After many years of growing mainly fussy and tender hybrid tea roses in rural zone 5, I became discouraged with their failure to do well beyond a season or two. Some seemed to never do well, no matter how well I cared for them. Some would just sit there and not grow or would quickly become naked and ugly from black spot. Reluctant to give up on growing my favorite flower, I did some online research and found information on hardy and easy-to-grow roses.