Rose viewing is right here in the gallery forum there much better truer pics than a glossy expensive book can offer and alot of people have great skills in getting real nice picks I tend to think some of em are pros but I know it is a passion of sharing they posses
Zone rose growing is a very good idea but you can read up Chances are there posting there zone like you did
Types of roses Well there are many from climbers HTS to ground covers oldfasions ect ect ect sometimes you can read a lil bit on the general rose forum for a better discription but youll catch on from a HT to a climber in no time
I found organic rose growing to be a very good place to post about pest and problems a webb site from a rather humorus guy named Bob he,ll tell you lots too he has 1000's of em too including pics it is very informative from whos who to where to pest site prep how to buy ect ect ect
it's not a nice glossy book but for a beginner I reccomend it highly after a while you can buy the book if you want but by far the pics here show a rose as it realy is... if you find a rose you want but still want to see it dont hessitate to ask for a pic or two of it someone proberly has it

Roses and everything about em copy save and read away he has 1000's of good pics too Bobs humor and visit us often

http://www.rose-roses.com/index.html

Hi kentstar,

These are the ones I would start with:

Ortho's Complete Guide to Roses, Good, basic rose culture info.

----not a rose book but real useful in understanding & improving your soil----Secrets to Great Soil, Elizabeth Stell, Info on composting, soils, fertilizer, pH, etc.

both are paper backs, about $20 each, so very reasonable to buy.

A little more expensive but good info for northern growers because authors from MN:

Growing Roses in Cold Climates, Jerry Olson & John Whitman, Authors from MN so info relates well to northern areas.

Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses by Field Roebuck is very good. Also, The Organic Rose Garden by Liz Druitt, Landscape with Roses by Jeff Cox and The Rose Bible by Ray Reddell. Also, the Consulting Rosarian Manual from the ARS (you don't have to be one or want to be one to buy it) is a good reference guide lots of information.

I finally decided on Growing Roses in Cold Climates, and I also picked up (couldn't resist lol) Rodale's Encyclopedia of Perennials: A Rodale Organic Gardening book. Thanks all for your suggestions.
Rodale's was kind of expensive, but I hope worth it,as I do a lot of perennial gardening too.
Anyone else have these books? How do you like them?

I have the ortho rose book, its really great! I bought 2 copies, i keep one in my car, so when i find a plant at a nursery i can look it up quickly! May i suggest looking at half.com, its part of ebay where people sell books super cheap! I find great books there.

I suggest Roses for Dummies. Although I have been fooling with roses for over 30 years, and an ARS CR, I find this work useful in many cases.

I already have that one, thanks. Roses for Dummies. It is pretty good, but basic. Which is great for any beginner anyways. I just wanted something with a little bit more, especially since I already read the Dummy one pretty much cover to cover lol.