David Austin roses in colder zones
mxk3 z5b_MI
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Hardy David Austin Roses for zone 3 Manitoba
Comments (8)Hi Caroll, this is from Carol! :) I'm surprised Molineux had come back for you (even protected against the house). Had it lost any vigor? Mine survived in a raised area over one winter, but it was obviously not suited to its environemnt. It only regained two canes and had one flower. On the other hand, these should do very well for you. 1. Brother Cadfael - great if you have dry summers (you probably don't). It got tons of buds which were beautiful and large. The bush got up to 3 1/2 feet for me. It was quite floriferous!!! Only problem was that it balled quite a bit in the 3 summers before I moved. We had 3 years of tons of rain. With protection and in an exposed area it had about 1 1/2 feet of green cane for me. Although, under your eaves, it probably wouldn't get too much rain. In that case this would be a fantastic rose for you to get!! Can't remember if there's fragrance. I think there was. This is a great rose! 2. L.D Braithwaite - wonderful fragrance. Gorgeous flowers. Tons of flowers. Same area as Brother Cadfael. This one doesn't ball. The blooms last FOREVER. Get this rose!! My fav. 3. Eglantyne - very hardy - can't say much about it because I planted it in the fall, then it overwintered (really well) and then we moved. 4. Golden Celebration - my only rose to get a little bit of BS. But I love this rose!!! I bought it again for this house because the shape of the plant is arching - great for pots which I'm now using. Gorgeous flower, scent. Lots of blooms. Wow!! About 1/2 foot of green cane in an exposed area, but winter protected. 5. Mary Rose got about 6" of live cane - but very exposed area - planted in a huge raised bed right against the wall. It didn't get many flowers. I think it needed more time and a better location. 6. A Shropshire Lad. - survived its first winter with about 2 1/2 inches of live cane. Didn't even get to see a flower since we moved. But it did get large. 7. Abraham Darby - progressively got smaller and smaller after every winter until it didn't come back. But heavenly scent and gorgeous roses!!! But IMHO, if Molineux has good vigor for you, year after year - then you could try any Austin. Good luck!! I love pushing the zones too! Carol...See MoreDavid Austin Roses for Zone 7
Comments (8)If I were you, I'd spend long hours dreaming over the David Austin catalog (or web page--whichever is appropriate). In Zone 7, all his roses should grow fine, especially if you can supply some mid-afternoon/late afternoon shade for a number of them (assuming it gets very hot in your Zone 7). If you don't have the later in the day shade, then note when DA says a rose is good at withstanding heat or is delicate and appreciates some shade. Most of his descriptions won't say that, but note when they do. He also has a list in the back of the catalog (and somewhere on his website) of roses for hot areas or for partial shade and some other categories like that. Just remember that most roses want a minimum of 6 hours of sun--but afternoon sun is a lot hotter than morning sun. Other than that, my main recommendation would be to note when DA describes a rose as being healthy, very healthy, and exceptionally healthy. That translates somewhat disease-resistant, above average on disease-resistance, and very, very disease-resistant. That is important if you don't want your roses totally wiped out by blackspot disease--or don't want to be spraying a fungicide every few weeks. If DA says nothing about the health of the rose, believe him--there is nothing good he can say about the disease-resistance of that rose--it is a disease-magnet, in other words. Other than that, you decide what colors, heights, shapes, fragrances appeal most to you--and go for it. If you'd like to start searching by checking out a few of my favorite DAs, here they are: Lady of Shalott--disease-resistance/heat resistance Mortimer Sackler--disease-resistance Molineux--I have 3 of these shorter roses--love the blooms, very floriferous The Pilgrim--lovely delicate yellow climber William Shakespeare 2000--gorgeous blooms Pretty Jessica--shorter, good in all ways This spring I'm planting Scepter'd Isle, Munstead Woods, and The Wedgewood--all highly recommended from several different sources, including this forum. Hope that helps. I'm in Zone 6 by the way--Austins seem to like this midwestern region as a whole. Kate...See MoreDavid Austin Roses Zone 4?
Comments (14)One thing to keep in mind when considering winter hardiness of any roses, including Austins, is whether you're talking about winter survival with or without reliable snow cover during the coldest parts of winter. Some things that I can't overwinter here in zone 5 without snow cover can sail through the winter with surviving cane in zone 4 if you have snow cover. For instance I'm on my fourth or fifth try to overwinter Golden Celebration, third try for Mary Rose, and second try for Brother Cadfael, and I've not been able to keep them alive, much less climbing. BC wasn't in the best of conditions so I'll be trying him again BTW. Under the snow it's always 32 degrees or so, and that is a survivable temperature for a wide variety of roses. I have some virtual zone 4 areas on the north and east sides of my house where the bulbs are always at least 2 weeks later than other beds, so I can report on Austins that are hardy for me without reliable snow cover in those spots. I can vouch for the following in my dry zone 4 (virtual): Teasing Georgia Lady of Shalott Carding Mill Tamora Queen Nefertiti Queen of Sweden I am reasonably confident that the following Austin roses would survive zone 4 given that they are cane to tip hardy in my zone 5: Heritage The Generous Gardener (infrequent blooms) Spirit of Freedom The Mayflower Gertrude Jekyll (but she almost NEVER blooms for me) Scepter'd Isle The Alnwick Rose Charles Darwin Olivia Rose Austin St. Swithun The Poet's WifeTess of the D'Ubervilles (but she doesn't at all climb for me) Darcy Bussell Benjamin Britten, Christopher Marlowe The Shepherdess Leander The Dark Lady and Tradescant - lose some canes but consistent survival I have recently had decent canes remaining but it's too early to know for sure: James Galway, Lordly Oberon, Wildeve, William Morris, A Shropshire Lad (in its fourth year but VERY slow to think about climbing), Charity, Chianti, Cressida, Princess Anne, Dies to the ground for me but survives in zone 5, may be iffy in zone 4: Immortal Juno, Boscobel, Tranquillity, Fisherman's Friend, Lillian Austin, Princess Alexandra of Kent, St. Alban, The Reeve, The Squire, Wenlock, Young Lycidias, Munstead Wood, Pat Austin, Charlotte, Crown Princess Margaretha (never blooms without surviving cane), Happy Child, Eglantyne, Pretty Jessica, Wollerton Old Hall, Jude the Obscure, Sharifa Asma, Winchester Cathedral, Ambridge Rose, Admired Miranda, Susan Williams-Ellis, L.D. Braithwaite, I have had to give a protected spot or otherwise had trouble overwintering in my zone 6 pocket: Graham Thomas (agree with the above posters), Abraham Darby, Strawberry Hill (sorry Straw! snow cover may make a difference), Potter & Moore, Molineux, Claire Austin, Evelyn, Prospero, Sophy's Rose, Lichfield Angel, William Shakespeare 2000, Crocus Rose and Comte des Champagne (might have been a poor location issue for the last two), Can't overwinter even in my virtual zone 6 - though some I only tried once: English Garden, Radio Times, Othello, The Prince, Lady Emma Hamilton, Claire Rose, Fair Bianca, Falstaff, Jubilee Celebration, Wise Portia, Grace, Noble Antony. So far Pegasus, Kathryn Morley, Perdita, Port Sunlight, Tea Clipper, and Sister Elizabeth have all died in zone 5 and I haven't wanted them badly enough to try again in zone 6 territory. Obviously there are zone 5 and even 4 posters that can overwinter some of my problem children very well, and at least some posters in zone 4 who have stellar photos of CPM that blooms all season, vs. mine that never blooms at all though puts out 10' of cane every summer after dying to the ground. So moisture, snow cover, wind, location, stress, water and a variety of other factors can contribute to winter survival or not. Mostly I don't protect my Austins much and I don't think it makes that much difference for me in my zone. I put windbreaks at the edges of the beds an cover all the rose beds to a few inches with leaves when possible, but that's about it. So YMMV, but in general if you don't have high blackspot pressures Austins can be good roses for cold zones. Cynthia...See MoreDavid Austin Rose Zone Question
Comments (15)HI Michaela It's good to know your region of zone 5 - Rick is right that it can make a lot of difference. Since I'm no more than 3 hours due west of you on I-80, I can give you some feedback from essentially your region of the country. We're a little drier than you are in the Des Moines area, and perhaps a touch windier and colder at times, but I think I can give you a feel of what to expect for your roses. The good news is that for us the Austin roses are reliably hardy over the winter, at least once they get established. Since you'll be buying your roses as bands, you'll want to plant them right around the end of frost (end of April for us) to give them maximum time to settle in before the winter, and make sure they get regular water in the summer if you hit a dry spell. As long as the Austins you mention survive their first winter, you should have little trouble with winter survival. I have nearly 40 Austins here in Lincoln, and even in last year's brutal winter I don't think I lost any of them. That's even better than one of my other reliable type of roses - the Easy Elegance roses by Ping LIm (Earl May's has these among other nurseries).If you like the Carefree Beauty you might like these Easy Elegance roses - totally carefree and hardy for me, but not quite as elegant a flower as the Austins (with the possible exception of my favorite Sweet Fragrance). I grow Heritage and it has been cane hardy most years, and many of my Austins are in my zone 4 pockets to the north and east of my house. The east side is the only place I've ever lost an Austin (Sophy's Rose), and there are at least 10 in those two spots of my yard happily growing in essentially zone 4 conditions. You might wish to winter protect in your first winter - the straw Rick suggests is a good idea, or my cheap-gardener method is to stack filled leaf bags around the roses (but not covering them) making little "down coats" to protect them from the wind. After that, I really wouldn't worry the second winter, though I tend to winter protect every rose out of sheer laziness - I am down to protecting a wind barrier of leaf bags only around the edge of the bed however, for the most part. The only thing that might affect your Austins in Iowa might be blackspot, which tends to be happier in moister climates than mine. I don't think it would defoliate anything too much like it does on the East coast, but you might have to put up with some spots on the leaves now and then. I don't find it affects their hardiness or bloom that much for me, so you can experiment with how much blackspot bugs you or not (I'm way too lazy to spray). Sounds like you've chosen some nice roses and you should be happy with your choices. Just give then some sun and water and don't fuss too much - they're still babies in their first year and really aren't likely to bloom all that much till their third year. Have fun! Cynthia...See MoreVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
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Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland