I grow hybrid teas (6 of them I think) and lately a couple of yellow ones that I think are grandifloras. They must have been growing for the past 8 or 10 years and I don't believe I've lost one yet. Most years they kill right to ground level but then bounce back quickly in the spring and get 3 feet or so by late summer. Start blooming just after the hardy roses, but then continue pretty much non-stop until a killing frost. I cover them with leaves or straw in the fall, but they still usually kill to ground level (though this winter the bottom 15 or 20 cm or so seemed to survive, I guess due to the early and heavy snows.

The key is how you plant them. Dig a deep, long hole and then lay the plant in on an angle, maybe 45 degrees, so that the roots and the bottom 20 or 30 cm of the stems will be below ground level when the hole is filled. Even when the tops are killed over winter, the plants quickly put up new shoots from the underground stems in the spring.

Hope that helps!

T

I have 30-ish roses and most of them are not considered hardy. When I plant them, I dig the hole quite deep and don't fill it in all the way the first summer. This also helps direct water to the roots when I'm watering them. The first fall I fill up the depressions and mound up some soil, then cover them with leaves and hold the leaves on with burlap. In mild years I might get a foot or two of live canes on the hybrid teas, but in worse years they die back to the ground and occasionally I lose a whole plant.

Thank you so much Don and North spruce for taking the time to give me a detailed account on how you grow the not so hardy roses. Us newbies really appreciate your knowledge. I am really excited to learn this is possible. It could actually be very dangerous, as I have a bit of a problem with doing things in moderation( 20 phlox in two years, hardy mums 22 1 year, 40 dahlias a friend gave me 30 or so besides) and I was no where near as excited as I am getting about roses, that of course is this forums fault with the pics and all, I have bought quite a few, but now off to shop for a couple zone 5 ones. The yellow floribundas sound like something I must have, I bet they are beautiful Don.

soandgrow, I am so glad that you asked this question, because it's exactly what I am planning to do here in Calgary! I hope you don't mind if I chime in here... thanks!

don and northspruce, thanks for your wise words. I am just wondering if you have any suggestion for a really strongly fragrant hybrid tea rose for Calgary? I was hoping to grow Double Delight here (absolutely love the fragrance!) but I read in the Calgary Rose Society book that it does not do so well in Calgary, and blackspots etc are a problem. I saw a couple of fragrant ones like Big Purple and Miss All American Beauty at Greengate today. Do you have any experience with them at all?

Ostrich, I haven't lived in Calgary but from what I've heard black spot is less likely to challenge you than chinooks melting your valuable snow cover. Double Delight isn't notoriously prone to BS anyway, if anything it occasionally gets a bit of powdery mildew. It's a good choice for high fragrance in a hybrid tea in cold zones. I have also grown Chrysler Imperial, Fragrant Cloud and Mr. Lincoln, but DD was more vigorous for me and has outlived them.

Thanks, northspruce! I should probably stop wondering and just get myself a DD then..... thank you!

northspruce, I came across a Pink Peace the other day - she looked so healthy and full that I just had to get it! So she is now in the ground and looking ever so pretty.... hopefully she will do well for me here in Calgary!

I have the regular Peace, I have to grow it for all eternity as a promise to my late Grandma... luckily it has been one of the better HTs for me. It's six years old and I haven't had to replace it yet, knock wood. Unfortunately it has no scent at all vs. Pink Peace which I understand is quite potent.

Good luck with Pinkie! ;)