The only roses I grow are called 'fruiting' roses or rugosa roses. 'Frau Dagmar Hartop' and Jubilee are two that I grow. I bought them from Jung's catalog.

This type of roses are hardy to zone 3 and don't require covering for winter. They are incredibly disease resistant.

The flowers on this rose are singles, but I have a rugosa (don't know the name of it) that has a more 'rosey' flower.

I grow these organically and have for about 5 years with no problems at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jung seeds

Here's the link to the third rugosa rose I have...the thorns to these roses are much smaller then hybrid roses. I am a 'lazy' gardener that prefers plants that don't need constant attention yet still look pampered.

Here is a link that might be useful: My unknown rugosa

i am in davenport and i can tell you the ones that i have that do well, came with the house, been here for years...
mr lincoln, chrysler imperial, tropicana, peace, queen elizabeth, gardens of the world. also a few i-dont-know-the-names-of ....
since i have lived here, i have planted proud land, carefree delight, playboy, new day, blaze, moonlight magic, white meidland, orchid masterpiece and the pilgrim. all are doing well.
the only one i have ever lost was angel face but she was in a pot, bought a new one this year and i am going to direct plant this time and see what happens.
i dont know anything about soil though, maybe others can help you with that. good luck,
mic

When all else fails, you can get roses that were bred in Iowa for Iowa's tough on roses climate. They are Buck roses, bred at Iowa State University. Here is a link.

Diann
IA Z5a

Here is a link that might be useful: Griffith Buck Roses

I grow rugosas too. The ones I have had good luck with are Hansa and Therese Bugnet. They are both intensely fragrant! They do need to be 'fed'. A nice helping of composted manure in the spring works well. Good luck!

I agree with Diann on Buck roses, but there are many other roses that are hardy here too such as the Austins. As long as you stay away from hybrid teas, you shouldn't have to use chemicals.

Pick one that's known for disease-resistance and hardiness for your zone. The planting area should receive at least six hours of sunlight per day, preferably morning sun. Plant them deeply to ensure winter survival.

Good luck!

I forgot to mention that a soil test is the best way to ensure successful plants. They're available through the local extension service at a nominal cost. The test results tell you if soil amendments are needed and which ones to use. Even if all you do is check the pH on your own with a store-bought meter, it's better than nothing. Roses can be finicky about their nutrients.

I am a lazy Iowa gardener, so I ordered my roses from Canada. They have extra hardy Canadian roses called "Explorer" roses, which you don't have to cover or protect during the cold northern winters. I ordered mine from Hortico.com, but there are many Canadian nurseries that carry them. I also planted a Buck rose that should survive our Iowa winters.

http://www.hortico.com/roses/series.asp?cid=3

The Explorer series is a set of rose varieties specially developed to survive the Canadian winters by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) at Morden Research Station in Manitoba. They are exceptional for their hardiness in Canada. They require minimal care and are environmentally friendly, needing minimal sprays. They are hardy down to -35 C with only snow as protection, are disease resistant, flower repeatedly throughout the summer, require only minimal pruning and come in a variety of colours and sizes. See also their Parkland Series.

That "rugosa Hansa" -- The Monterey Bay nursery catalog online shows it in five photos: "closeup -- bud -- foliage -- new growth -- fall color." It's down the page at URL:

http://www.montereybaynsy.com/R.htm

Beautiful photos. They are a wholesale nursery, but their catalog is something. I just found it by googling the rose name. I noticed it, because I lived in Germany, and some northern cities on the Baltic are called the Hansa league cities, from way back centuries, which were ship trading partners. This rose was introduced by Dutch growers in 1905, it says. Anyway, it's COLD in all the Hansa cities in winter. Very cold and raw, being on the sea. Appropriate name.

I have a shrub rose variety that I found out is an Irish breeder's introduction, and I since I found that out, I can't imagine it is really a zone 5 hardy like it says. It must be a zone 6. So far, all three of them have basically died back to the ground over two winters, even being mulched good and trimmed some.

They are looking good though, after they grew back up. There's plenty of healthy leaves and a lot of buds and they are flowering. They start out orange and fade to pink. They're smallish and very pretty and look good in the mint bed (orange/purple together).

But what I am wondering -- what about those old things, "bell jars?" Are those good for covering roses? I have no idea. I am thinking about getting something besides six inches of mulch to cover them next year. My husband really likes them, and I don't want to dig them up. What about bell jars -- or something else?

(I'm here in the Iowa forum, because we live out on the "grand prairie" and have blazing summers and cold winters -- not like the lake climate closer in to Lake Michigan. We are just outside that climate. We got 21 inches of rain last year. I have stuff like sedum and coneflowers and daylilies and phlox and salvia and potentilla, etc. We actually have some sand under our lot, being uphill from a river bend that has a limestone outcrop ford.)

Thanks for the discussion and any suggestions about bell jars or covers.