I was so busy that I almost missed the first bloom of Haidee, but there's plenty more.

Wasagaming is another of my favorites, and is loaded with buds this year.

Beauties!

I have been hoping someone growing roses in northern climates would give me suggestions on what to try. I havent grown roses at all. I'll put these on my list of possibilities. What others do you grow that do well in Alaska? Do you have any climbers that survive the winter weather?

Gorgeous, I especially like your Mary, Queen of Scots! We can't grow those type of roses here in the South.

Thanks for sharing!

How pretty!

Thank you, ogrose. I used to try to grow the kind of roses you can grow, and then swore off roses due to the difficulty keeping of them alive here. When I discovered that I loved the form of roses other than HTs, I discovered hardy roses.
Mandolls, here's a link to an article with a list of hardy roses. I have 2 polestar that cover a large arbor...they rarely have any winter kill, and when they do, they bounce right back. I'll post a picture when they bloom.
I also have kilwinning (blooming right now, but it's difficult to take a good photo of it), Julia Bugnet, Lac La Nonne, Foxi pavement and purple pavement. And then there's the rose that started me down the path of hardy roses...Blanc Double de Coubert; I passed it at the garden nursery, and actually turned around to see where the amazing scent was emanating from. I was so disappointed to find it was not only a rose, but a white rose. If I was going to give in and buy a rose, it certainly wouldn't be a white one! But after I turned around 3x to sniff it again and again, I had to take it home. Then I saw an ad on Craigslist by a local grower for a hardy yellow rose. Those aren't easy to find here, so I reluctantly contacted him and ended up with Kilwinning. Last summer was the first summer I didn't contact him with, "what do you have for me this year." I just don't have room right now for more (although I intend to change that!). Oh, and I have rosa glauca, too. I love the leaf color. It seems to have reseeded this year...it will be interesting to see if the blooms are the same.

Here is a link that might be useful: very hardy roses

Beautiful varieties! I'm always in awe of "real rose" gardeners.

Cameron

Those are beauties,love them all.
Kathi

Oh, I love Mary, Queen of Scots! So pretty. How many roses do you grow?

I too found it a challenge when I first started with roses. But as you say, if you search out the hardy ones, there are actually quite a few.

mandolls, I live in southwestern Wisconsin. If you want to contact me through GW email, I would be happy to tell you the ones I have been successful with. What part of Wisconsin do you live in?

Here's today's shot of Kilwinning, which always reflects too much light (even on a cloudy day like today) for a good picture. But I couldn't resist since I have so much blue and purple blooming around it.

Mary lu, presently I'm only growing the ones mentioned above, I've gotten rid of some that were borderline hardy, and some didn't transplant well when I had to move them due to circumstances beyond my control.

Cameron, I don't consider myself a real rose "gardener." LOL...That would be the guy I buy my roses from. I just stick them in the ground and enjoy them.

What are those pale blue little bell-shaped flowers next to Kilwinning?

Merilia...it's a plant native to Alaska, Mertensia paniculata. They're pretty in the wild, but in my garden they get much larger. They're towards the end of their bloom time right now, but have been just stunning this year. I didn't plant them right there...in fact I didn't plant them, the pansies, or the wild iris that is on the other side of kilwinning and is blooming right now...but I love the coincidental combo.

Thanks for the response and the link mytime, that will be very helpful. I have an area that had two trees removed last year and should be sunny enough now for roses. I have been putting off trying them because they are a bigger investment ( since I grow pretty much everything else from seed) and I didnt want to lay out the money without some confidence that I could get them to survive.

marylu - I am about an hour east of the twin cities, so I think a zone colder than you