Hi Erika,

Have you seen the Far North forum. There are some incredible people on there. They should be able to help you with your insulation blanket question. Yes I saw the different rating for PAoK also and I'm growing it now but it's too young to say anything yet.

Carol on here is a very helpful lady and in zone three. If she does not see this try reposting your question. Mention that you have a zone 3 rose question it may help. Twros will see this for sure in the far north forum.

There are new Canadian roses being introduced each year now. So things are looking up for roses in the cold frozen north. Glad to meet you and good luck.

Hi Erika,

My PAoK is brand new this year, so I'm not sure...plus I overwinter all of my roses in the garage, so zones don't matter to me. Everything survives in the garage. Far North forum may be able to help you. But if you want info on how to overwinter roses in the garage...I can help you with that. :)

Carol

On the David Austin Roses USA web site 12 roses are listed as hardy for zones 4/5. No Austin roses are listed for zone 3. PAoK is not listed among the 12. This does not mean it will not be hardy for you, though, but I doubt it.

My better judgement and experience tells me PAoK is questionable regarding hardiness for you. It may have to be experimented with to find out for sure.

BTW, I have had my eye on this beauty for some time. I don't 't grow it yet.

Thank you, everyone! Carol, i'm looking into overwintering some David Austin potted roses in my garage as well. How do you do it? Im new to roses. Thank you!

Hi Erika,

I have a system that I developed, and I have it in a word file, ready for sharing. Here it is:

I overwinter my 50 roses in large pots in my garage with the
2 cars. LOL Three car garage.

Here's what I do:

- I keep deadheading until it's time for them to go into the uninsulated, but attached, garage.
- I keep feeding them and watering well until it's time for them to go into the
garage.
-Then when the temperature gets to be about -6C I cut all the leaves off at the
point they join the heavier stem. I don't cut any height off of the plant.
- At this point I water them really, really well and move them by dolly into
the garage.
- I cover them with thick blankets, layers of flannel sheets or sleeping bags.
- My garage is insulated.
- Then I leave them alone in the dark. Doesn't matter if the garage door is
opened and closed.
- Around January, I look and see if they're dried out a bit.
- If they are, then I water each rose 1/2 cup.
- I repeat this every month.
- As the weather starts warming up, I take off some blankets - so they don't
start making new growth in the heat.
- Any new growth should be broken off as you would thorns - just push them to
the side, and they'll fall off.
- If you have only a few pots - you can start taking them outside during the
day when it gets about 5 C outside. Bring them inside until the night
temperature doesn't drop below 5C.
- Remember to water really well once you take them outside.
- If you have a lot - then either wait until night tempreatures are 5C before
you take them outside - or cover them with blankets at night.

I would add to this that when the outside temperatures are below -20C, I don't cover my roses with blankets. But -20 or colder I add blankets. Hope this helps!
Carol

I grow several dozen DA varieties and most are hardy with no winter protection but Princess Alexandra of Kent was one of the least hardy that I've tried. I'm in 5b, our lowest temps this winter were -15, and very little snow cover. I had three one year old grafted plants, all were dead to the soil line.

Hi ratdogheads, which DA varieties do you grow that need no winter protection? Their performance, width, height, own root or grafted? I'm looking to order some DA for a relative in the same zone as you. Thank you. Helen

Erika, I hope you don't mind the additional questions.

Hello. I have grown several Austins in Mn zone 4. Many are growing against the house so have a bit of a micro climate. Of the ones I grow around the house (garage actually ) I have had Darcy Bucell, Alnwick, jubilee celebration, windemere and Abraham Darby for 3 or 4 years with out replacing. Windemere is grafted and I did have to cut out dr huey that was trying to take over- this is one of the reasons why us cold zoners prefer own root! I usually loose a Princess Alexandra of Kent, and I have replaced 1 of the 2 lady of shallots. Tess of the ubdervilles and tradescent I have had prob 5 or 6 years planted in back (wide open) with no protection whatsoever. Tess grows well with little disease (lots of bs here) with large blooms 4-5" but not very many at a time. Tradescent is def. Not as vigorous but comes back every year. I have had a couple others that I have gotten impatient and ripped out. Some of them are pretty late to break dormancy. Golden celebration I really like, but I have only had them for a little over a year.