One thing to keep in mind when considering winter hardiness of any roses, including Austins, is whether you're talking about winter survival with or without reliable snow cover during the coldest parts of winter. Some things that I can't overwinter here in zone 5 without snow cover can sail through the winter with surviving cane in zone 4 if you have snow cover. For instance I'm on my fourth or fifth try to overwinter Golden Celebration, third try for Mary Rose, and second try for Brother Cadfael, and I've not been able to keep them alive, much less climbing. BC wasn't in the best of conditions so I'll be trying him again BTW. Under the snow it's always 32 degrees or so, and that is a survivable temperature for a wide variety of roses. I have some virtual zone 4 areas on the north and east sides of my house where the bulbs are always at least 2 weeks later than other beds, so I can report on Austins that are hardy for me without reliable snow cover in those spots. I can vouch for the following in my dry zone 4 (virtual): Teasing Georgia Lady of Shalott Carding Mill Tamora Queen Nefertiti Queen of Sweden I am reasonably confident that the following Austin roses would survive zone 4 given that they are cane to tip hardy in my zone 5: Heritage The Generous Gardener (infrequent blooms) Spirit of Freedom The Mayflower Gertrude Jekyll (but she almost NEVER blooms for me) Scepter'd Isle The Alnwick Rose Charles Darwin Olivia Rose Austin St. Swithun The Poet's WifeTess of the D'Ubervilles (but she doesn't at all climb for me) Darcy Bussell Benjamin Britten, Christopher Marlowe The Shepherdess Leander The Dark Lady and Tradescant - lose some canes but consistent survival I have recently had decent canes remaining but it's too early to know for sure: James Galway, Lordly Oberon, Wildeve, William Morris, A Shropshire Lad (in its fourth year but VERY slow to think about climbing), Charity, Chianti, Cressida, Princess Anne, Dies to the ground for me but survives in zone 5, may be iffy in zone 4: Immortal Juno, Boscobel, Tranquillity, Fisherman's Friend, Lillian Austin, Princess Alexandra of Kent, St. Alban, The Reeve, The Squire, Wenlock, Young Lycidias, Munstead Wood, Pat Austin, Charlotte, Crown Princess Margaretha (never blooms without surviving cane), Happy Child, Eglantyne, Pretty Jessica, Wollerton Old Hall, Jude the Obscure, Sharifa Asma, Winchester Cathedral, Ambridge Rose, Admired Miranda, Susan Williams-Ellis, L.D. Braithwaite, I have had to give a protected spot or otherwise had trouble overwintering in my zone 6 pocket: Graham Thomas (agree with the above posters), Abraham Darby, Strawberry Hill (sorry Straw! snow cover may make a difference), Potter & Moore, Molineux, Claire Austin, Evelyn, Prospero, Sophy's Rose, Lichfield Angel, William Shakespeare 2000, Crocus Rose and Comte des Champagne (might have been a poor location issue for the last two), Can't overwinter even in my virtual zone 6 - though some I only tried once: English Garden, Radio Times, Othello, The Prince, Lady Emma Hamilton, Claire Rose, Fair Bianca, Falstaff, Jubilee Celebration, Wise Portia, Grace, Noble Antony. So far Pegasus, Kathryn Morley, Perdita, Port Sunlight, Tea Clipper, and Sister Elizabeth have all died in zone 5 and I haven't wanted them badly enough to try again in zone 6 territory. Obviously there are zone 5 and even 4 posters that can overwinter some of my problem children very well, and at least some posters in zone 4 who have stellar photos of CPM that blooms all season, vs. mine that never blooms at all though puts out 10' of cane every summer after dying to the ground. So moisture, snow cover, wind, location, stress, water and a variety of other factors can contribute to winter survival or not. Mostly I don't protect my Austins much and I don't think it makes that much difference for me in my zone. I put windbreaks at the edges of the beds an cover all the rose beds to a few inches with leaves when possible, but that's about it. So YMMV, but in general if you don't have high blackspot pressures Austins can be good roses for cold zones. Cynthia

It is important to remember that I live in Richmond / Vancouver BC. I can only talk about how the roses doing here in my garden, with my soil and our wet weather. I like the following roses for: strong growth, fragrance and colour. Favorites: Abraham Darby, Crown Princess Margaretta, Charlotte, Gertrude Jekyll, Golden Celebration, Jude The Obscure, Pat Austin, Summer Song, Sweet Juliet, Williams Shakepear 2000, Tamora Here is the list of my DA roses Abraham Darby - probably the healthiest Charlotte - pretty good Crown Princess Magaretta - pretty good Jude The Obscure - great fragrant Tamora - very pretty Golden Celebration - very strong growing, large flower Graham Thomas - strong growth but black spot somewhat in late summer Gertrude Jekyll - great rose Evelynn - A diva but when she behaves, she is beautiful and fragrant Mary Magdelene - Always performes, nice fresh fragrant Summer Song - Beautiful color, very healthy Pat Austin - Great color, wonderful fragrant LD Braith Wade - Beautiful flower, not much fragrant Winchester Cathedral - very strong growing, strong fragrant Falstaff - strong growth but defoliage. Very beautiful flowers. Very little fragrant in the sun The Dark Lady - large beautiful color, no fragrant William Shaepear 2000 - great rose with nice fragrant Mary Rose - strong growht, light fragrant Sweet Juliet - strong growth, nice fragrant New ones this year, I might be able to talk about them next summer :) Heritage Gentle Hermione Lady Emma Hamilton - the color is wonderful and the fragrance is out standing. But I have only got 3 flowers so far this year so ... :) Sharifa Asma Scepter Isle Teasing Georgia Generous Gardener

Longportliz, welcome to the Jersey Shore! I hope your move goes well and that you will enjoy your new home. I'm still relatively new to rose culture, but think you'll find your roses will do very well here. The sandy soil usually makes for excellent drainage, you just might have to amend with organic matter. You might want to start by taking a soil sample to your County Agricultural Extension Office for a free pH test, or purchase a kit to send some soil off to the Rutgers Soil Lab for a complete analysis ($15). There are some real rose experts here, though, and I'm hoping they'll post their advice soon. Newbie, I'm in Monmouth County also, and it certainly makes for interesting gardening. Here at home, only a few miles from the beach and across the street from a bay, the weather is considerably milder (winter and summer) than only 20 minutes away in the hills of Middletown (where I work). It's really important to get to know one's microclimate. I believe this being on the cusp is what makes it a difficult call for us. FWIW, I got my instruction from the curator of the rose garden where I bought my roses, a nursery in Zone 6 NY, and for them it's a more cut-and-dried 2-stage process: A rough pruning in early winter to prevent 1) wind-whipping (whereby the root ball gets loosened in the soil by strong winds rocking the plant), and 2) branch breakage from snow load. Then a fine pruning in early spring to shape the plant. Pruning out branches susceptible to snow load seems of particular concern here because of the wet, and hence heavy & sticky, snows we can get here. On the other hand, with our capricious weather, pruning during a mild winter, or before an extended warm spell, might cause the rose to put out new growth too early. Case in point: Almost all of my roses still have a fair number of green leaves and a few have new leaves growing, and I haven't even pruned yet! Longportliz, I'm going to have to check back myself and see how the local experts address your questions. Diane

I love Austins, and a select few of them are my absolute favorite roses in the garden, but some of them are absolute dogs here in Texas. If you narrow down a list of what you like, please post and I'll comment on which ones I've had. My secret to a healthy rose garden is plenty of tea roses and china roses. Both classes are antiques that LOVE Texas conditions and bloom their hearts out till we get nights down to 27 degrees. The Austins are a risk- none are really healthy, but some are so fragrant that it's worth it. (Jude the Obscure, Mary Magdaline, Scepter d Isle, Tamora). And like I said, others are just awful, though I'm sure they are beautiful in areas with cooler night time temps. I'm too lazy and have too many gardens to spray anything so there are lots of roses that have gotten the boot from my yard over the years!