I love tan roses and I think I have them all, pretty much. Here are the favorites. Best tan roses: 1. Spiced Coffee (I got a nice one from Hortico this year, believe it or not. This rose, like most brown roses, does better grafted, not own root) 2. Honey Dijon 3. Stephen Rulo (Wisconsin Roses carries it) 4. Butterscotch (aka Jactan), the climber (available at Burlington Roses) 5. Pam's Choice (Rogue Valley Roses) 6. Irish Creme (Certified Roses - available at big box stores like Lowes, but only during bareroot season). and if you like mini's, then Smoke Signals (also from Burlington Roses) Julia's Rose is okay, but I haven't found a source to obtain it grafted. I think it would be a MUCH more vigorous rose if it was not growing on its own roots. As an own root plant, it is notoriously a weak plant, and my own root specimen bears that out. It's a rose that just wants to fade away, and I'm on my third or fourth plant because of that. Kathy

I grew it for 3 years (own root from Heirloom) because I wanted a compact rose for a container. I liked the flower form, the fragrance (marvelous to my nose), the color (bright yellow)and the above average disease resistance. It's repeat was average, and its stems were short and a tad on the weak side. However in the 3rd year a friend of mine commented that hers had a few Octopus arms growing, and then a few weeks later mine did too. I didn't wait around to see what would happen next. I gave mine away. In your cooler zone with a shorter growing period you may never have this problem.

The grafted/own-root issue isn't always clear. I find that my grafted roses are much more vigorous, especially the first 3-5 years until the own-root catch up. And by burying the graft 3-4" deep, I find that eventually the grafted rose becomes an own-root rose, as strong feeder roots develop along the buried shank above the graft. I have dug up quite old grafted roses that were buried deeply (ones that I removed because they were blackspot prone) and found very little root activity below the graft and lots above. However, if a rose is quite tender and I really want to try to establish it in my garden, I will try an own-root. There are also many roses that are only available as own-root, so if I want them that's the route I take. I have several specific roses (Tamora, Dainty Bess, Golden Celebration) where I have both a grafted and an own-root specimen. They have been in place for a number of years now and the own-root have caught up and they are doing equally well.

Virginia - in answer to your questions, I've enabled all my neighbors on each side of me and behind to try roses, and convinced them that roses aren't that hard to grow. For the most part, I did this with the more reliable shrub roses, since one neighbor in particular had been convinced that roses had to be obsessively sprayed and fussed over all summer. The ease of shrub roses have convinced them that roses can be easy care plants. For Francis Dubreuil, most folks recommend this one for part shade locations regardless of zone to maintain the deep colors and the purple tones. Mine is in part shade and it doesn't seem to affect the winter hardiness. As for Ingrid Bergman, I love the dark red of this one but I'm on 2 or 3 tries to overwinter this one, and I think it's going to be one of those "cold wimps" that are truly zone 7 rather than only reported as such. Cynthia