Hi folks Glad you find this list useful! I realize it's a bit of overkill of information when you might only be looking for suggestions for a few roses, but like Seil I enjoy comparing notes with others to see what survives (and decide if it's worth trying a rose that died one more time). And Jacqueline, the point for me in a list like this is to see what to grow to be as lazy as possible, since anything in my yard has to be hardy enough to thrive without spray or fussing. Enjoy the first rose season, Nummykitchen, and don't blame yourself if roses do die - I fear the HTs that have died in my yard may be as long as the ones that survived, but you never know till you try. Ispahan, glad to help and I hope this isn't too much info to process for what you'd asked about. Like you I spend a lot of time double checking information on HMF, but it's always nice to hear from someone in a similar zone with their experiences too. As for Black Lady, I dearly love that rose and it's tough as nails. It truly is that elusive burgundy dark red color all the time in my yard - no pinking out like some dark reds - and it's thoroughly hardy and disease free as far as my strains of blackspot go (we don't get mildew much here). It's one of only a handful of roses I have multiple plants of in different beds and it holds its own on a nicely compact plant of around 3' or less (both sites have some part sun). My only quibble would be the relatively small flowers compared to other HTs - no more than 2" across or less - maybe between an apricot and a plum size on a good day. I can't vouch for the fragrance with my nose, but I certainly don't detect much of a scent. Still, it's a good rebloomer and entirely trouble free from me. Tantau is another breeder I like a lot, though they do stretch into some roses that aren't good for my zone at times. Glad this is helpful and you're welcome to ask for more input on anything else I grow. Cynthia

Thanks, Sandandsun! Poseiden continues to do well in my garden, as do all of my Fairy Tale roses. I've added Golden Fairy Tale, Elegant Fairy Tale, and Garden Delight (all Kordes newer super healthy roses from Palatine Nursery) this year and they are doing amazingly well. Like many of you, we suffered the Polar Vortex Winter From Hell here in Northern Michigan this past winter and I had to prune my roses to the ground, including climbers. But the Kordes Fairy Tale and Kordes Rosanna climbers took off like gangbusters. I haven't sprayed at all this season, and these roses are super clean - no blackspot. I'm gradually replacing many of my more BS prone roses, with a heavy emphasis on the ADR award winning Kordes roses since I no longer spray. It is wonderful to be able to enjoy so many hardy disease free roses here in the north!

I got my beautiful Tantau catalog yesterday, plus a second catalog showing their cut roses for the florist industry. Not sure why they sent that one, and it was as big as the garden roses catalog. I hate to see them waste money sending the florist catalog to me, though. Their catalogs are among the most beautiful I've seen. In the florist catalog, they showed photos of their state of the art greenhouses and other facilities. One greenhouse even had a brick walkway. They were the best looking greenhouses I've ever seen. Now I want even more of their roses. Oh, the frustration. Diane

I was tracking down Enchantress, and discovered her more common name is Gartentraume, and she is a garden dream. Sort of like a light pink Augusta Luise. I must have that rose, along with Comtessa, which is like a pale yellow AL. I can just see three of these exquisite roses growing together, AL, Gartentraume, and Comtessa. Aye yi yi. So those three, along with Aquarell are my must haves--along with lots of others, of course. Sorry for this digression, but I'm in the throes of rose lust. Nothing is really getting me excited this spring, except for roses I can't have (yet), and each year in the past, there has been at least one "must have" rose-- or more. But not this year because they are out of reach. Sigh. Diane