The place to start is usually with how the roses are going to be stored over the winter. My potted roses go in the attached garage, which freezes but has never gone below 20F. Too warm, and the roses try to grow, but don't have enough light. Basements are almost always too warm. Unattached structures are fine during the current string of warm winters, but if it we get true zone 5 temperatures, it may very well get too cold out there for roses that are marginal temperature-wise.

The biggest problem growing HTs where I am is that they require a regular spray program to do at all well. Disease pressure is noticably less the further west you go, so exact location can be important. Most Austins here also will noticably benefit from spraying. Given proper care, both kinds can do well in large pots, though Austins are notorious for being short lived as cut flowers.

Before you give up on roses in the ground, give 'Stanwell Perpetual' a try. If you pick a spot now and layer it heavily with compost, composted manure and mulch every year, the soil there will improve dramatically. 'Stanwell Perpetual' is a very hardy Scotch brier hybrid that offers rebloom throughout the season. While certainly not a Hybrid Tea, it will likely do well for you.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Stanwell Perpetual' at HelpMeFind

Yes, I suppose another option for storage is in a protected area along the house, as I've heard this has worked well for some people in the past. Right now I am in Saratoga, but will be moving to Amherst in the spring, which I believe is in a zone 6.

I've heard that when gardening in containers it's best to choose roses that can withstand AT LEAST one zone lower so I'm looking at roses that are hardy to 4. Our basement goes to between 58-62, so it probably is too warm, and the unattached shed is whatever the temperature is outside.

My grandfather use to bury his roses, does anyone still do this? I've also been advised to line the pots with newspaper for insulation and that they should be alright in the shed then...is this on the right track?

Zone listings for roses are, eccentric, to put it mildly. To get a rose reliably hardy to zone 5, you have to look for roses claimed to be hardy to zone 3. I've seen roses listed as zone 6 that are hardier than ones for zone 4, etc. Own-root rugosas and Explorers are about the only things that really fit the description of being hardy enough for pots in zone 5 (once bloomers will survive in pots, but usually don't like pot culture)

One of my big problems discussing winter protection is that a lot of people seem to have heat and insulation confused. Heat makes things warmer. Insulation slows the temperature change between the inside and the outside, but doesn't warm anything. So during an extended cold spell, an insulated but unheated shed is going to just get colder and colder. If the idea is to keep something above 20F, but the weekly high is 22, it is only going to work if heat is added. That is why we are so fond of attached garages. They receive heat through the house wall, and so tend to avoid brutal cold. Note this changes depending on the climate. Other places may be able to get it to work.

I rent at the moment, and am growing a lot of roses in containers. In fact, I had 130 last winter. My rule of thumb is that roses that are rated two zones hardier than my zone should be able to survive winters outside, and for the most part this has worked. The exception was a couple that were in 2 gal. nursery pots instead of my standard 16" pots, they did not survive outside even though they were zone 4 rated. The others were crowded, and in some cases stacked, into my attached garage. If all you have is an unattached one, this will protect from the drying winds of winter, which is a good part of the dangers outside, but not from the cold, so I'm not sure how much this would work. I can say that I had a few extras that would not fit in the garage that still survivied outside that were zone 6 roses, but with significant dieback. Some that survived outside, no protection and no dieback at all--Darlow's Enigma, the polyantha Lauren, Hope for Humanity, Yolande d'Aragon, Dorcas, Reine des violettes, Sir Thomas Lipton, several once-bloomers like the Apothecaries Rose, Madame Hardy, Paul Ricault, La Belle Sultane, and Applejack. Those that survived but with dieback included Spanish Rhapsody, Gruss an Aachen, Marie Pavie, and George Burns (I'm still not sure he deserves his zone 4 rating).

One thing, though--the reason I've only been growing roses seriously for the past 4 years instead of most of my life (which I've been a serious gardener since my early teens) is because of several very bad experiences involving grafted roses in a zone 5 climate--I lived in MO at the time, and this was with the old climate zones. With very few exceptions, this led to a yard full of Dr. Huey after just a couple of years of planting the roses. This has led me to a firm belief in own-root roses only, and they have not let me down in any of my container gardening so far.

Thank you, KSGreenman! I am a renter as well, and it certainly makes gardening a challenge.

I think I'm going to experiment - I might bury some against the house, try one or two insulated (but not buried) on a protected porch against the house, and I'll probably try and coerce them into finding a place to fit a couple of my favorites inside the garage. Hopefully they'll survive until we move to a warmer zone!

I have seen rugosas growing on sand dunes at the beach and they are quite cold hardy. These should be able to survive your conditions in the ground. I do not know about using them as cut flowers though. Someone else will be more knowledgeable about that.

Cath

I think I would take more into consideration what kind of room your have around your container garden. Hybrid teas are really easy to grow in pots because you prune them down to green wood each spring. Rugosas and other Hardy roses you don't prune will just get bigger and bigger on you and not be good for a pot soon.

As far as cold goes, If your containers are large enough, and you can protect them from wind and sun scald, I think you will do fine. My mom grows her roses in pots in zone 4. She pushes them over to a fence for wind protection and throws straw over them making a mound. She loses few roses- no more than anyone growing them in the ground in zone 4. her pots are 20" or so.
Be sure to water them until the ground freezes. Drying out and severe temp changes are the hardest things to survive. (going for balmy 50s to single digits in a day or 2 can kill a rose).

I am in 5 b and I had a dozen roses overwinter just fine in little 3 or 5 gallon pots this winter (several were bands from last year- several were Austins). I ran out of time creating a new bed for them. I just dragged them to the foundation of my house in the most protected corner and throw pine needles on them. I lost zero (tho our winter was not harsh at all). I have 3 that live in ceramic pots (24") and they have managed 3 years that way. I make sure they are able to receive moisture (rain, snow) by not putting them under the eaves.

If you can find them, I recommend own root roses. Northland Rosarium carries roses for our zone and they are all own root and they have all kinds. They are bands... but they catch up in year 2 or 3 to the other HTs. I have a 2 year old Stephen's big purple that looks almost as big as the other older plants. I recommend him. I have several Austins both grafted and own root. I think I would pick the Austins that are least likely to have an octopus habit (no Gertrude Jekyll, no Abe darby). Lady Emma Hamilton, Jude the Obsure, Tamora, Tradescant are the ones I have that I think would be good in a pot.
I was thinking about getting Princess Alexandra of Kent and Young Lycidus for a pot too.
I am planning to grow Baronne Prevost, Madame Isaac Pereire and a few other old garden roses in pots next year. I think they should do fine. (I would avoid polyanthus, chinas, most musks)

Buy what you like and give it your best shot is my advice.

I was just thinking - there is a long time poster here who lives in zone 4 and she grows so many many roses and does not winter protect and they do fine.
You can find some of her roses pictures here and her comments about them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Celestial Roses zone 4 roses

This post was edited by lola-lemon on Thu, May 23, 13 at 0:35