All of us this direction and east were the only below normal temps. in Feb. in the entire world. Kind of scary to see the strongest typhoons and cyclones ever recorded in the last two years. Feel so badly for those suffering from this drought. Not to mention that most of my favorite foods are grown in California.

I remember a few years ago, they had the 'revised' cold hardiness map and supposedly I was in zone 8. Well while some of my neighbors tried planting lots of zone 8 stuff, I didn't. Good thing because for the past two winters we've gotten to below zero a few times. Last year it killed all my teas down to the roots and also killed a few of my HTs. I now think I'm in zone 6 sometimes.

I know you guys have had it tough too, Jackie. I wish we could sort of even things out for us both. I'll send you some cool rain and you can send me a bit of dry heat!

Yes, I had heard that too, Patty. Lucky us, ha!

Buford, You did a smart thing by sticking to the zone 7. I'm probably looking at another big loss of roses and plants this year again. Even though I'm zone 6 I had tried to push the envelope with a couple of teas and chinas and that was a big mistake!

I received a tea rose once. Did not order it they mixed it in with my order. I apologized many times to the poor thing that it ended up in northern Illinois. It did manage to bloom for a couple of years before passing.

Hi Seil. I hope your Marriotta made it. Your photographs of it were so pretty last season.

Lol, oh Patty, that's so sad and funny at the same time!

Thank you and I hope so too, Jasmine. It's still too early to uncover the roses yet. I'm hoping by the beginning of April if the weather holds.

I'll look for the update. Good luck!

This all makes me very nervous as I'm zone 7, but right on the line next to zone 6, & I'd really like to maintain my zone 7 status. Last winter was so extreme and we had so many very late freezes, I'm praying we don't have the same situation this year. Almost all my roses have started leafing out due to the warm temperatures during last couple of weeks, I just know we're going to get some devastating freeze. I am not sure how to adequately protect my potted roses from late spring freezes other than pack them all into my basement until it passes, which would be no small task.

Last summer I purchased my first ever Chinas & teas, they were: Ducher (China- zone 7), Green rose (China- zone 7), Rosette Delizy (tea- zone 7), & Lady Hillingdon (tea-zone 6), and while Green and LH had moderate damage overwintering on my front porch, Ducher made it through with all its leaves, green to the very tips, in fact I was so impressed with it I ordered another one (it doesn't hurt that it produces many gorgeous, perfectly formed white blooms). Meanwhile, Rosette Delizy (this specimen from ARE) had some massive dieback and I'm not sure it is going to pull through this spring, although it was a pretty weak specimen to begin with, so it is difficult to know if it was the winter cold that did it in or if it was on its way out when it got to me. It is so pretty, if I loose it I may try again in the future. Ducher gives me hope that some listed at zone 7 can still handle the occasional sub-zero day without massive winter kill.

I've just ordered a few Teas, Chinas, & Noisettes for this spring. I still feel new at growing these less hardy types, yet I seem to be acquiring them at a rapid pace, hopefully I'm not getting in over my head ! (or under my zone!) The less hardy 2015 purchases I'm waiting on are: Mme. Antoine Mari, Mme Alfred Carriere, blush noisette, & cramoisi superior. Let's hope they all do as well as Ducher.

Also, say what you will about Austin's, not one single Austin I grow (at least 15 varieties) had one inch of winter kill on it!

Hi Dingle. I also have Rosette d'Lizzy and the first few years I had it, it would get a lot of die back. Entire canes would be fine one day and then a few weeks later be dead. Last winter it did die back to the roots, but has come back. But as you said, the blooms are so pretty, it's hard to say no to it. I had to dig mine up and it's doing ok, I plan on planting it soon.

Yeah, I'm not z7B the last couple of years, probably. By just a couple of nights, but last year we had so long in the teens that it was very unusual, too. I lost a ton of roses last year from the cold or the unusual winter winds, or both. This year I protected them all and so far it looks good.

I'm still scared, though, because last year lots of my green canes just shriveled up and got die-back all the way down after I thought they were good! Hopefully by having dirt on the crowns, that kept the canes healthy at the base at very least this year.

I was so excited when I moved 2-1/2 years ago to step up a zone from 4 to 5 - but this winter I've had typical zone 4 weather with occurances of overnight temperatures of -30 and lower. I have a Geshwind's Schonste that had reached the roof over my patio last summer and in spite of the spruce branches I layered over it up to about 5 ft, it is dead and dark brown even down below the snowline. I think there may be about 4" of green at the bottom. Pooh. So much for having just a few more choices in tall roses. I'll just go back to my old rules I guess, and quit pushing the envelope.
On the bright side, Seil, I have decades of pruning right down to the ground in spring and almost always had the roses (even HT's) come back with beautiful bloom by June...true, the plants are sometimes shorter than they might otherwise be but still beautiful by summertime. I think you'll find most of your roses will bounce back from their severe haircut. You just have to get used to the look of "starting from scratch." ;-) Best wishes for a beautiful season!
Anne

When DH and I talk about moving somewhere when we retire, my only requirement is 'somewhere that I don't have to bury my roses in the winter'.

I'm in full agreement with this new Z4 we are in. I too thought Z5-6ish lots of mild winters. Two z4 winters under or belts now, will we return to milder winters??? More than likely but maybe not.... Stay tuned folks...In the mean time I'm sticking with Z4 roses to reduce the disappointment and pruning...

I guess we all have our trials and tribulations to face. I'm just hoping my roses don't become annuals to be replaced every spring because I can't afford that!

Buford, thanks for the words of encouragement, you described my exact situation... one day one of the two main canes was fine, & it seemed like the next day it was deader than a doornail. Also, what a gorgeous photo! Even more motivation for me to coddle my poor Rosette Delizy until she starts looking more like your photo and less like a little twig. Also, I'm with you, if I ever move out of east TN, it will only be somewhere warmer, and absolutley never above the Mason Dixon (sorry everybody up north, you're much more thick skinned than this sun craving southern girl- Much Respect).

The cold never used to bother me but these aging bones do ache now. If I could move I would definitely go south but I have no idea where. I can't think of any place that doesn't have some kind of weather challenge to face. California has a drought and besides that the ground moves around too much for my taste. Florida has bad hurricanes and is awfully damp and humid...and BUGGY. Plus those pesky nematodes...oh and chilian thrips! What to do?

Seil, come to CA! Where I live, no earthquakes and we grow just about everything here! We are the breadbasket for the world. Land prices much cheaper here than the rest of CA as well. However, we do have drought but then you get to try new quick showering techniques, drought tolerant plants, water recycling techniques, etc. Always a delightful challenge! Much better than snow. Yuck! I just hate snow unless it is up on the mountains where it belongs!

Seil, north Texas is a good option if you don't mind 100 degree weather a few weeks a year. Believe me I'll take the 100 degrees any day over the teens. In fact there is a house down the street from me for sale sitting on an acre lot. Just think how many roses you can put in on an acre! Just ignore that info on tornados as those are only a problem a couple of times a year and you just hunker down in a closet when they head your way. So pack you bags, rent a big truck to haul your pots and come on to Texas.

Lol, thank you all for the offers! Don't think it will happen anytime soon though...

I hear you, Sharon - I've just been out checking the garden thinking nothing could be as bad on the roses as last winter. Sure enough, almost none of the roses beyond the "usual suspects" had any live cane above the leaf line, and many are dead down to the ground. It didn't seem like this was as brutally cold a winter, but we had a very early bitter cold snap with below zero for about a week in November. I think that shocked the canes off most of the roses in the yard never to recover. So far I don't THINK I've lost any more than my usual number of marginally hardy roses, but I don't dare speak too soon.
You're of course right that we should only plant roses for a zone colder than we are to be safe, but heck - who wants to be safe? Hey, we specialize in plants that can draw serious blood at a moment's notice, so we're not exactly sensible, are we? Dinglehopp3r, I've had about 5 teas in my zone 5 yard for 6 or 7 years, and with a little extra protection they have done fine. Of course I experimented with around 10 other teas that fainted dead away at the first sign of our winters, so it's anyone's call. I'm trying to add Clementina Carbornieri this spring, and we'll see how she likes cold and ice.
Cynthia

This was a brutally cold winter where I live. I'm in 6b but this was probably more like zone 4. It's funny because today I went rose bush shopping and saw a whole display of extreme cold hardy roses. I'm sure those will sell out this spring.

We should all post our top 3 hardy roses. from Zone 6,5,4, Zones swing up and down....I need more information, or just a more stable climate..

In total agreement. (but, believe me, Gulf Coastal summers are brutal and they last more than three months.)

What bugs me the most is that some powers in DC can decide to average different years, and all of a sudden, our hopes are up. Only to be dashed by reality.

I've been reading a lot of history, and some of it pertains to our problems with temperatures. You may remember reading about Alexis De Tocqueville... he visited North American in 1831. Part of his trip was a planned return up the Mississippi in December. BUT the Mississippi had ice flows on it so far south into southern Mississippi that he had to travel overland.

Late 1890's the north end of Mobile Bay froze solid. (That would be the fresh water wedge above the saltier waters, but, still, it froze solid.)

We don't see those temperatures now, even at the extreme end of the temperature bell curves.

This also leads to an admiration for the Noisettes which were new introductions in that winter of 1831, which a lot of them survived. IMO our wimpy roses came about because green houses in the late 1800s became common and roses and other flowers grown there were wanted outside of greenhouses.