I'm close to your zone I guess -- I'm also Zone 5, around Toronto. Of your list, we have grown these ones: Fair Bianca - Myrr scent, not as strong as some others and I happen to really like it. To my nose, this one smells like Black Licorice. Fairly compact with tons of white blooms, clustered together. I love this rose. No fuss, no disease trouble ... almost carefree. It does like sunlight. I moved her after her second year into a corner spot where I could smell her as I walked by, and she got more sunlight there and seems a lot happier than before. Now, a wonderful rose. Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Kind of a climber, but not too much because of the winter dieback. She's root hardy for sure but you'll need to prune off about half of the canes each Spring. She'll shoot up again, but won't "climb" the way you might be thinking. More like a trellised rose, or against a wall? Also slightly more of a pinkish-red than I was expecting. Still, a beautiful rose. The Prince - One of my favourites! The colour is to die for. The fragrance is also to die for! Likes a lot of sun. He is a compact little plant, but I wouldn't want to be without him. Some people don't like him because the lower half of the plant can be a little leggy and barren, and a but ugly. Mine is pretty good and I have lavender planted in front which hides any barren legs and just looks wonderful. Don Juan - This one is in too much shade to really bloom properly, have to prune the tree that has overgrown next to it. But it seems hardy, I don't winter protect it. Beautiful red blooms. I should add that I don't winter protect any of my roses (except the Noisette) except for the first year. I pile cedar mulch the first winter, but I leave them after that and they do just fine! I would suggest that you make sure to ammend your soil properly before planting, and not just the rose planting holes but the entire area. If I could fix one thing in my gardening experience, I would do this :) And all of your roses will be much happier for it! Also, I should also add that all the roses came from either Pickering or Hortico, grafted. I bury them very deeply, partially to protect from cold winters, and partially to encourage them to go own root. Not sure which ones actually have, but I'm in a very similar situation as you. The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild - I have always wanted this one, but have never gotten around to it yet. Mostly because of the name, although the peony-like blooms looks so blousy and beautiful to me :) We had Golden Celebration but it didn't last through it's first winter. To be fair, it was in a pot not in the ground and roses here (no matter which kind) have trouble surviving the winters in a pot. It was doomed from the start, and I suspect would do much better in the ground but I can't be sure.

I don't know much about Damask roses, but any rose for the bay area should be as Powdery Mildew resistant as you can get. Rust is a lesser problem, and Black Spot isn't very much of a problem at all, but this area is Powdery Mildew heaven. Maybe ask on the old fashion rose forum which Damask is the most Powdery Mildew resistant. I love roses, but having to spray monthly kind of spoils it for me, so I have tossed all the ones that get mildew easily. Regan's is a really nice nursery. And yep, bare-root season is long past. You can get roses in containers now, but they're more expensive and the selection of varieties is limited. They may not have any Damask even in bare-root season though. Old fashioned roses are hard to find in regular nurseries. Try "Roses of Yesterday and Today", they're on the coast south of Santa Cruz and also do mail order. Very nice place, worth the trip out there, you can make a day of it. Probably the only place you're going to find lots of old fashioned roses this time of year. Here is a link that might be useful: Roses of Yesterday and Today

Looks like the video is at a different link now. I love his way of teaching and watched a bunch of those videos too. Here is a link that might be useful: new link - moving roses in the growing season

I can only assume that the 10 or more 55 Qt bags I bought this year must be a local mix or something then. Maybe it varies in different parts of the country which I believe it states on the bag. Mine has quite a bit of pine Bark fines in it already, in fact it looks like more bark (some of it very fine though)than anything else. Next is Peat then the "coir" and the Perlite. It can have up to 60% pine bark and compost according to the MSDS. All the bags I have gotten seem to have about that percentage. In 15+ gallon pots it seems to work very well for me, and in the 380 Qt Vegtrug it works great. Also in my part of the country blight is rampant regardless what mix you start it in unless you grow in a temp/humidity controlled greenhouse. The insane humidity here is a perfect breeding ground for it and spreads like wild fire. In zone 5 you are correct, not that much blight there. Craig Lehoullier just a couple miles from me just pulled all but about 30 of his 212 plants last week mostly because of blight. MGMC works just fine as long as you use large containers so that the perched water is not that much of a problem. I am going to pull my first 2 tomato plants probably within the next week, I will take pictures of where the perched water is in the container. I do plan on amending this years MGMC with a few bags of Orchid Mix next year which is nothing but perfect size pine bark fines and small charcoal and fired ceramic bits just to loosen it up just a bit more. But as long as you use at least 15+ gallon pots you should be fine with straight MGMC, at least what I get here in NC. I water my plants every single day unless it just rained. When over 100 degrees sometimes 2 even 3X a day. The 3rd time is mostly just to cool the roots. But I have never had any problems with this MGMC it drains quite good in large pots, the plants take a nice big drink, it drains right on out except for the bottom 2-3" is soaked the rest is just moist. All of my plants have done great in it. Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Lettuce, Mint, Rosemary, Bok Choy, Blueberries plus all my wifes flowers all planted in MGMC all are doing great. So I cant complain about it, even though I do think for "Tomatoes" that it should be amended with more Pine Bark and maybe some vermiculite, Perlite or what ever to lighten it up some.