I use a lot of organic material such as compost, manure compost, soil conditioner (finely chopped pine chips) mixed into the bed. They will decompose and make nice black soil out of sand. This discourages the nematodes that may be in your sandy soil that will shorten the life of roses. I put 2 cups of alfalfa pellets & 2 cups of milorganite in the bottom of the hole. I mix Rosetone in the bed around the hole, then fertilize the rose later (month or so) with Rosetone scratched into the soil within the dripline. I mulch the rose with manure compost. Water really well when planted and daily at least a gallon for a month at least depending on temps. Lately I've been using Mychorrizae (microorganisms) around the roots at planting. I don't think using the lime would be good unless you have really, really acid soil. Roses like PH at 6.0 - 6.5 which is slightly acid. You might want to check your soil PH. High PH will prevent uptake of some vital nutrients. I have three Don Juans. Very beautiful. Enjoy your roses! Sherry

I quite like my Hope for Humanity, and being a Canadian explorer it should be a good choice for your zone. Mine is about 4-5 feet tall in zone 5 in its fourth year, without much dieback in my zone (and it's tucked into a zone 4 pocket in my yard). You're right that the ultimate height relates to how much you have to chop off from winter kill to some extent, but a well-established rose will grow by the end of the season to the height it wants to be if it's suited to your zone. In other words, even if you have to trim it to almost the ground in early spring, it'll shoot back up in the spring and summer if it's happy (and you don't cut it below the graft, obviously). Don't judge its ultimate height in the first few years as it's getting settled, since the plant is liable to spend more time putting down roots than building height at first. I don't grow Blanc Double de Coubert, but if you know someone in your area that grows it, then that's a likely option for your yard. I had it at a previous house but it didn't like my alkaline soil and faded pretty quickly to rather scruffy used blooms that you have to deadhead frequently to keep the bush looking nice. Peace is a lovely rose, but being a Hybrid Tea it's pretty unlikely to be hardy in zone 3-4 unless you grow it in a pot and bring it into a protected unheated space for the winter. I can get away with leaving my hybrid teas in the ground in zone 5, but much colder than me it isn't really a viable option unless you have a particularly hardy hybrid tea or a protected zone pocket with consistent snow cover. Always worth a try if you're a gambler, but that one's a long shot compared to the others (including Rambling Red) that are more sure bets in your zone. Cynthia

I'm going to bump this up because I seem to have the same issue. But, I have to say right off that during my 7 years at a rose greenhouse, we never once "rotated" our beds to different crops when one variety fell out of favor and was replaced with new bushes. Still, considering my abysmal record with outdoor roses . . . maybe I better give others another shot at this question before Windwhipped is blown astray and I sail along right after her. (Wind gusts here this morning, over 40 mph.) The buds are breaking in my little rose garden by the front gate. Unfortunately, after many years, there doesn't seem to be any buds on the Peace rose nearest the gate. The plant was the largest, grew and bloomed the most vigorously thru season after season. Piling it high with snow over the Winter doesn't seem to have saved it this time. Other bushes are close in the same bed. Am I going to get in trouble by pulling the Peace out and replacing it with another rose? (I've enjoyed watching Rosemay & Thyme, also :o). digitS'

I use a green compost bin that our city loans people to have r vegetation hauled away. Then I put c. a foot of broken crockery on the bottom and a few sawed up branches for drainage, as the bin lacks holes and I put all my fruit and veg trimmings, egg shells and used tea bags in it, after it is 1/3rd full I mix in some chicken manure tea, I use only enough fluid to dampen it, because the bin has no holes in it. then I keep adding the fruit and veg et cetera until it's 2/3rds full , add some more manure tea, I also put in the cardboard rolls from paper towels and toilet paper, and used paper plates. Then after it sits there for c. 6 weeks I turn it out into a 6' long by 2 feet deep trench for it to break down more. As I take it out of the bin I mix it up more, as aeration is an important part of making compost. When I pre-soak the larger chunks of fruit, the completed compost takes a third less time to break down. I make compost c. 4 times a year. It is better than c. 90% of the compost I've ever bought. I used to feel silly giving all my compost to be hauled away by the garbage crews and then paying c. 8 bucks a bag for compost from a store. Now I have wonderful compost at all times available without having to lug it home. One of my favorite gardening memories: when a new batch of compost was ready for her garden, my mother used to run her hands through that rich, dark and friable substance while she wore a soft and endearing expression; as if she were seeing not compost, but was viewing something enchantingly wondrous, as I would if there were colorful precious gems in front of me. As a child I used to think mom was a bit eccentric. Not so much now. Lux.