Frankly, I can do without the cold weather, and I am jealous of you, fragrance. This chill was the worst in twenty some years of rose growing because it came on Nov 15, 2014, when all the roses were not dormant, and things still looked quite nice. Temps hit about zero for three days and just messed up the roses. Didn't trouble much else. It's always the roses--what prima donnas. Anyway, there was a clear demarcation between which plants can take the cold and had no damage, or very little, and those that don't do well at all dealing with this strange, unexpected kind of cold. I've concluded that it's genetics, pure and simple. Didn't matter what part of the garden they were located in, or even how young they were. I hope this doesn't happen again, but two years ago, we had something similar, too, so an awful pattern may be emerging. Diane

jjkoc, since you specifically mentioned water, I'll give you my experience with my own root Jude. He didn't do much growing or blooming for 3 - 4 years, then someone brought the water issue up a few years ago and said they thought the Austin roses, especially Jude, needed more water than most, so I started giving him lots more and that, indeed, was what he wanted. He performs beautifully as long as I nearly drown him, and that scent.....nothing else like it. My climate is dry as toast, so that played a part, I'm sure. Summers here are in the 100˚ range. All my Austins perform better with copious amounts of water. If you're in water restricted So. Cal., this might be something to consider, but in my opinion, he's worth it.

Hi everyone! HalloBlondie, thanks! It's nice to hear how they do in our general area! I've got teasing Georgia on the list for spring next year too :) I don't mind printing them down in spring, so long as they survive, and it sure sounds like they do! And don't worry, I won't compare between Nanadolls roses and mine, I can only dream of huge Austin's! Wouldn't that be something though? Berrypie, so long as they come back I sure don't mind small! Small actually works better for me, since I can squeeze more into the beds then! (Always the optimist here) Nanadoll, I sure try to be brave lol. But you're right, I'll never know unless I try ...so I'll give Jude a shot! ...as to the difference between USDA/Can zones, one of the nurseries here explained that the way Canada "forms" the zones is different than how the US does it. So, since I'm a Canadian zone 5b/6a that would make me a USDA zone 4b/5a. Correct me here if I'm wrong anyone, I'm new, so I'm just going by what I've been told :) I can't actually understand the difference, when I look at the temps, I seem to be the same as a USDA zone 5b-5a, somewhere in there. Heavy winter protection might help, I got Blossomtime through the winter heavily covering her, but it was a mild winter by our standards, so I'm not sure :) Rebecca! Thank you! I'm glad someone else feels like Winnie the Pooh with their roses! (Hahaha!) I don't have a place near the house I can plant, unless it can handle only 3-4hrs of sun...so my beds are right out in the elements. They get some wind block by older trees facing north so that helps :) Gotta be tough here, or babied...I'll baby them. I don't mind! The one I'm getting is grafted so I hope that helps...and all your styles & likes are wonderful! But you know that already :) Rideauroselad, thank you! You give me hope! I don't mind work in the least, so long as it gets them through winter. Jude will be grafted, and slow growing is fine too, so long as I don't kill the poor thing with vicious winters :) I always bury the graft/bud union 5-6inches below, I'm paranoid :) So looks like I'll try Jude! Thank you all, very much :)

Here's a picture of an adorable little Jude the Obscure that I just got from Heirloom last weekend and haven't planted yet. It was packed well & looked healthy, despite having been left in the box in the garage for a few days (my bad!)... And, there seems to be a single shoot off to the side - do you think it's connected to the main root, or just an extra baby shoot? Here's a close-up of the base: Thanks!