Being a 5A does not mean you have to limit yourself that much IMHO.. it does mean you have to choose wisely,and be vigilant about winter protection.

AS far as the roses ya got now...Are they still commercially available?
are they the same type?
did you winterize them well?
Do you absolutely have to have these 2?
Do you have the time and space to nurse them back to being all they can be?

Me? If they can still be brought and I did winterize them well...and I HAD to have them I'd replace them in the garden with something that over winters better and put them..or new versions of them in pots.

Well until now, that's all I've had is Explorer or Parkland roses because I was afraid to have the ones I really like die due to the cold. I am expecting 7 minis in the next week or two and just picked up a couple of body bags - Tiffany and Pascali. I will plant most near the house basement wall which should help, and mound them up. I've also had Tropicana near the house for 3 years now and is doing fine, and another that was suppose to be peace, but isn't, it's mauvy with huge flowers. This one had to be pruned to the base, but new shoots are starting to poke up. Hopefully I'll have good results to post next Spring. Looking forward to reading replies from other cold zone growers with tender ones.

Joan

How alive is "alive" tends to be interpreted by how much patience you have and how much love you have for that particular rose. I've actually stopped during the act of shovel pruning (in mid to late June no less) because I saw basal breaks that were still below the surface on a rose I thought had completely died, causing me to carefully put everything back as it was and continued to water and pamper. OTOH, I've looked at a rose in late April or early May that I was less than pleased with generally that had winter damage down to the ground and used that as an excuse to pull it out, making room for a new love.

Every year I have a few roses that present themselves that way. This year it's Helena Renaissance, which must have too much HT in it. I will be patient with her though, because she has a fantastic scent.

Every year I have had roses killed to the ground after winter, they have recovered and bloomed by June. The only exception has been some HTs in my client's garden that appeared to be sending shoots up but petered out a few weeks later and I had to declare them dead. The HTs just can't shrug off the winter damage as well as some other roses.

If I thought there was a chance a rose would come back to grow 3-5 feet, I'd never give up on it. As it is, once I see a shoot or two I never give up on them anyway. I guess this is what comes from anthromorphosizing plants. ("How can I kill it when it's trying to hard to live??") :-)

Susan

Master gardeners tell us hybrid teas won't live here. Reckon that means none of ours are alive. We never dig up a rose if it shows signs of life by June 1.

One of those master gardeners is Deb's aunt. It doesn't stop her from coming by and letting Deb cut bouquets for her :) Deb loves hearing from her cousin what is said about us (and our hybrid teas) when we aren't around.

LOL, I'm glad I asked!!
I had forgotten to mention (I know I did on another post a few weeks ago) that this was the only year we didn't get to throwing a foot or two of topsoil at the bases of each rose for winter protection. Usually it really helps get 'em through! It was a crazier-than-usual fall, so we never got it done before the snow flew.

I think the WORST looking one is our New Generation Veteran's Honor...mind you, our 3 grafted are are looking great (though we've had them for about 6 years now). The NG (own-root) is awful looking, but it's only into its second season with us!

Thanks for listening, and for replying...good to know some of us don't let the "Master Gardeners" always be the only authorities!!
:0) Phyl

Some roses don't mind the annual phoenix act, that is, the resurrection from last winter's burn. These come back every year as robust as before, they stay.

But I have removed wonderful roses that weaken over the years when treated this way. They decline; the regrowth is less, the blooms are fewer, the time-lapse unfolding in slower. I take those out of the garden.

Hi Phyl,
With over 300 rosebushes (and growing) I don't limit myself to just the old roses, rugosas, Explorers, etc...although I do appreciate them for their ease of care. I grow many, many roses that should not be hardy here in zone 4 and yes, I do have to cut them back all the way to
the ground every spring. They always rally and put forth
new growth and I am content with plants that will never exceed 2 to 3 feet at the end of the summer. I just enjoy them for their lovely blooms and expect no more than that, always happy that they come back each year in spite of my nasty winters. The upside to these more tender roses is that since they will never get large, I can plant MORE of them since they aren't going to use up my precious rose real estate like the hardy ones which get huge.

This winter we had record snowfall and I thought that would be a good thing, since the roses would be more
insulated. It was good in terms of them not having much winterkill from the cold, but the weight of the snow busted them up so much that I ended up cutting even the hardy roses back severely because there was so much breakage. It was heartbreaking because even the tender roses came through with more green cane than usual. But already they are sending up shoots and looking vigorous.
I never let it discourage me for too long, because giving them their annual "haircut" stimulates them to grow and bloom just fine. Its discouraging at times to live where there are so many obstacles to rose-growing (japanese beetles being my most dreaded foe) but my passion for roses is a greater force than anything Nature throws at me. I just deal with it, and love them all the more!
Celeste

And unlike New York, Voynovia contains the natural habitat of phoenixes. Roses really don't come back here the way they do further west. So it ends up depending on things like how many roses are coming in, how much you like that particular rose, how much you have invested in that particular rose, how many other roses are already in the pot ICU.

Personally, I'd give them one more year. If they aren't ready to go next spring, they are asked to leave.

Expect them to be asked to leave...

Almost all of my roses were cut down to the ground a few weeks ago. Only two are showing no signs of growth. Several have many new shoots coming up and look like they'll do well this year. I'm being patient and waiting on the slow-pokes, but I've got ideas for replacements ready in case they don't grow. I don't give up on a rose that tries to grow as most of mine get stronger every year.

Ditto the above for me. Overtime the garden through winter results and you does the removal (2 to 3 seasons in my case). The removal is also done by about the beginning of June and for the most part the prime spots get hadier roses. Mind you on the bright side some of my HT's have been doing fine for 7 to 8 years.

Phyl, I'm also zone 5, and very few of my roses have sent up their healthy new basal breaks (wise of them since we still have nights below freezing). Those 'semi-alive' roses of yours may very well surprise you with wonderful new future canes (basal breaks) over the next 4 weeks or so. Good luck! My husband always says "Patience - in time grass becomes milk". In the same vein, "Patience, in time stubs become splendid roses".

I can relate to what you're going through. I had to cut down to new climbers that I planted last Fall, to just around two inches. There is some new growth, but it is a little frustrating. Oh, well, thankfully, I have other roses and plants to keep me happy.

When I pruned in mid April a layman looking at my roses would have guessed half of them were dead. Today they are all at least 6 inches tall, including those that appeared to have only one little bit of viable cane. Those little bits are spreading out. Even one I had all but given up on is growing well. Over the years I've learned to prune and not worry or watch over them.
Nature takes care of her own. I may have lost one out of 350 and that was planted late in the fall.

I am happy that they are all coming back, Even though a few of them are only about 5 inches tall. I don't mind having small rose bushes. Its better than nothing. I have two other rose people down the road to compare the dieback amount to. Mine have more green leaves . Theirs are all beet red . So I guess I am doing something right.

I get quite excited about seeing the tiniest bit of green! I feel like shouting, "It's alive; it's alive!!!!" like the mad scientist in Frankenstein.

OTOH - this year has been great with having a foot (at least) of viable cane (they're all starting to get leaves popping out) on my tender roses (Tournament of Roses, Black Cherry, Paul Shriville, L.D. Braithwaite and about 40 others). I used plastic bags stuffed with shredded newspaper as my winter protection. It's the best spring I've ever had - no canker and lots of green cane!!!

Yes, I would DEFINITELY be excited if I were you about the wonderful spark of life still in your rose bush!

Carol

Canadian rose: please details on your over winter technique..I'll need it this winter...