My Austins have done well. Eglantyne is very hardy and reliable for me. I also grow The Prince, and really like it.

I haven't been able to assess the damage yet, as it's been quite cold here lately, plus we had a late spring. But poking around the garden, it appears all fared fine with 4" or so of green cane, some more than others. I did not winter protect. I have grown all those roses except for The Prince and they should all be fine. Most years Tamora appears to have further cane damage than most, but always recovers from the ground up.

Mary Rose came through just fine - I protected it with a large, inverted foam pot held down with a rock. Just a few inches lost from the tips.

The Mayflower, Mary Magdalene, and The Dark Lady I mounded with soil this year (I was experimenting with winter protection). Canes are dead down to the mounded soil, but green below.

Based on this, next year I'll be protecting all of my Austins with inverted foam pots.

Nancy

Thanks for the responses. I posted this early to get information as it becomes available. I'm sure it's still a bit too early to tell for many zone 5ers.

Ruth

I was out cleaning out the beds the weekend before last and was happy to see all my Austins made it through. I have 4 new ones planted last spring: A Shopshire Lad, Heritage, Graham Thomas and Teasing Georgia. All of them had green canes peeking out from their winter protection. My two others, Winchester Cathedral and The Pilgrim didn't get any winter protection this past season - they were sprouting new growth in January due to the crazy early winter temps and I didn't want to risk mounding them. They sailed through the winter. We had snow right before a major cold snap so they ended up being insulated. I was very pleased with them and will be watching for the new growth.

tess

I had a teeny band of Heritage that suprised me by surviving. Larger, grafted roses (Mary Rose, Abe Darby, CPM, and Graham T) were new last year, and overwintered well. There is some tip damage that will need pruned.

Everything had 8" or so of wood chips mounded up over it.

Cheers,
Michelle

Why foam pots, and not plastic? Availability, or is the material better? Curious, as I am getting an Abe D this spring, and want to take good care next year...

My Graham Thomas own root 3 gallon planted last Fall was mounded with about 6 inches of pine straw and Xmas tree boughs. It is green below this.

I thought I'd bump this post back up as winter damage to zone 5 Austins is probably becoming more apparent by now.

Ruth

Graham Thomas didn't really have any dieback, I just noticed
today when I finally got around to pruning him. It is only
about 4'tall, but I left it on the trellis and it was fine.
Mary Rose did pretty well.

I am also in Southern Ontario, but in typical Toronto fashion the snow arrived AFTER the worst of the cold. I mounded most of the roses, but have had more cane loss than I have seen for many winters. Even Chas. Rennie Macintosh, a truly tough little shrub and one of my oldest, was hit hard. I do see buds on a lot of the brown canes but it will be a little while before I can really tell the extent of the damage as we have had a record cold April which is just starting to shift now.

Mine all survived whether new, old, grafted, own-root, chewed by rabbits or only pruned, mounded, or not. The only roses I think I may have lost were 2 of the new last year bands from Heirloom (not Austins). I experimented with keeping bands in pots through the summer and putting them in the shed for the winter. Frederich Mistral and Magnificent Perfume sure look dead, but are own-root, so I'll give them more time before I pronounce them. I'll have to try a different method next year.

Surprisingly, a 4 year old Charlotte was black almost to the ground. And it was in a protected spot! However, Teasing Georgia is going gangbusters, as are St. Cecila, Lillian Austin and Pat Austin. Chris marlowe is struggling, but green under the mulch. We really did not get adequate snow cover this year until after the cold, and that was the killer. Almost all of the HTs are just about gone.

Foxglovema

Interesting about Charlotte. I thought it was one of Austin's tougher yellow roses.

Ruth

I'm pretty bummed about Charlotte. It was getting very big, although not "bushy". Teasing Georgia, in a semi shady place in the back yard, is doing quite well - lots of new canes - some up to 7 feet long. I don't seem to have a lot of luck with yellows....
Foxglovema

I don't know about this winter but when I gardened in northeastern Wisconsin (zone 4/5) I grew Abe Darby and GT. Both of these had severe cane winter kill WITH protection. :-( They bounced back once the soil warmed but they never grew taller than 3 feet for me.

sunnysideuphill - I used one of those faux-terra cotta pots made out of a foam-like material. It was the size I needed and I thought that the thicker material might protect the rose from temp swings a little better than plain plastic. Seemed to work, Mary Rose only lost about an inch off the tips of the canes, where my other austins were brown down to the mounded soil.

Nancy

Chianti and Brother Cadfael, hardy to the tips.

Constance Spry, some canes hardy but not quite all the way to the top. Some canes dead. But have plenty live wood that will do well as it is on my arbor.

Needing a good trim but bush very much intact: Mary Rose, Redoute, W. Cathedral. Molineaux falls under this category ONLY because I shoveled snow on him all winter off the patio.

Mixed: Heritage, Sharifa, Abe Darby, G. Jeckyl, Eglantyne, Evelyn. Meaning most canes dead to a few inches above ground, but a stray cane or two live up to 12-18".

Needing pruned to just above ground: As in 3-6": Charlotte, Fair Bianca, Tamora, WS 2000, Pat Austin, Shropshire Lad, Perdita, Falstaff, Othello, Kathryn Morley, Ambridge Rose, Teasing Georgia, Christopher Marlowe, Crown Princess Marguerite, John Clare, Charles Darwin, Spirit of Freedom, Wildeve.

Many of the above roses are new to my garden last year; I am finding that the longer I have a rose, the hardier it becomes. Not magically transformed, but it seems the canes overwinter a bit more easily. But there are always some that will need to be pruned to the ground, even after a mild winter, i.e. Tamora.

I moved late last fall, 20th Dec. I bought as many roses with me as I could dig that time of year and overwintered them in pots under my veranda. Several of them are Austins. I pulled them out in mid March to start getting them climatized and started planting them in the ground within the last 10 days.

Most of them did well, the one I think I lost is Wife of Bath, haven't given up completely on her but she looks like a goner. Alnwick Castle and Charles Reine McIntosh really surprised me as having almost all green canes right to the tips, the rest all suffered some dieback, some right to the ground but I think they survived quite well considering the conditions they were in. Also there was no snow cover last winter. All I had were a few bags of mulch and such piled around the veranda for a bit of wind protection. I love the Austins and hope to get more of them soon.

Valerie

All my Austins made it through winter this year. In my zone I expect dieback and honestly a good 6-12 inches of healthy cane after winter is about all I expect. Only a few of my roses were mounded up a little with wood chips last year. Pat Austin, Benjamin Britten, and Tamora are the 3 that come to mind.

Those that came through with 6-12 inches of green cane:
Chianti, Crocus Rose, Eglantyne, Noble Antony, Redoute/Mary Rose, Scepter'D Isle, The Mayflower. This group of roses has over the last few years consistently been the most hardy of my Austins.

These ones weren't quite as happy as the group above but are still looking pretty good:
Abraham Darby, Charlotte, Christopher Marlowe, Graham Thomas, Heritage, Sharifa Asma, Tamora, The Dark Lady, The Prince, Tradescant, Wildeve

And those that are still alive but not all that happy right now:
Benjamin Britten
Jude the Obscure - after 3 years he's still a small plant and not too quick to rebound.
Leander
Molineux - same as Jude
Pat Austin - killed down to the ground. Hopefully there is a little something still alive at ground level or just below since she was planted deep. So beautiful and worth the extra effort to winter protect..
Pretty Jessica - I was really surprised because last year she fared much better. Still alive but I'm thinking she will be getting some extra protection this fall.
William Shakespeare 2000 - he was a tiny plant to begin with. Didn't get off to a good start last year and may never be more than a 1 cane wonder. I should really get my hands on a better WS200 and replace the one I've got.

My 4YO Graham Thomas died back to the ground this year, but seems to have made it. Heritage looks decent.

Two years ago, I tried Sharifa and Tamora and they both died over their first winter.

2 graham thomas appear to be dead. total cane dieoff.
1 Mary rose looks good, minor tip death. Own root
Fisherman's friend (or lovers delite) was alive but the leaves budding out were frozen off 3 weeks ago. Will it recover? Who knows. Own root
3 Heritage - lots of cane death. Who knows. Looks bad, but these all had RMV. Does that affect hardiness?
Abraham Darby - the rose I WISH died, is totally back and roaring. Own root.
Generous gardener - TOTALLY no cane death. Very very hardy rose.
pat austin - very small own root, canes died but it is alive and sprouting back.

On the whole, austins are my most hardy roses here, first of course, being rugosas. Why I bother with anything else is beyond me.

Hi,
I'm in St. John's,NL so a similair climate - my DA roses came through with not even a bit of tip damage. I have Heritage, Ambridge Rose, Evelyn, Eglaltyne, Crocus Rose, Falstaff, William Shakespear 2000, Winchester Catherdral, Yellow Charles Austin, Wild Eve, Redoute ... and a couple more I can't remember. I am amazed at how well they have done. I even had a Egaltyne in a pot that came through with no damage and is starting to leaf out.

Mary Ann

I forgot Charlotte ... She is in there as well and did wonderful. Also forgot to add that I did absolutely nothing for winter protection.

Mary Ann

Very encouraging news Mary Ann. I may have to give Evelyn a try.

Ruth

Pruned the museum roses yesterday--two standouts were G. Jeckyl and Crocus Rose. Both hardy nearly to the tips. I have 2 GJs and mine did not display such cane hardiness. I will definitely be getting a Crocus Rose for myself.

LD Braithwaite, Queen Neferetiti, The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild, and Jude the Obscure all needed pruning 3-6" above ground.

Vielchen, Crocus Rose is near the top of my list too. I've never actually seen one but I love the pictures in Austin's newest book.

Ruth

I have two: William Shakespeare 2000 and Tamora. Tamora was pruned severly this year and William Shakespeare is fantastic- I only pruned the upper 5 inches! Both roses are located on the eastside of the home in a protected area.