I have a few of these in my yard. Once they are mature they grow close to 5 ft here.

This is one rose I rarely see discussed here, and it's such a beauty!

My mom (next door) has two Adelaide Hoodless, and hers also get to about 5' although no taller. Absolutely smothered in blooms - just gorgeous. I should mention that it gets a fairly hard prune every spring.

I agree, mine gets about 5 to 6 ft high, lot of flowers and man! is it every thorny!

What shape does Adelaide Hoodless grow? Does it need any support, or would it be fine in the middle of a border?
Janet

It would benefit from some support - it grows a little lanky and there are so many flower clusters (and so many flowers in a cluster) that they can weigh the plant down. My mom's gets tied to the step railing that it grows in front of.

I thought I had a more recent picture of mom's, but this one from 2003 is the only one I have, and is 2 years after it was planted. It's had somewhat taller growth in subsequent years.

I agree, AH does get kind of lanky later on in the year. The stems are on the thin side. I tie mine up with green bamboo stakes.

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This is a photo of mine last summer. As you can see it is a little prone to blackspot. Do you have this rose already or are you just looking at purchasing it? I would recommend Alexander Mackenzie over Adelaide Hoodless. The bush form is perfect and requires no staking. It doesn't put on the big massive show that AH does, but keeps a constant show of flowers. I like the form of the flowers better. And it also has shown no signs of disease here. I thought that I had a full bush shot, but I must of deleted it.
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Alexander Mackenzie

I am looking to purchase it this year. I think that Adelaide Hoodless is more red than Alexander Mackenzie, is that correct? I am actually planning an ambitious landscaping of our new backyard this spring, so I have been pouring over books and the internet to see what I must have! Of course the list is very long!! The roses that I am planning to put in this year are
Adelaide Hoodless
The Hunter
Winnepeg Parks
Morden Sunrise
Morden fireglow
Blanc de Coubert - again need something with height that is not pink
Lamber Closse
Morden blush
Quadra
John Davis
I have been lurking in this forum for a while, but I thought I should get some questions answered before I start shopping!!

Janet

Janet, Alexander Mackenzie is more on the pinkish side. I have all of the roses that you listed with the exception of Blanc de Coubert. The only one that I wouldn't really recommend is Morden Fireglow. It doesn't really perform all the best for me. Flower wise, the growth is kind of spindly and it is quite susceptible to diseases. Last year with my weather, the flowers never really opened up, they balled. It is one of the ones that I am thinking of moving out of my rose garden this spring. Rose diseases like to spread. I know your not looking for a pink,but another rose that has a perfect bush form is Prairie Joy.

I did see Prairie Joy recommended in another place on the forum as well. So after getting out the eraser and moving things around again, I did find room for one taller pink rose - in my pink area I am planning for the shorter roses. If you could only have one pink rose, and it will be sitting behind a short peony and beside white coneflowers, would you choose Alexander Mackenzie or Prairie Joy?
Janet

Janet I don't have Prairie Joy so can't compare but I do have a couple of roses I just love for their fragrance and that are hardy. I have Rose de l'Hay which is about 4 ft high on the south side of my yard, planted about 6' from the house, has very little die back and is extremely fragrant, purple flowers. Also I have Kaitlyn Ainsley which also has purple flowers, very fragrant, little if any die back and grows about 3'. You'll love Blanc de Coubert which in my yard grows about 3-4' and is extremely fragrant. I also have Henry Hudson which is white, about 2' and is very hardy and fragrant as well. I've been concentrating on roses with more fragrance so have kept to roses like Therese Bugnet, Hansa, Scabrosa, Rosa Rugosa Alba (another white one 4-5' high and Rosa Rugosa Rubra, same but in red, Charles Albanel, 3', fragrant, red. I have most of the others but those are my favorites because of their fragrance

Our 8 year old Adelaide Hoodless roses normally grows to 6 ft. Last summer they were up to 7 ft.

I prune them back almost to the ground in spring and feed great amounts of manure. they are in bloom from the last week of June through to the third week of September.

They can be kept bush-like with pruning but I prefer the height as they climb up a trellis. There are a lot of other great roses to chose from if a bush form is desired.

Overall Adelaide Hoodless, along with John Cabot, have been are most consistent and carefree performers over the years. Not always the most spectacular but always dependable and guaranteed to perform despite weather conditions, pests and so on.

Janet, as far as picking a favorite of Alexander Mackenzie or Prairie Joy, I can't do that I love both of them. If it's height that you want Alexander Mackenzie grows a bit taller. But I can tell you that I would pick Prairie Joy over John Davis. Although I really like John Davies too.
If your putting this rose with Lambert Closse, Winnipeg Parks, and Morden Blush then I'd go with Alexander Mackenzie. The color of Prairie Joy and Lambert Closse are much the same. Besides, Alexander Mackenzie has bigger flowers.

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Lamber Closse

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Prairie Joy

The peony color isn't really going to matter. It should be done blooming by the time the roses start to bloom well. And white coneflower's really go with anything.
Another rose that I love is Frontenac.

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Mine looks like this most of the summer.

If you want a good red, look for Cuthbert Grant. It was Manitoba's centennial rose back in '73 (I think, please forgive me if I'm off by a year) I just love him. I also have Winnipeg Parks and Morden Blush. They're beautiful but you must be on the lookout for blackspot with them. Alexander McKenzie, John Cabot, William Baffin and John Davis are some of my other favorites.

Wow, that Frontenac rose is a beauty! Makes me want to try growing roses again.

Pudge, I planted 4 of Frontenac in 2005. 2 were greenhouse roses and 2 were the boxed ones from HD. Last spring after the snow had melted, I had discovered that all of them still had green leaves on from the following year. They were the only rose that did this for me. They must be super hardy.
Shelley

Sazzyrose I love your Prairie Joy! I have one on order for this year. How long have you had yours? I don't have a "rose garden" but was planning on putting it in a new border I've done with perennials and some other shrubs. Good idea or no?? My only experience with roses is the John Cabot I planted at my mother's. It is huge with enormous thorns. I wanted to avoid the blood loss if I could!!

IHF, my Mom has John Cabot too, isn't he a monster? Like a tackle box and 8' high.

Sure you can plant roses in a mixed border, as long as they get enough sun.

Prairie Joy was planted in the spring of 2005. I think I put in 60-70 bushes that year.
Gillian is right, as long as the rose gets at least 6 hours of sun, it will be fine. I have roses in mixed flower beds as well as in my rose garden.
I've had my John Cabot since 1990. It does bite when you get close to the thing.
Shelley

I have a question about rose heights...

Like on the tag it always says like grows from 4-7 feet tall. But since we live with such harsh winters, would our roses tend to be like the 4 foot size instead. For example Blanc de Coubert (frankly other than the scent I hate the thing) is said to reach 7 feet tall, but someone mentioned theirs only gets to 4 feet... When buying roses how do I know how tall they will be?

Good question. Some roses have a set height they want to grow to, then branch out. Examples: Pavement Series roses are groundcovers, there are short shrubs like Winnipeg Parks and Champlain, taller shrubs like Therese Bugnet or Harison's Yellow, and then there are climbers and ramblers that may not ever end their own cane length. A lot of tall shrubs end up kind of a messy heap, and look best pruned shorter or trained as a semi-climber.

Of course if a rose is pruned or experiences winter dieback, it will be shorter and will probably put on more growth laterally rather than vertically. A rose that experiences a lot of winterkill might be very stunted compared to the same rose in a warmer climate. Some roses will struggle along in non-ideal conditions (lower light, winter dieback, poor soil conditions, etc.) and never reach their full potential.

I think in some cases the listed heights are way off base.

Harrison's Yellow overwinters for you zone 3 folks? I have yet to find a yellow that overwinters here :-(

Have you tried Harison's? It's totally cane hardy below -40 for me here. For more than 30 years. Make sure it's not Persian Yellow which looks similar but may be slightly less hardy .

I also have the rugosa 'Agnes' on order for this spring. It's supposed be hardy too.

If you can't keep Harison's alive, there's something else there it's not happy with, besides zone 4 temperatures.

Yellow roses that have wintered well for me have been J.P. Connell and Morden Sunrise. Last year I put in Rugelda, Topaz and Yellow Submarine. I hope they all make it.

Nathan,as far as rose height ---winter damage, weather in the spring/summer and moisture all play a part. Last year some of mine were on the taller side of the description listed in HMF. But I had an early spring, and rain, rain, rain, and then more rain.

Shelley