treatment that have done well. After that, Bucks are the only other roses that come to mind such as the Carefree line of Buck roses such as Carefree Beauty.

Lol, this so many wonderful selections I'm having a hard time picking! I found a 3 gallon America rose at a private nursery, I remembered the name from this thread and it was the only fragrant rose in the lot, so I went for it. It has a lovely salmon pink color that turned out to be a great compromise between the decking and white building. The clematis Perle d' Azur is trained up the wall and the rose went in front of it next to a Clematis Arabella intended to scramble trough the border. What surprised me was how much clay I found about 2 feet down while back digging the bed. I dunked two bags of mushroom compost and mixed it up with two bags of fine gravel and one bag of sand but I'm kind of worried about what will happen to the root a few years down the line? Any predictions? Is this enough amending ? I left the hose on to soak the bush, a small trickle for about 45 mins, and when the bed was over flowing I turned it off and it took about 25 mins for the standing water to drain away. This was after I had replaced about 8'x2'x2' of the old dirt. Anybody with more experience who can give me more insight on how this will play in to it's health? There's a few spots on the leaves that I suspect is the dreaded blackspot. I live inland, due west of Chicago, so not exactly coastal climate but still lots of humidity in the summer. I made sure to clear about a foot between plant and wall and also at some distance from where another rosebush been before, I cleared about 2 feet from the original site but I essentially replaced all the dirt as well. I made sure of sinking the bush level with the dirt in the pot per instructions. As far as I could discern, it's not a grafted plant, I felt up the trunk all the way down the to the ball of dirt and felt no bump. I'm very drawn to the Romantica and English roses and am interested to learn more about the two series, My new Colette is coming in this weekend with a Stormy weather who's supposedly a purple rose. These will be my trial experience before I commit to a full rose garden. I understand ramblers only bloom once, no? How do I know the difference between a rambler and a climber? What is the difference between a Grandiflora and a Wicheriiana? My roses must be of the resilient kind and besides generous amounts of mushroom compost and a good trellis will have to fend for themselves. No spray, no chemicals. I'm staying clear of any grafted stock and no Tea roses. What would be the best US purveyors of either the Romantica or the English series? Is it possible to buy rootstock older than a year trough mail order? Also, can anyone advice me on good online sources for reading up on the different categories ? I'd like to hear from someone who grows the Zepherine Drouhin, Queen of Sweden, or the Polka in zone 5. My priorities are as follows: Repeat bloom, disease resistance, fragrance, cut life, color... God bless and thank you! Kerstin

Okay--another question for ya--have you considered miniatures, since you'd prefer something more mannerly? Many of them have fabulous bloom form that never collapses, especially if you're looking for that perfect, tight spiral. Most minis aren't that fragrant, but there are a few that are fabulous. I'm sitting outside right now, so I'll give you a rundown of some of mine that fit the bill: Voodoo - Tall & narrow grower. Lovely orange-juice colored blooms with yummy fragrance that are phototropic and change in sunlight to a screaming scarlet-orange. Pretty darn good disease resistance. Jean Kennealley, an apricot miniature. She has the bonus of fragrance, and gets pretty big for a mini. Spent blooms will flatten out & fade to nearly white, but I think she's spectacular. She's held a very high rating for a long time. Folklore is a hybrid tea with perfect spirals & yellow reverses to coral petals. Lovely scent, big shrub, good disease resistance. Grows taller than it does wide, at least for me. Gemini is a drop-dead gorgeous hybrid tea. New blooms open ivory with just a hit of a deep coral picotee, then it changes with sunlight to almost a completely coral flush. Mine like to pitch candelabras and I think that's due to the Grandiflora breeding line. Great scent. Flawless is a true, medium pink miniflora with a nice scent. It is very disease resistant for me & blooms like crazy, but it tends to have more decorative or frilly blooms than the classic high spirals. I love it nonetheless. I really want to recommend Secret, but I have to spray her to keep her happy. The scent and the blooms are worth it, though. It does not mind the heat and rain does not spot her blooms as badly as most of my other light-colored roses. How white is your white requirement? I grow Irresistible, another miniature. It has no scent, but oh MY!! The blooms retain their form for at least a week and a half, it grows spectacularly, it's very mannerly, and disease resistant. It is a bit cream-colored upon close inspection but looks white from a distance. Also in my white-ish category is World War II Memorial. It's technically a mauve, but from a few yards back it appears to be white. It has glorious scent, very good disease resistance, and I just cannot describe the way the blooms contrast with an almost forest-green set of foliage. The aroma is incredible. It does spot with rain, unfortunately, but it's one of the few whose spots aren't that unattractive. If we get rain while there are blooms present, it looks like a white rose with pink freckles. One of the hardiest I have is Garden Party, but I'd describe it as an ivory rose that likes to have pink petticoats every now and then. Very good disease resistance and AWESOME fragrance, but mine grows like Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors. I think I witnessed her eating a rabbit this morning. [Or maybe it was that Swamp Tea.] All of these are repeat blooming, and I'd say that Flawless, Folklore, and Irresistible are the quickest to repeat. Gemini is sluggish, but when she blooms, she chucks out about 30 at a time. I live where blackspot pressure is very high due to silly nighttime cooling and condensation. I spray for blackspot, but these are the best of my 60 roses that fit your bill. And since I am too lazy to edit my post [Swamp Tea again...dangit], I totally forgot Tahitian Sunset. I am in love with this rose and put her in a bad spot where I can't admire her while on the deck. It is a skyscraper of a hybrid tea with apricot to pink blooms that have a perfect spiral, and the scent is unusual. It has been described as anise, licorice, myrhh....but everyone at work loves to stick their nose in her when I bring her in. Very, very good disease resistance. These are some of my faves, and if you haven't been over to HMF to check out people's rose pics I would encourage you to do so. There is no better enabler for rose buying than this website and that one, combined.