my favorites are..john davis, john cabot, topaz jewel, therese and marie bugnet and a gnarly old cabbage rose that smells divine..savona

My roses are all covered with snow yet, so I can't tell what ones survived this last winter. Hopefully all. But from other years my favorites are
Prairie Star-#1
Alexander Mackenzie
Prairie Joy
Quadra
Morden Sunrise

I'll add to the list once I've seen what has happened this winter.

Shelley

My yard is sheltered with good snowcover, so roses do pretty good.

My favorites that I have growing...
Winnipeg Parks
John Davis
Tropicana (hybrid tea)
Jens Munk
Morden Sunrise
Lambert Close
Unknown red morden rose

I also have morden blush but since my gazebo went up, she's in a shady corner between that and the fence and an aspen tree. Still, she sends a few blooms here and there. I actually tried moving her and must have left a piece of root, because now I have two.

Usually most of the hardy explorer roses or rugosas are a pretty safe bet for hardiness and performance.

I have Therese bugnet but for some reason she always develops blotches on the leaves. I may just remove it but more because I have a pyramid cedar that needs the space.

Glen

I don't have a lot but out of the ones I have I lik 'Blaze'. I have it planted on an arbor going into the garden. 'Cuthbert Grant' is also a favorite. He's in the middle of a raised bed. 'Lambert Closse' is gorgeous. Each year it just gets better. I've seen a few on these lists that I would like to get. At least now I know that they will be hardy to Z2! Marg

Here's my favourites:

#1. Hawkeye Belle. No surprise here to a lot of people on here, as I've been quite vocal about this one for a couple of years.;^) It does get some protection, but the tea shaped flower lasts forever on the bush before it finally opens up fully. If only it were scented.

#2. JP Connell (love the buttery yellow colour!)
#3. Lambert Closse
#4. Folksinger (wonderful fruity scent!)
#5. Love (grandiflora)
#6. DeMontarville
#7. Bonica (hundreds of blooms in a season, just doesn't quit!)
#8. Morden Centennial
#9. Scentimental

I have to mention that last summer I absolutely fell in love with the colour of 'Golden Unicorn', but it's still under a foot of snow, so I don't know for sure if it'll have one winter under it's belt or not yet.

Laurie

In terms of longevity, my favorites are Adelaide Hoodless, Hansa, Persian Yellow, John Davis, and Morden Centennial. Adelaide, Hansa, and the Persian have been moved three times, and are over 15 years old. They've all been frozen to the ground, except for Persian Yellow which never suffers winter kill, and come back. I also love my huge Scotch Altai, just because it's the first rose to bloom and it smells good. Hope for Humanity has gorgeous color and form.
Connie

I used to have about 30 to 40 Tea roses but found it was just to much work in the fall to get them ready for winter and even then, no guarantee they would survive. So now all my roses are Explorer or other hardy roses. My favorite for fragrance is Rose d'la Hay but I also have Rosa Alba and Rubra, Kaitlyn Ainsly, Magnifica, Wpg Parks, Therese Bugnet, John Cabot and many others already mentioned here. They are pretty much established now so come back each year.

I have a John Cabot that I bought a few years ago when I had just started gardening and didn't know anything. I stuck it in the ground, no soil fixing, in a pretty shady spot. Not ideal by a long shot. But it blooms its head off every year and has a great scent. A real toughy -- perfect for me.

My favourite is Morden Sunrise. She does have dieback if i don't give her a cardboard box blanket for the winter but she comes back and blooms off and on all summer. Hansa is another good one that continues to bloom and never needs protection. Same with Martin Frobisher, though someone once described his blooms as "wet kleenex" - very apt!

I have several other roses, but they've only been in my gardens for a couple of years so they have yet to prove themselves - Henry Kelsey, J.P. Connell, Blanche Double de Coubert, Marie Bugnet, Champlain, and the two White Kosters.

My favourites are Dr. Merkeley, Prairie Youth, Prairie Peace, Louis Riel and Dart's Dash.They have all come through previous winters with no die back, but tonight will be a real test. Dr. Merkeley has been covered with snow since early November until last week and looks very tender and tonight the forecast is for -16 with a strong north wind.

Theresa Bugnet
John Davis
Magnifica
Pierette Pavement
Morden Blush
Morden Sunrise
Winnipeg Parks

These are among my most favorite ... but, I'm sure several more will later come to mind.

Terry

OK. I'm heading that way too - wasting too much money on roses that don't overwinter. I have mine at the bottom of a hill - so the cold air just swoops down and settles.

This year I've ordered

Hardy
1. J.P. Connell
2. Hope for Humanity
3. Lambert Closse
4. Morden Belle
5. Winnipeg Parks

Tender
1. Crown Princess Margarita ZONE 5
2. Aunt Honey ZONE 4
3. Funny Face ZONE 4
4. Tahitian Moon ZONE 4
5. Macy's Pride ZONE 4
6. Eglantyne ZONE 4
7. Evelyn ZONE 5
8. A Shropshire Lad ZONE 5
9. Tournament of Roses ZONE 4
10 Brass Band ZONE 4
11 Pink Peace ZONE 4
12 Iceberg
13 Mister Lincoln
14 Paul Shriville
15 Gold Medal
16 Tradescant

#12-15 - Lois Hole's book says they are fairly hardy for tender roses.

But I've had some zone 4s die and some zone 5s live. Chrysler Imperial comes back for me every year and has beautiful flowers.

Well - here's to trying. But I did pick more hardy roses this year.

Of the ones I've picked it looks like Winnipeg Parks is a keeper from what you've all said!

Carol

Carol, I'm late here but hybrid teas that have survived many years in my garden were Sonia, Chrysler Imperial, Peace, Mirandy, Tropicana, Queen Elizabeth and Montezuma. Those were the ones Grandma grew before I bought the house from her, and they were there for more than 10 years. Most of them ended up getting removed for one reason or another (planted too close, built a deck, didn't bloom enough). Sonia and Montezuma survived and have been moved to my new house. Other roses I have had for more than one winter are Garden Party and Double Delight. I'm hoping they all survive being moved and a cold winter. I have Mr. Lincoln on his own roots, first winter this year. Mr. Lincoln is very similar to Chrysler Imperial, both relatively hardy and hard to tell one from the other. I winter protect all my roses.

Gillian

Carol, I planted Iceberg last summer due to Lois Hole's recommendation. It's still under a "white blanket" for now. But with the terribly cold temperatures we're having, that's probably the best place for it. I really hope it survives, as it really seemed to pump out the flowers last year for such a young plant.

BTW, I do like my Winnipeg Parks, but it's a small bush, so remember to put it at the front of the border or else it'll get lost. Mine's also stingy on producing flowers, but the few it has are beautiful. It seems as time goes on, my criteria for "good" roses for me gets tougher and tougher.

Laurie

Many of the above: we also have 3 species of wild roses that top the list...dependable, scented, attract bees and make nice bushes if pruned a bit.

Re some comments on dieback. I don't really care if explorers, the parklands, etc. die back as I cut them back to the ground in mid April and they come back fuller than ever. Lack of dieback is only an advantage on roses that boom on old wood (such as Yellow Persian).

I agree - I don't worry about die-back - just as long as they survive!!

Laurie - that's good advice about the Winnipeg Parks.

Gillian - I decided not to get Mr. Lincoln - since you've mentioned that it's so similar to Chrysler Imperial. I might get it another year, but I'll pass this time.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Happy Rosing!

Carol

Carol - good call, you will like C.I. just as much as Mr. L., it's a lovely rose.

I removed the mulch (leaves and flax straw) from my roses today - it looks like almost everything's come through fine. One Mme. Plantier is a little iffy (the other has a lot of green canes) and Mr. Lincoln has no green, but I didn't look below the soil so he might be ok. Sunsprite and Kordes' Perfecta (new last year) have almost all green canes. Fingers crossed that the weather stays warm now and they all have a good year. :0)

That's good news Gillian! Hopefully Mr. Lincoln will come through for you too. Can you believe that most of my more tender roses are still covered with snow?! Folksinger has emerged from the snow, and it looks like there's some green above the mounded soil, but it'll be a couple more days before I can even get to most of the others without getting my feet wet!lol

Gill a friend of mine has sunsprite running around in an unattended flowerbed up against her house with no winter protection and it always pops up somewhere in the area. It must be fairly tough..savona

Savona, I heard that Sunsprite is one of the hardier Floribundas - good to hear it's surviving in your zone too. It's such a pretty yellow and yellows are tricky for us.

My Sunsprite died over last winter - I have all my flower beds in raised beds at the bottom of our hill. Not a good situation. Plus I don't think I buried it deeply enough.

NorthSpruce - I sure hope my roses come through too! I'll know once it dries up a bit here. Go away snow!!

Carol

I finally uncovered all my roses this morning and it seems like most of them have a fair amount of green canes. Iceberg was the only one to have a bit of mold on a couple of canes. Should these canes be cut off now, or will they be ok now that the air and sunlight can get to them?

Gillian, I re-read your post on which teas you had that were hardy, and you mentioned that Tropicana was one of them. Walmart has them in bags now, and it's mighty tempting. How did you like it, and do you have a pic maybe?

Carol, have you been able to check your roses out yet? Hopefully it's all good news.

Laurie

Laurie, Tropicana's one of those older hybrid teas that were once very popular. Now this is just my opinion, because I was asked, but I removed it because I found the colour gag-o-licious. Sorry, I don't have a pic. It's a bright, violent, pinky-orangey-red which I am not fond of. But some people like it. If you buy it I will pretend to like it - LOL ;0)

Thanks for your honesty Gillian. I did a search, and it seems it is a very garish colour. It's hard to tell the true colour on those pictures on the rose bags. I think I'll pass on this one.;^)

Laurie - I won't bore you with the details, because I've posted my success on another thread :) BUT I'M SUPER DUPER HAPPY!!

Today I cut back my hardy roses, because they all have opening buds! It's kind of a shame to be cutting nice green canes off, but one has to shape and open up the bush. Later I'll be glad I did it.

My hardies are:
Morden Blush
Blanc Double de Coubert
Henry Hudson (not very big, but I think it will be a small bush anyway?)
Cuthbert Grant
Morden Centennial

I'm loving this time of year!!!!

Carol

That's great Carol! It's so wonderful to see those first signs of life, isn't it? And what a relief it is too. :0)

Northspruce. You mentioned that you winter protect your HT roses. Would you please tell what you do?

Thank you.

Sengyan

Hi Sengyan, I put fallen leaves and flax straw (if I can get straw) around them, then wrap or cover them with burlap to hold the leaves on until the snow comes. I have tried other things such as cardboard, styrofoam, etc. before but this works best of what I have tried.

Gillian