"Roughly speaking, how much of the flora is unable to grow on the West Coast?" Seems like it's usually more like what won't grow here? (Often with bad consequences, in the case of invasives.) For instance, my mother is endlessly frustrated by my interest in native plants (she is in New Mexico), as she says "You can grow ANYTHING there and you plant plain old Apricot Mallow???!" lol. Of course, I still have a lemon tree, orange tree, palm tree, tea tree, orchid tree, hibiscus, hydrangea, avocado etc....Full disclosure: I am a newbie and just got some actual dirt a year ago - but it has been amazing to learn about this amazing climate - which is Mediterranean btw. Often I wish there was a California version of every forum here - particularly veggies, since our planting times are totally different. Some books I like: Mediterranean Kitchen Garden: Growing Organic Fruit and Vegetables in a Hot, Dry Climate by Mariano Bueno, Pat Welsh's Southern California Gardening, and California Native Plants for the Garden by Carol Bornstein et al. The Sunset Bible is also on my shelf. The micro-climate is crucial - I am in East LA and have a totally different zone than you will in Santa Monica. One thing that I'll add to look into for native plants is the Theodore Payne Foundation which is local - it's really a neat non-profit nursery and educational resource.

I collect Old Garden Tea roses and I rarely see any rose in a different class that has the same degree of "exquisite delicacy" that is shown in a Tea rose blossom. The few roses that I do grow with my Tea roses that are suitable for a colder climate include: Tea Hybrids: which have one Tea rose parent; Souvenir de la Malmaison' which although is sold as a Bourbon is fully 1/2 a Tea class rose. Divine pink-flushed creamy blooms, the plant is floriferous. I planted 3 of these in a triangle at a local public Old Rose garden, which makes a mass of fragrant roses. One of the very best of the Old Garden Roses in my opinion.. Mrs. Herbert Stevens, is very lovely; the climbing form can be grown as a self standing "tree rose", c. 6-7 feet tall, with one thick central trunk, the delicate blossoms have the natural artlessness of a true Tea. Mlle. Cecille Brunner' a Polyantha-Tea with dainty blossoms and a great fragrance, Spray Cecille Brunner is an excellent plant that can be grown as a hedge, or as a self standing "Tree rose" . Early Hybrid Teas that retain some Tea rose character; Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria' a white rose with a sweet graceful bloom style. Not pure white, it has some lemon tints to it according to conditions. 'La France' 'Snowbird' nice fragrance and a lovely bloom shape. Mrs. Jules Bouche' is as floriferous as a Tea rose and has a nice mixed floral scent. The Pernetiana class has a few roses that would mingle well with Tea roses. Duquesa de Pernananda' (sp?) reminds me of the Tea, Anna Olivier', but with richer hues. If I could not grow my beloved Tea roses, I would grow the roses listed above. Good luck on your quest to find cold climate Tea like roses.

I have or have grown all the ones on your list, and by far the easiest and most rewarding one is Earth Song. It's trouble free, disease resistant, blooms all summer, and has at least some surviving cane most winters. The blooms are loosely double hot pink and it can make an impressive mound at about 5' by 4' if happy. All of the "Peace" varieties are variably tender for me even in a protected area, so I'm impressed that Dingo has overwintered two Pink Peace plants. At least 3 tries each for Pink Peace and Peace have failed, and Chicago Peace seems to be failing its second try. Same for Colorific - three tries in protected areas and it doesn't survive well. Star of the Nile died after two tries, and Gentle Giant only once, but it was in my protected spot. Among the "Easy" series, Livin' Easy is a better hardy rose than Easy Does it that can be variably hardy. Livin Easy puts out orange loosely double blooms and tops out a little over knee height for me, probably more if it had surviving cane. It's relatively trouble free. Dick Clark and Dream Come True are fabulous blooms of more traditional "rose" looking hybrid tea blossoms, both with dark pink edges on the blooms. I love the zowie pow high contrast of Dream Come True especially, and it's about 4-5' tall in a very narrow bush, and blooms a couple of spectacular blooms a year. Not exactly bushy, but a nice accent. It only survives in my protected zone 6 spot though, so it's probably marginally hardy in a regular zone 5 spot. Dick Clark is in a regular zone 5 spot and is about 6 years old, but barely knee high. He puts out a few blooms a year and has come back every year, but I'm sure he'd be taller and a better bloomer in a warmer spot. Winnepeg Parks is a Canadian rose and should have no trouble with your winters and it would like Colorado. It isn't a very prolific rebloomer, and the one I planted last year in a less than ideal spot didn't come back. I suspect it will do fine in a normal spot. It has dark pink loose semidouble blooms, and it probably would take a couple of years before it bloomed much past the first spring flush. So my recommendation is Earth Song definitely, Winnepeg Parks probably but put it in a less prominent spot, Livin' Easy if you like orange, and Dick Clark and/or Dream Come True to push your zone limits a little and go for pizzazz. As you can tell from Dingo's response though, there's a lot of difference among zone 5 gardeners and you may need to see what does well for you by trial and error. Don't be afraid to experiment! Just be sure to bury the graft (the knobby bit where the canes start growing) at least 2 inches below the soil so that it protects the main growing part from the winter. Otherwise, the rose you want may die and you're left with the dark red rootstock "Dr. Huey" that's mostly a pain in the neck. Cynthia

I have a friend who has a "summer home" in the area of Kennebunkport - literally right on the beach. Once when I visited her there, I stopped off at Suzanne Verrier's nursery, which is not far away. Suzanne sold me a rose which she said was perfect for that coastsl Maine climate, so I brought it to my friend as a hostess gift. It is a climbing once bloomer (which in that areas short growing season meant it blooms all season). Suzanne Verrier (who had a lovely nursery, and has written several books about cold weather type roses) really went on and on about how good for that area this rose was. She had one growing, which was about 10 feet high and 6 feet wide, and truly lovely. The bad news is that I have no record of the name of that rose (it is not growing in my garden), except I think it was two words, both starting with a B, I think. I looked and I found a fuzzy pic my friend sent me of it as a baby in its first season, which is in the "Comment" below. Perhaps someone on here will recognize it. Jackie