jim - no advice here on specific roses, because our climates are so different. However, I have learned over 22 years of growing roses that the key to planting "survivors" is to GROW WHAT LIKES YOUR CLIMATE, period. Unfortunately, this information is not easy to come by - the nurseries, growers, hybridizers, etc. in general seem to pretend that most roses are good for all climates. This is NOT TRUE.

In my climate, which is Mediterranean, the old chinas, teas, noisettes, polyanthas, and hybrid musks are the best survivors. HTs are a disease disaster, the old European roses don't get enough winter chill to bloom, etc. I had to figure out this myself by trial and error.

My best advice to you is to stay local - look around your neighborhood for old/neglected gardens, and see which roses are "surviving". I found some of my best roses in abandoned gardens of houses that were scheduled for demolition! They had had no care for 3-5 years, and were thriving. This is a CLUE!

The other thing, of course, is to tap into very local rose experts who actually grow roses in your area. Personally, I would stick to those who do not spray - the goal is to find roses that LIKE your climate & environment without endless fussing.

I would also plant more of the ones you have already identified as "toughies", and try to find others that are very closely related to them.

Good Luck!

Jackie

Jim,
Consider yourself fortunate to be this far down the "natural selection path'. As Jackie so wisely stated, identify the ones that are suited to your growing conditions and avoid adding more of the types that are proving to be un-growable where you are. I have removed 90% of the Hybrid Teas and Floribundas from my collection because they are just not suited to growing without a lot of chemical support in my climate. (And I'm not just talking about fungicides)

As for 'Therese Bugnet', I consider that rose to be a role model by which I judge the rest of my roses. (I wouldn't mind if it bloomed a bit more often than it does, but that aside...) This comes about as close to the "perfect Rose" as any I've grown. (Mind you, the lovely Kordes climber 'Westerland' is right up there in the top ten for its sterling qualities as well) So, now I suggest you use good ol' 'Therese' as your personal measuring stick to find more of what works in your garden. I guarantee you will be far happier with a garden full of roses that thrive with minimal care, even when they may not be a perfect match for your aesthetic ideals.

I agree with what the other two posters said.
Try to find roses that are disease resistant and tough for your area.
But, also one should top dress the soil each year with some type of compost to feed the soil life and to keep things balanced. Copy how nature works. I don't throw yard waste away, it goes right back into the soil. Use organic fertilizers if needed.
Best of luck Jim, hope you get things figured out!

Snow Pavement is a pretty rose with Therese Bugnet. I grow them together in my kitchen garden. Snow Pavement is a very pale lavender and hardy to zone 3 :)

Thanks for the support. Looking over my rose collection it is pretty clear that the roses I like and grow well for me are more apt to be obscure or even unknown than the popular ones An example of such is Iceberg that died without a whimper. On the opposite end is an unregistered rose by an amateur breeder, Joan Monteith of WS, that she labels TFTB after the cross that produced it, Therese Bugnet X The Fairy. It is extremely hardy, floriferous and makes a great bush/climber with wonderful foliage. Then take Eutin practically an unknown Kordes that blooms all the time is disease resistant and JB's never touch it . And so forth. It does however make the search much more difficult but then think about what an excuse to grow and try so many roses!

Just remember that roses you can grown in Zone 5 often are ones that we cant grow well in the hotter zones (like mine),... and vice versa. So yes, maybe you can't grow X, but you can grow Y that other people maybe can't grow. Good luck finding your survivors!

(I can't grow Therese Bugnet, at least not well.)

Jim, you need good rich humusy soil and lots of mulch to hold the moisture and you need to check the moisture and water when it is necessary. You should have an in-ground watering system and water specifically when needed. I have made it through many a summer without ever having to water at all but this year it was necessary. Here in CT the dry spell which was combined with extreme heat lasted about six weeks and it was the worst in quite a few years. I lost no roses and in fact I've had the best August and September bloom ever for several reasons. First, I watered when the moisture meter indicated it was necessary. Second, the warm wet spring had them in exceptional condition to withstand the summer and third, there were almost no beetles this year. They were early and light and virtually gone by mid-July. Finally it helps if the roses are very well established with big deep root systems. My roses have been in the ground an average of at least 15 years and can bounce back from just about anything at this point.

Jim , you mentioned roses with no leaves. Blackspot will defoliate your plants. Use a good fungicide and you will have clean leaves. Too much water at the roots will also make the foliage drop

Yes it a lot of it was BS however I see that a lack of water or any other need of the rose will weaken it's resistance.

Now as to watering. I live in the country on a well which limits the amount of watering I can do. When we first moved I would plunk a sprinkler down, turn on the hose and let it go! Then turn on the tap and no water.

I am making an effort to build the soil doing all the recommended stuff but it's a struggle. Proof is there are practically no roses grown here.

Jim, you probably have an abundance of rain when it rains, and then days with none like we do. Four rain barrels save me all that I need for the drought days. They're easy, easy, easy to make and save a lot of time, headache, and money on the water bill.

I'm also in the process of soil improvement. I took a bunch of junky old concrete blocks & built a pit a couple of months ago, and everything's going into it right now for composting. The fun part is going to be digging it back out & using it. You can do it!

Jim, do you reuse water? Any water from my kitchen which does not have soap in it goes on my garden. I keep a pan in the sink and wash veges into that pan. When it is full, it gets emptied on whatever plant I think needs it. The plants nearest my kitchen door get the most water! I drain potatoes and pasta into a large pan, and empty that into my garden when it has cooled. I think the starch residue is extra fertilizer. I am on city water which I have to pay for, so I figure I want to get as much use out of every drop as I can.

And then, mulch, mulch, mulch, and you might want to check those root watering devices. You attach a cola or wine bottle full of water to a hollow spike which is then thrust into the soil near your plant roots.

Another method that worked for me is ziploc bags. Fill the bag with water, poke holes with a big fork on one side of the bag, up near the ziploc. Lay it on its side at the base of the plant, holes down. It waters at a nice, steady, slow rate so that you don't have a lot of runoff, and you also don't have to stand there with a watering can.

Jim- Since you live in the country, are there any horses nearby? I have clay soil and put in a LOT of aged horse manure (I have horses) so that it's about 1/2 aged manure and 1/2 clay. I amend the entire bed and then plant. The roses love it!

So far, the only problem is the deer, but if roses are planted against a building or structure, with lots of lavender and herbs in front, they seem to be less of a temptation for them :)

Some years are just harder than others. This was a bad year for me as well and then to top it all off, RRD struck. It hit my Hybrid Musks very hard and they had withstood everything else. But Rugosas, like Therese Bugnet, are the truly great survivors, and they should do very well in your region. Sometimes they are slow starters, but once established they survive hard winters, salt spray, bad soil, drought...

We have no shortage of tree leaves for composting--we mix it with grass clippings to make great compost!

I shred yard waste and just throw it on top of the mulch.
Been doing that for 20+ years.
There are no little elves in the forest making compost piles for trees, etc. lol

Two years ago I started putting 1-2 cups of used coffee grounds around each rose bush, just once in the Spring.
That combined with the decaying mulch, yard waste and any organic fertilizer used has caused a massive increase in earthworm populations. As you already know, that keeps the soil tilled and there waste creates good stuff for your soil.

The rain barrel method of collecting free & extra water that flaurabunda mentioned is a great idea!
I use one rain barrel here, I also save plastic milk containers, etc., so, if the barrel fills up, rain water can be placed in containers & saved.

You mentioned before about having weeds you haven't got around to pulling.
Layers of newspapers (etc.) layed down before applying mulch will help that problem for most of the season.

Just wanted to add MY favorites ( I live in zone 5) F.J Grootendorst does very well for me, and blooms all season. New Dawn and Super Dorothy, as well as Zephrine Drouhin are great climbers. Mary Rose is my favorite English variety. Dublin Bay and Queen Elizabeth do well. Sunsprite is a super hardy bright yellow Floribunda. Carefree Wonder, Carefree Delight, and all the Knock Out roses are super hardy.
I think everyone's given you some very good advice!
Good luck with your rose growing next year!
For lots more rose growing information and plenty of pictures, visit the site:

Here is a link that might be useful: all about rose gardening