I planted about 6-8 and a couple of years ago and treated them the same as with the regular roses. I covered them with mulch and styrofoam cones. Only 3 survived the winter. The second winter around none of the miniatures survived. I never tried to take them indoors in the fall. Maybe you could try. I didn't because I have a problem with space and have to be very selctive about the plants I return indoors when the weather gets cold. Maybe we can get some advice from the experts out there. How are your clivia seedlings doing?

Hi all! Dani33, you asked for a follow up. Zepherine is now 2 years old and frankly just limping along. Doubtless my fault for planting her in partial shade to begin with (but it was the only location left to get a climber going around the front porch like I wanted) :-( Also we've had 2 frigid Chicago winters and no I didn't cover her or burlap her or even cover up her roots. I guess its amazing she's alive at all! So far no leaves so maybe she didn't make it? I'll try to remember to let u know when I see any activity on her. Angel Face remains happy as lark. She's planted right next to Zephy (also part shade) but I looove this plant for its unusal mauvey-blue color, *endless* blooms, and its amazing fragrance. It's just a wonderful thing to admire and sniff :) Was just thinking today of putting some new climbers on the VERY sunny south wall of our house which gets wonderful air flow and all day sunshine. Much more rose-friendly I think. Something that has some fragrance cuz that window is open a lot in summer and has fat rose hips for the birds in winter. Thorny but not insane (no more Josephs Coat or Pink Dawn). Reason for rose here? Its where our wild birds perch while waiting their turn at the feeder - and my cats love to watch their "bird tv" from that window! :) Currently there's a mulberry bush there but I'm getting rid of it bc I've never liked mulberry bushes (sorry mulberries!) Would only need to get as tall as the window maybe 9 -12'? Thought of putting a crabapple there so the birds could chow in berries all winter -- but then I'll have squirrels leaping from the branches, stealing all the birds' seed. So I think a climbing rose around that window is the way to go - squirrels don't like thorns or tiny branches that won't support them. You guys really are so smart and helpful!! I really have appreciated all the thoughtful feedback! Best ~Kelly (in Chicago, not Indiana now!)

Below is the info. that Floweraremusic (zone 5) in Washington gave on her 2020 winter-survival. She has alkaline clay with rocks at bottom like mine & less snow in winter: "My hardiest roses are the Canadians. John Davis, John Cabot, Wm. Baffin, Morden Sunrise, Morden Blush and Morden Centennial, Victorian Memory aka Isabelle Skinner, also a Canadian rose. All these only have tiny bit of tip damage and bloom a lot with no special care. Also, my Hybrid Perpetuals only have tip damage after winter. Magna Charta, Mrs. John Laing, Black Prince and Marchesa Buccella. The only negative is they don’t have long enough cutting stems. All my Austins are very hardy. The one I just can not grow is Jude. Leonardo da Vinci is super hardy and always healthy. Quietness comes through winter very well. Even Rouge Royale survives beautifully. Cinderella Fairy Tale is very hardy. Gruss an Aachen also. Ballerina and Marjorie Fair are both hardy. Poseidon, Princess Charlene de Monaco and Crazy Love didn’t do as well as I’d hoped. The surprise losses this year are Quicksilver, and Dames de Chenonceau who is left with only 1 cane. Versigny is also reduced down to almost nothing. This was a mild winter with very little snow. " Floweraremusic (zone 5). From StrawChicago (zone 5a with hard black-gumbo alkaline clay & less snow but with freezing rain in winter). Versigny didn't survive winter either. So I lost Versigny TWICE. Besides Versigny, other wimpy own-root roses that don't survive winter well: Paul Neyron, Anna's Promise, Pink Peace (own-root died 1st winter, but grafted-Pink Peace survives many winter), Elantyne, Jude the Obscure, Young Lycidas (bought as grafted-on-Dr.Huey, now with only one cane), Mary Daly, and many floribundas don't survive my zone 5a: Pink Chiffon, Sheila's perfume, King Arthur, Deep Purple, Shocking blue, Honey Bouquet (survived 1 winter). Polka Climber (survived 1 winter), Cloutilde Soupert (died twice on me). Sutter's Gold didn't survive winter, same with many fragrant mini-roses from Burlington nursery. Below are my hardy OWN-ROOT roses in my zone 5a alkaline clay, only Double Delight, Young Lycidas and Lavender Crush are grafted-on-Dr.Huey. Bold-faced are the very vigorous ones: Own-roots with 3 feet of green canes: Carding Mill (since 2012), Princess Charlene of Monaco, Duchess de Rohan, Crown Princess Magareta (since 2012), Zepherine Drouhin, Lady of Shalott, James Galway, Lavender Crush, Queen of Sweden (gave away but very hardy), Poseidon (right below the rain-spout, dug down to 2.5 feet), Scepter'd Isle (very big & hardy own-root but gave that away with its lousy scent). Own-roots with 2 feet of green canes: La Reine (many winters), Blue Mist (since 2012), Prairie Harvest (since 2014), Mary Magdalene (since 2011), Evelyn (since 2012), Radio Times (since 2011), Pat Austin (since 2011), Christopher Marlowe (since 2011), Golden Celebration (since 2011), Lilian Austin (gave away but very hardy), the Squire, the Dark Lady, Wise Portia survived 4 winters but died in poor drainage clay, Dee-lish (since 2015), Twilight Zone (since 2016), William Shakespeare. 2000 (since 2011), Comte de Chambord (since 2012), Princess Anne, Sweet Mademoiselles, Aloha climber, Orchid Romance, Bohemian Rhapsody, Marie Pavie, Lagerfeld (since 2017), Frederic Mistral survived 2 winters but died when I didn't winter-protect with leaves, Sonia Rykiel (survived 3 winters) but died in freezing rain winter, same with 1/4 of the street-trees in my neighborhood, Excellenz von Shubert (since 2013), Own-roots with less than 1 foot of green canes: Gina's rose, Tchaikosky (since 2015), Cornelia (since 2018), Bolero (few winters), Peter Mayle, Sharifa Asma, Neil Diamond, Amber Queen, A Shopshire Lad, Strike it Rich, Old Port (since 2012), Veteran's Honor (many winters), Double Delight (grafted on Dr.Huey), Savannah, Tess of d'Uberville, Gene Boerner (since 2014), thornless Yves Seedling (since 2013), Stephen big Purple (since 2012), Louise Este, Mirandy, Crimson Glory, Liv Tyler survived 1 winter but needs winter-protection, Rouge Royal (bought last year with no winter-protection). Annie L. McDowell (survived 2 winters but needs a wet-spot since it's almost thornless), Nahema (survived 1 winter then died during freezing-rain winter), same with Eyes-for-you (drought-tolerant and doesn't like freezing wet winter), Souvenir du President Lincoln, Madame Issac Pererie and Madame Earnest Calvat, Firefighter (survived 2 winters) but died since it's next to tree. Bayes Blueberry (survived many winters but I gave away), Charles Darwin (gave away since it fades badly), Arthur Bell (since 2012 & killed it since I don't like the flowers). StrawChicago.

You're all very kind! 'Empowerment' was one of my very first hybridizations way back in the 1980's and the original bush still remains vigorous. The rose has always been a highlight of my summer with those lovely and lasting blooms. I was surprised and thrilled to have seen a few nice bushy specimens at Store Store and almost had purchased one for myself, but honestly that just felt strange paying for my own rose, lol. It has superior bloom quality to 'Winnipeg Parks' and puts on a display that makes one stop and stand there admiring ... though, 'Winnipeg Parks' has near continuous repeat, wish I could say the same for mine, both roses having merit, Although, it tempting to leave as much live wood as possible on this rose, I do stress it really does appreciate a severe spring cut back to just a few inches above the ground to encourage fewer and stronger shoots to carry the mass of blooms. One year I hadn't pruned as such and it became a mass of smaller finer stems and the display just did not WOW as usual. I'd also recommend a tomato cage for support. Although, in it's 30 years or so, it has seen winters with scant snow, it has not been trialed under completely snowless conditions, so I do think best to plant 3 inches of the stem below ground just for good measure! Good, bad or ugly, I'd later appreciate others comments, I won't take it personally for the genetic roll of the dice the rose was granted. Kelly, if by chance you're in a humid region, I can't promise of it's health, while it has remained spotless in my yard with high disease pressure, it did not perform as well in Ontario's humidity, so it's being released as a regional rose. Prairie_northrose ... yes, Bylands is the propagator of the rose. Unfortunately, despite my desire to forge forward and again pick up speed with hybridization, this year will again be very lean in that aspect, this yard is just too large and high maintenance to allow me to get on top of things and place more emphasis on what I wish. This lovely rose seedling I had unfortunately lost ... though, I still have both parents, so I must attempt to redo the cross! PNR, please be sure to post photos this summer of your rose breeding efforts, we're going in different directions and it's fun to see the results! :)