I'm sure that would be true. We have sandy soil here, so it's nice. But I'd love to see the mountains from my front porch. We do live on a hilll, LOL.

I have a lady I trade with that lives in the Poconos, and I've heard about the rocky conditions. Tough digging. And she has beautiful gardens.

Andi - LOLLLLL.. you ain't got no mountains!! JK JK JK!!

Polly - Main thing is to mulch mulch mulch mulch mulch and mulch. And then when you're done mulching, mulch some more. Pile the mulch up into domes over the roses & you won't have any problems.. in fact, when the mulch breaks down over time, it just adds nutrients back to the soil!

I second Bucks roses. They're gorgeous & pretty hardy if you can find them. If you're up to it, Roses Unlimited (http://rosesunlimitedownroot.c...) has some WONDERFUL roses. They don't do well for me personally because of my drought here, but with you in NY that will hardly be a problem at all. They have a massive selection grown own-root, but the only bad thing is that their website is not very shopper-friendly (no pictures). http://rosesunlimitedownroot.c... is their list, and it shows who hybridizes the rose, the color, & type of rose. You can give them a call & the young lady who answers is very very nice & will be happy to help you make an order. They charge like $16-$20/rose plus a shipping fee on top of that, but their selection is amazing & their roses, if you can get them to grow, are outstanding. I *LOVE* RU roses. They'll probably be one of the best bets for your area. Here's a thread I made of an order I received from Pat & CO at Roses Unlimited. The thread "Roses Unlimited does it again!" in Roses forum

Thanks Toni, what do you recommend for the mulch? Normally I use aged manure mixed with pine bark shredded.

And thank you for all the wonderful info, and links. I think I'm well on my way to growing roses!!!

Polly - whatever you like for mulch. I'd be leery on the pine needles 'cuz that'd make the soil really acidic. Dunno about pine bark mulch, though, never used it. I just use cedar mulch.

It doesn't test acidic, so it should be OK, then. I think the manure balances it.

Toni, why on earth would you say that Roses Unlimited has no photos? And why are you using the alphabetical page? That page doesn't show what's available this season. It's really just a guide to tell you where to look for the rose you want. See how the second column is named "Find it under"? You go to that page to look for the roses that are available this year.

Start by clicking the "Rose varieties" tab. That takes you to this page:

http://rosesunlimitedownroot.c...

Then click on the category you want to see, such as Buck Roses:

http://rosesunlimitedownroot.c...

This page shows you all of the Buck roses that are available for this season. There are photos for all of the underlined ones. Just click on the names.

oh lordie lordie lordie.

That's the page I've been using for years now.

I'm a moron.

Well, cheer up. Now you're going to have some fun. You'll be able to see all of the hundreds and hundreds of photos for the first time. And you won't order plants that aren't available.

How funny! So glad I asked a question and Toni got some info out of it. And Toni, I've read your posts and you are absolutely not a moron.

Polly,

I really like Acropolis for a dusky pink, Bonica for blooms and hips, Cherry Parfait for a bi-colored, and for a wonderfully scented climber, Nahema.

Thanks Chelle! I really, really like the Acropolis and Nahema!

I like those also, Polly. Thanks for the recommendations and pictures, Chelle.

I was so excited the first time I stumbled onto a picture of Acropolis! For years I'd had some silk roses that I'd add to our Christmas tree, but I had no clue from which rose they were styled. For me, the blooms have an antique quality about them that's hard to resist, and the plants (mine were grown in Canada) are very healthy here in zone 5b.

Nahema's scent will actually draw me out of the house...just to take yet another delicious sniff!

Hello Rose Lovers, Chelle I noticed that the 'Acrpolis' says hardy to z6b and yet you are in 5b like I am. Any problems with not making it through the winter...I just got on the rose forum and guess I'll look around some now that I am here..Don't have many roses; New Dawn, Golden Showers. Cherry Meidiland and the knock-outs. Looking for some new ones that are tough..
Veronica

indygardengal said: Chelle I noticed that the 'Acrpolis' says hardy to z6b and yet you are in 5b like I am. Any problems with not making it through the winter... Looking for some new ones that are tough..
Veronica

I do absolutely nothing to mine for the winter - except, if there's snow available in February (just before we get hammered by those high-wind, and very low-temp blizzards) I'll pile some around them. That's it.
They were some of the first of my "winter planting roses" experiment. They loved it!

Well I love it and am going to try to find it...Beautiful!

I get my roses for winter planting from Hortico; both of those are from them. They're always completely dormant when I receive them, and IMHO they do much better (in our area) planted that way.

Veronica - I'm zone 5 (sometimes zone 4) and I just mulch the living snot out of everyone. Most of my roses are zone 6-7. I don't pay attention to zones when it comes to my roses.. I just mulch 'em. My best rose, Mardi Gras (http://www.helpmefind.com/rose...) is rated zone 6-9 and its survived everything that I've thrown at it and comes back year after year just a bloomin' away. Personally, I think cold zones can grow any rose w/a little extra care (this year, if I can find one locally, I'm going to try to grow Green Romantica.. but I doubt I'll find one locally). Plant them extra deep and mulch mulch mulch.

I can mulch, mulch, mulch, plus we get an average of 200 inches of snow.

I keep getting drawn to the David Austins. What would be the best place to purchase those?

Polly,

I think some of the best information I gleaned (so far) from others here is that it's the rootstock used that is the most important thing for those of us in colder zones. If I remember correctly, David Austin Roses probably uses a southern type like Dr. Huey. I've not had all that great of performance from their roses here. Some have lived, but others do much better, with less care.

I'm pretty sure that we need plants with multiflora rootstock for better cold-area performance, or own-root roses.

Someone jump in here and correct me if I'm mistaken...



Northland Rosarium has some Austins. I buy there for spring planting, but so far I haven't tried one of theirs.