Zulu - sorry, but I disagree about pushing zones. Most if my roses are grafted hybrid teas and about half say zone 7. And they come back for me surprisingly year after year. One in particular, my first BlueGirl, survived its first 2 years with no mulch protection and stayed mostly green all the way up the canes. In fact, half of the blue roses I wrote on my list I wouldn't really classify them as protected as they usually have less than 4" of mulch on them by the time winter's done. And they're in a raised bed, so they don't get a lot of thermo protection either. But my hardiest rose has got to be Summer Sunshine or Gemini, both of which have NO mulch protection and are in rock beds! It can be done easily. My yard's proof of that.
