I agree with your third explanation. Calling it "Devil de Paul Fontain" is just plain stupid because you're not going to find it under that name on any rose information site. "Iceburg," regrettably, is a fairly common error. Pirl and I were always amused by all of the DG users who spelled both parts of Burgundy Iceberg incorrectly (as "Burgandy Iceburg"). She once did some research, using the DG search engine, and found that the incorrect spelling was actually used far more frequently in the forums than the correct one.
As for the survivability rates of your roses, I suspect that Edmunds' roses are "seconds" anyway. They're never as nice as the bare-root roses I get elsewhere. Palatine seems like the best fit for you because they don't buy roses from California growers. Their roses are grown in their Ontario garden for three years before they dig them up and send them to you. Pickering's almost as good, just smaller plants in most cases, so I think your purchase from that nursery was just a case of bad luck.
