Blackgavote, I know what you are going through. I moved from the West Coast to Eastern Ontario twelve years ago and had exactly the same questions. Here are a few observations that I have made on the subject of growing English roses in a harsh 4b/5a climate zone: You can grow a lot of English roses in a Canadian zone 5 with good success, but it takes a lot more work and a lot more patience that it did in British Columbia. You have to love your tender roses a lot to put in the work. At last count, I think I am growing about 35 or more varieties of English Roses here. Not all zone 5's are created equal. My zone 5a, just south of Ottawa, is likely harsher than a 5a further South or even N. S.. Because I am further North and inland, my winters are longer by several weeks. I get frost earlier and spring comes later than even a few hundred kilometres further South or near the Great Lakes. If you live in Northern N.S, North of Halifax, then you will have a similar lengthy winter four or five months instead of the two experienced on the West Coast. In addition, cold spells will last longer and freeze thaw cycles will probably be more severe. I have seen the temperature here go from +14 to -27 in the space of two days. I have also seen periods of temperatures of -27 to -31 that lasted for more than a week. If you don't have reliable snow cover, that is very hard on tender roses, so winter protection is a very good idea. Many English roses are cane hardy -22 C or so. In zone 5 they are going to die back to the snow line. I cut mine back and cover them with straw as soon as the ground is frozen solid. I uncover them as soon as the straw thaws in spring. Tender roses will take much longer to establish in a cold zone, especially own root. The old rose grower saying: First year they sleep, second they creep, third they leap. is absolutely true. Many less vigorous varieties take 4 or more growing season to develop the root mass necessary to survive and grow well in my climate. Blackspot: I have read that there are 15 strains in North America. In my experience, many roses said to be healthy in one region get Blackspot in another and vice versa. I have also found, that often a variety will get Blackspot its first or second year and then be clean thereafter. That said, some varieties are reliably healthier than others. I also clean my beds and spray with dormant lime sulphur spray before the buds break. I spot spray fungicide if I see problems developing on specific plants. A good fertilizer and mulching program will also help greatly in a harsh climate. I mulch with composted manure and then cover with a thick layer of compost and wood chips. I also apply a good fish based fertilizer several times during the season to help the plants build roots and grow strong during the short growing season. I have my own personal list of proven English Rose reliable performers in my harsh zone 5 climate. With winter protection, they are: Lilian Austin, Crocus Rose, Saint Cecilia, Saint Swithun, The Alexandra Rose, Evelyn, Geoff Hamilton, Crown Princess Margharetta, Charles Darwin, Teasing Georgia and the Reeve. Evelyn and Saint Cecelia may require spraying for rust if that is an issue where you live, but unlikely; as well as for mildew. But all the varieties named above have proven vigorous and healthy enough to come back from nearly the ground year after year and grow and bloom well in my 4b/5a climate. Of the varieties you name, William Shakespear 2000 and Winchester Cathedral are both gone due to lack of sufficient vigour and scrawniness in my cold climate. Teasing Georgia is one of the healthiest and best re-blooming roses I grow. She comes back from a stump year after year and I grow her on a small trellis. She gets to five or six feet in my garden and blooms very well. You might want to give her another couple of seasons to see if she becomes resistant to the local strain of Blackspot. Other non English Rose varieties that do very well for me are Bella Renaisance, The Fairy, Buck Roses; including Distant Drums, Pearlie Mae and Folksinger. Compte de Chambourd, Jaques Cartier and Rose de Rescht are also old garden roses which I know are grown by many in this area with success, though I do not grow them myself. All of them are grown in the rose garden at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. They also grow a number of English roses with success, including Mary Rose, L. D. Braithwaite, Lilian Austin and a few others. I would also suggest you might wish to grow some cold hardy roses to fill out your collection, mordens, rugosas, explorers. I have quite a few as landscape plants along the house and fences and amongst the perennials and love them for their easy care and ability to fill in the blanks in the garden. I know there are one or two people on the rose forum who grow roses in Nova Scotia with apparent success. A lady named Valerie posts occasionally and grows English roses in N. S. I have provide a link to her member page and you may wish to do a search for her posts or send her an email. I have found that while a challenge, growing roses in a cold zone is extremely rewarding, perhaps more so than it was on the West Coast. Good luck and don't give up just yet. Knowledge is power and you can learn and be successful if you persevere. Cheers, Rick Here is a link that might be useful: onewheeler's member page

You might try Charentais, I dont know about how much time before they ripen but they are very good. My other favorite are Crenshaw melons. We are in Fresno where it gets a bit warmer.

Comments appreciated. I know of no place other than Garden Web where a discussion like this can occur. Here are some of Solomon's comments, which prompted this posting (I'm quoting him not because I know enough to agree or disagree, but so that the information is available for discussion): First, he generalizes that the Maritime Northwest has a fairly uniform geologic history, and that the soils throughout this region are generally similar in mineral content. So he doesn't encourage testing. Then, on page 27: "the essence of our region's soil imbalance hinges on an overly high level of an otherwise useful mineral, potassium. Our soils usually have lot of potassium - maybe too much. I've studied the results of hundreds of soil tests performed by OSU and I have never seen a test showing a marked potassium deficiency - lots of other deficiencies, yes, but not of K" Also on page 27: "the nutrients that provoke plants to become highly nutritious - calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus - are the ones most readily lost. I view this as a widespread regional mineral imbalance." He goes on to say that because plants concentrate the potassium in the fiber and woody parts, and those are the main parts that are used in a lot of animal feeds (and therefore enter into manures) and composting, while other minerals are leached out in rain or removed in farm products, that we are artificially increasing the potassium in our soil while other components decline. So, he offers that the more compost we add to our gardens, the more we bulid up potassium relative to other elements. The Clemson link above was really intereesting. In a way, it could be taken to support a contention that using a lot of plant stems in compost would increase the soil level of potassium where that compost is used. "Luxury consumption and leaching loss make it undesirable to try to build the potassium level above medium." It does state that potassium will leach into the clay layer - although, my soil is all basically clay layer... now amended with lots of compost. Anyway, I'll keep watching for comments. For now, the fruit peels will still go into the compost.

We are home! We drove a total of 1900 miles - way too much driving, but was it worth it. Our first night was in Bar Harbor. Lovely little town that I would like to visit for longer next time. Then on to Saint John by way of Campobello. Campobello was great and I'm so glad we went. I LOVE PEI. Another place I would like to go back to for a longer visit. We stopped at a little out of the way fish place near Stanley Bridge. I have never had oysters on the half shell that fresh and that good! I fear from now on other oysters will be a disappointment. Highlands Provincial Park in Cape Breton was beautiful. The first day was rainy and foggy. :-( But, the second day was gorgeous. It was rainy again when we got to Halifax, so we just kept going. Lunenburg was charming; touristy, but charming. The old houses and the academy have been well-maintained and gave us a glimpse into what the town must have looked like 150 years ago. From Lunenburg, we went to the Luckett Vineyards in Wolfville, where we did a small tasting (driving prevented a larger tasting). I brought home a small bottle of ice wine. Loved the red phone box in the middle of the vineyard (not my photo) We were told we could call anywhere in North America for free, but everyone I tried to call was unavailable. Mom, Sister, and DD were all having lunch together and not answering phones! We drove through Annapolis Royal on the way to Digby and had a quick lunch at the German bakery and cafe across from Fort Anne. Lunch was good but the palmier I had for dessert was fantastic! Many thanks to all of you who gave me information and ideas for planning my trip. I would like to especially thank robo who answered dozens of questions by PM (she would probably have her cottage totally finished by now if it weren't for helping me!). I think we are home for a while, now, except for weekend jaunts. I slept 15 hours last night/this morning!