I posted on this a couple of years ago, and found out a couple of things. First..if your roses die down to the ground, or snow level each year, then it won't work, because you'd be starting from the ground each year. Second..there was a suggestion about building a container type thing to put around the rose every winter and fill with leaves to insulate it,then it **might** live... having said that, and being in zone 5 also, if I were to try it, I would probably try it with a rugosa, as they are the most cane hardy around here.. there is a rose tree that can be planted directly in the ground and will live..i can't remember it's name..perhaps if you post on the roses forum someone might know. if i remember correctly, it was a single, but i'm not sure..good luck...donna

You are very welcome. Your little boy is adorable. I know you have plenty to keep you busy for the next few days probably, lol. You are welcome to come back and get some more things when you get those in the ground. If you need help rooting any of the cuttings just let me know. Thank you for helping me make room in my bed for new stuff and weeding and transplanting the gardenia. It was a huge help to me. Sorry I had to rush off to work.

In my current home and my first home when I moved to Texas were both overgrown, disheveled, weedy jungles. Needless to say I didn't feel to bad about going with the nuclear option on those yards and starting over. I think what's even more sad though is when your garden becomes neglected. That's what's happened with my first house here. I put my heart and soul into re-doing that yard for the better part of the three years I was there. I was by there a few months ago and it was hard to look at. Everything's overgrown and weeds popping up everywhere. I talked to some of my old neighbors and they said the front is nothing compared to the back. I guess some people just don't care. When it turns over again, those people will probably have to start from scratch just like I did. A real shame. :^(

Henry, A dead rat looks realistic for the condition it is in, too. Many of the Earth-Kind roses are, and this is my OPINION only (please don't beat me over the head with a rose cane as Chris, from New Flora, likes to do when I express my opinion/personal experience), not very disease resistant, and certainly not in the least winter hardy in Portland, Maine. Any novice rose gardener would know about winter hardiness, especially in Portland, ME. Where is/was the local ARS Chapter/ Rose Club to help out? Who ever was in charge of the whole idea of devoting an entire public rose garden, capable of holding 600 roses, to a years long test of just 61 bushes (3 each of 21 Earth-Kind varieties), did not make a wise move. Test the E-K roses in a secluded spot, and plant annuals in the rose beds for the duration of the test. At least the public will have something beautiful to stroll through. The Karl Switzer Rose Circle, I am certain, used to be a magnificent sight. Now look at it, pitiful. I think it has fallen victim to one or all of the following: political correctness, green-earthers, decision by committee, or the creeping laziness many Americans are exhibiting more and more. Expecting even tough roses to thrive and flourish with no: dead heading, annual pruning, watering, fertilizing, etc., is a Utopian's dream, not reality. When you give little, get get little. I am approaching the Karl Switzer Rose Circle from the standpoint of a visitor to the garden today. I am willing to bet that 99 visitors out of 100 visitors to the garden would call it, "dismal," too. The one visitor who would have no negative comment to voice would be someone's Poodle, on a leash, of course. Moses