Thanks for the input everyone. phylrae, I don't usually winter protect but if a few shovelfulls of topsoil means the difference between life and death I will try it. Frederic Mistral was mentioned in an article by Bill "Knockout" Radler about easy care roses for the north. It was the only Romantica mentioned. Radler says that the roses mentioned in the article should not be given winter protection (I think he was talking about zones 4 and 5, not zone 3). I wanted to experiment with other Romanticas since forum members in zones 4 and 5 have mentioned growing them. I sure hope Rouge Royale makes it because the fragrance on the bloom that came with it from RU is out of this world. Another rose that died this winter was Tamora which was growing right next to Peter Mayle. I did not expect this as Tamora survived the previous winter. It is definitely mysterious to lose a few roses per year for unknown reasons. We had a lot of freeze-thaw cycles this winter. I am also considering some of the Clements rose, particularly Fragrant Masterpiece (I am a sucker for fragrance). Are any of these hardy in zone 5? If all else fails I will try some more Bucks, although some of them aren't particularly hardy either. Rose de Rescht also does pretty well and I am looking into some other repeating OGRs.

Thank you for the feedback. Ok for the fertilizer and the regular waterings & disease control. It's right next to my veggie garden so they will get plenty of water. I have 2 crawler roses on that same fence line, sharing the same soil so hopefully the soil/hole is okay. I also have a couple of those giant knock out roses planted there, one died & has to be replaced. Some other stubby rose bushes too are there. I have yet to cut a rose from them. Will it take years for rose bushes to grow? Do I have to prune them in fall or spring and how do I cut it? For my knock outs, I just cut them into a circular shape and they got huge real fast. For my crawlers, I cut the branches that grow straight up from the base, maybe you call them suckers--i have no idea. But I do that so the main crawlers which appear to be shooting out in the back can continue down the fence. My dream project in the yard is to have a double row of roses, about 20 or 30 feet long. But to remove the sod and make that island (& soil delivery) is keeping me from the project. That is hard work. My favorite colors are the really intense colors that I used to see in the bouquets in France. Apricot, orange, pink, red, yellow, etc. My goal is to be able to cut a bouquet for my living room...I think I need to feed my bushes more.

Well, I don't DISlike it, for sure, especially since I thought this rose was a goner anyway. Last year it was planted alongside a Comtesse de Provence (definiteively deceased) and interplanted with the native Obedient Plant. This year the Obedient Plant has all but eaten the whole entire bed, which wasn't huge to begin with. I pulled up some of the flowers once I discovered PJP was still alive and kicking, but I think he might still get more shade than he would like, ideally. Think this has anything to do with it?

Today I learned something! They are called bullheads. I'm getting them on Golden Celebration. I've had the plant since June it never developed a bud until about two weeks ago when I saw two. I got so excited! But the buds won't open. Well, one of them sort of did, but it looks like it rotted inside. I wonder if it's all the rain we've been having. None of my other Austins are having this problem. I wonder if anyone in Florida having luck with Golden Celebration. At this point it's more like Golden Irritation.