Roses That Hold Up in New York

New York spans USDA zones 3b to 7b, so no single rose fits the whole state. Rugosas, the Canadian Explorer series and a short list of tough shrubs and climbers come through most winters with little help almost anywhere. Hybrid teas and many other garden-center favorites do not. Below is how to sort them, with names you can buy. For the basics of planting and care, see growing roses in New York.

Which roses survive a New York winter

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts the state at 3b to 7b, and that spread decides which roses live. The zone system rests on one measurement, the average annual extreme minimum temperature. A rose that sails through a zone 7b winter can be dead by January in the Adirondacks, which sit toward the cold end of the range.

At the cold end, two groups clear the bar. Rugosa roses, with their wrinkled leaves and dense prickles, are typically rated to zone 3 or colder. The Explorer series was bred in Canada for cold Canadian winters, and most of its members are rated zone 3 or 4. Both groups bloom on wood that tolerates deep cold, and both harden off early in fall.

Hybrid teas sit at the other extreme. Their tags usually rate them to zone 6 or 7, and anywhere colder they need a winter plan or they die to the ground. Between those poles sit modern shrub roses and some climbers, which usually come through zone 5 with some cane dieback.

How do frost dates affect roses in New York?

A zone rating captures the coldest night of a typical year. Frost timing captures the shoulders of the season, and it varies widely across the state. At Central Park, the reference station for New York City, NOAA’s 1991-2020 climate normals put the 30 to 70 percent probability band for a 32°F freeze at March 23 to April 3 in spring. In fall the band runs November 14 to November 27 (NOAA NCEI data). Central Park is a dense urban site. Upstate and the Adirondacks freeze earlier in fall and later in spring.

Those shoulder freezes matter because roses still pushing soft growth in November take more damage than ones that have slowed down. A hard freeze after buds break in spring can also kill fresh shoots on an otherwise hardy plant. Rugosas and Explorers shut down early and wake up cautiously. Hybrid teas keep growing late and leaf out eagerly, which is part of why they suffer.

Named roses that hold up here

The roses below are widely sold, and each has a track record in cold-winter states. The zones are the ratings growers usually print on tags. They are a starting point, since a rose in a windy, exposed spot behaves like one a zone colder.

How do these roses handle New York winters in practice?

Hansa is a dependable choice where other roses struggle. It produces fragrant, double, magenta-purple blooms, followed by large red hips. Like other rugosas, it tolerates salt spray, which is why this group has naturalized on the dunes of Long Island. Therese Bugnet grows into a tall, arching shrub with fragrant double pink flowers. It is rated about as cold-tolerant as Hansa but has a looser, more graceful shape.

William Baffin is the Explorer to look at if you want a climber that can handle the north country. It blooms in clusters and usually needs no wrapping or laying down, which is the usual price of climbing roses in the cold.

Knock Out is the workhorse for most of the state. In zone 5 and colder spots it may lose canes to the snow line in a hard winter, but it flowers on new wood, so little is lost. In spring, cut back to live green wood once the buds show you where the dead part ends. New Dawn is a pale pink, repeat-blooming climber with glossy foliage. It is hardy enough for zone 5, though cane tips can burn in exposed locations.

Sold here, but not for this zone

Garden centers buy from national growers, and the stock follows the national market. A cart of roses in a New York parking lot in spring often holds plants rated for zone 6, 7 or warmer. The tag may list a range such as zones 5 to 9, and the cold end of that range is a minimum with no margin, not a promise.

Which garden-center roses die back in New York?

Hybrid teas are a large group. Peace, Mister Lincoln and Double Delight are all widely sold, and all will lose canes in zone 5 and colder spots without protection. Grandifloras and many floribundas follow the same pattern. English roses from David Austin, such as Graham Thomas, are a gray area. They do well in milder parts of the state but often die back to the snow line in colder zones, and they need mounding there.

Tree roses, which are hybrid teas grafted on top of a straight trunk, are among the riskiest buys. The graft sits high up, exposed to every freeze, so in most of the state they behave like zone 7 plants unless the trunk is wrapped or the whole plant is tipped over and buried. Climbing tea roses and Noisettes belong in the Deep South, and Lady Banks is a zone 8 plant that has no business in a New York yard.

Miniature roses in foil-wrapped pots, sold around Valentine’s Day, are forced in greenhouses and are indoor plants. Planted outdoors they rarely survive their first winter.

None of this means skipping hybrid teas. Where you want one, after the ground freezes in late fall, mound 10 to 12 inches of soil over the crown. Pull the mound away in spring as new growth starts. Without it, the plant often dies to the ground and comes back, if it comes back at all, from the rootstock.

What to check on the label before buying

The tag tells you more than the photo does. Start with the grade. Bare-root roses are sold as Grade 1, 1½ or 2, and Grade 1 means the heaviest canes and the strongest roots. In cold climates, the thicker canes of a Grade 1 plant carry more stored energy through winter. Packaged roses in boxes often skip the grade, but the box should still tell you.

Next, look at whether the rose is own-root or grafted. A grafted rose has a swollen knob near the base, the bud union, where a named variety was attached to a tougher rootstock. If a hard winter kills the top of a grafted plant, what regrows from below may be the rootstock, often a rose with different flowers and a rangy habit. An own-root rose regrows as the same variety it started as, because every cell is the same plant.

That is why own-root matters more the colder the zone. The farther north you plant, the more likely it is that canes die to the ground in some winter. A grafted rose in that situation can leave you with a stranger in the bed, while an own-root one simply restarts. Pick own-root plants in zone 5 and colder, even if they look smaller at first. Own-root roses also tend to be slower in their first season, a minor price for a plant that stays true.

Finally, read the zone range on the tag against your own zone. Treat the cold end as the limit, not as a target.

Checking this against your own county

Zone, frost timing and wind exposure change from one county to the next, and sometimes from one side of a hill to the other. Cornell Cooperative Extension has county associations across the state, including New York City, and their horticulture staff and Master Gardener volunteers know which roses hold up locally. Ask your county office for your local zone and the typical frost window before you buy, and ask which roses they see surviving in neighbors’ yards.

Common questions

Is Knock Out hardy in upstate New York?

It is rated for zone 5 and handles that well. In colder pockets of upstate New York it dies back to the snow line in hard winters, then regrows and blooms on the new wood. In the coldest zones, a rugosa such as Hansa is the safer choice.

Do hybrid teas grow in New York?

Yes, in the milder parts of the state, especially with a mound of soil over the crown after the ground freezes. Farther north they are a yearly gamble, and a grafted plant may come back as rootstock.

Do rugosa roses need winter protection?

Generally not. Hansa and similar rugosas are rated to zone 3 or colder and take wind and road salt without wrapping or mounding. The one thing to expect is suckers, which spread from the base and form a thicket over time.

Should I buy a rose rated a zone colder than mine?

It is a sensible habit. The USDA zone reflects the average annual extreme minimum, so watch for nights colder than that average in your own garden. A rose rated one zone colder than your county’s gives you room for those years.