Rebecca, I've had Felix LeClerc for about 9 years and I echo the fantastic comments of everyone about him. He's among the first roses to bloom in late May here in zone 5, and he's totally cane hardy and pretty indestructible. It took about 4-5 years before he rebloomed very well, but now I get blooms pretty steadily into July, and scattered blooms off and on even into November. As for height, I think we'd be in the same boat being in close zones. Felix is hardy to zone 3 at least so I think you're still looking at cane hardiness. Mine is about 8' tall and he puts out laterals pretty well, so if you pull the main canes horizontally along your 8X4' trellis you should be able to get it fairly well covered after a while. Like all climbers, he takes a good 4 years to come into his own so be patient. Also, I find his canes to be pretty stiff so I wouldn't expect to do the zigzag canes you can do with more flexible climbers like Crown Princess Margaretha. You also want to make sure your trellis is pretty strong, given that those sturdy canes can pull down an average wood trellis in the wind. You didn't ask for pictures, but here's one of Felix trying (and not succeeding) to pull down a 6' fake iron (aluminum) fence. You can see that even 4' or so away from the fence he can easily reach the top. For years I didn't realize he was supposed to be a climber so I kept pruning him lower to keep him in line. Fortunately it made him bush out and he's forgiven me since. Mine was from HCR too and he's absolutely fine on his own roots. Have fun Cynthia

I'm in z5. I put down a little steer manure in November, make sure the ground is frozen solid before mulching. That does it for all of my roses. I have one 7b rose and even wrapping the bush won't keep it from dying to the ground.....that said....if it's a wimp.....it will regrow in the spring. (note: the purpose of mulching is to keep the rose frozen, to keep it from thawing out, it's the thawing and refreezing that kills roses in our area).

To grow Noisettes would be very difficult in zone 5 but I think damasks are quite hardy. Bourbons, I would think, should be decided case by case. I think you could find several Hybrid Perpetuals that would do well and repeat better in cold zones than in warm ones (in case of HPs I positively feel zone envy) True antiques like albas and gallicas are cold zone roses as far as I know. Palatine has a number of Geschwinds that are supposed to be cold hardy and they also offer Gallicas. On Pickering sites you can do an advanced search for winter hardy roses. If you want own root roses, you can search Ashdown's website and Rouge Valley's list of hardy roses. I am sure many nurseries have such separate listings for hardy old roses. also list in a separate category hardy roses.

Thank you for the recommendations so far. I grew Viking Queen once--she is definitely very hardy and BS resistant, a tough rose. I've always been intrigued by Constance Spry, but haven't gone for it b/c she's a once bloomer. On my list of possibilities, I have mainly modern climbers, like the Kordes climbers Jasmina, Rosanna, and Aloha Hawaii, primarily for their BS resistance ratings on the Kordes website. I also have St. Swithun, Amadeus, and Quadra on my list. But then I saw the recommendations that north_ca_rose got for an arbor rose in CA, and I wondered if any of these would be hardy enough to grow in Midwest 5b. Please advise: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0717171119593.html Renae Annie Laurie McDowell--I'm very intrigued by this one Crepescule Reve d'Or Lamarque Cornelia Clair Matin Pinkie, Cl China Doll, Cl Souvenir d'un Ami Parade Felicia HMF has these listed as mostly Zone 6b and up. I grow HTs and they're mostly Zone 6 and up too, but after hard winters, they do end up sprouting from snow or ground level. While that's OK for modern shrubs, that wouldn't be ideal for a climber. I'd like for the climber to retain cane through winter. Would any of the ones recommended for north_CA_rose also work for me?