Sometimes I get annoyed by gardening catalogs. I live in Zone 4b which, for those who don't know what I am talking about, can get mighty cold in the winter. We're talking minus 20 f at times and I have lived here long enough to see that happen once or twice. Generally, we have a lot of days with highs below 10 f and often below 0. Consequently, it's not the best area for growing roses.

I like roses. My favorite is the hybrid tea "Peace" which has been around since the last world war. Alas, there is no way it would survive one winter up here (even zone 5 is pushing it for most hybrid teas) without doing the "Minnesota Tip". That involves tipping your rose sideways and burying it in a trench every fall. Talk about getting a bit ridiculous. If that's what you have time for and love them that much, go for it, but it isn't my idea of a fun time.

So I've been searching for roses to grow up here. The local nurseries and box stores are notorious for selling bare root hybrid teas. The local nurseries even have a policy that roses are NOT guaranteed. You'd think that would tell people something? But you'd also think the same nurseries might be savvy enough to sell a few hardy shrub roses. No. Hardly any. I found a William Baffin once which is doing beautifully. It's a climber though that was not mentioned on the attached card so it ended up being in a bad place. I bought the Knockout rose the first year it was widely advertised. It didn't even survive autumn. I have no idea what happened, the leaves just turned brown and died. There are many varieties of Knockout now but I remain leery of them.

The only other rose I have is one developed in Manitoba, Canada; the Morden Fireglow. It survives quite well, and is quite beautiful but the attached card failed to mention that if it rains the blooms get soggy and fall off. Huh, I live in Michigan, it rains a lot so the bush is usually a mess. Thus I am leery about the Morden series. But I do a lot of reading and maybe I'll try the Morden Blush sometime in the future.

But the main reason for this rant on catalogs is that zone issue. I've already thrown out a few other perennials and shrubs this catalog claims will do well in zone 4 but my research has shown are only hardy to zone 5.

The roses I am considering are both climbers. The Autumn Sunset and Westerland. Beautiful yellow and orange roses, that the catalog claims hardy to zone 4. Yea! A yellow rose, hard to get for up here. So I go online to research. They're uniformly loved by many. But wait, those web sites claim hardy only to zone 5! So which is it? Zone 4 or 5? It makes a big difference to me. Both web site and catalog are reputable, but as many places do not grow their roses on site but send them from elsewhere, is that zone 4 rose actually grown further south than the home of the catalog? I may never know. I may have to get something else instead, like the shrub rose Hansa which my catalog claims is zone 3 so even if they're doing the "zone dance" it's probably good enough for zone 4.

I shall search a little longer and ask some questions before I make my decision.