Question
Lost a 2-yr-old Winnipeg Parks to what seems to have been a bacterial infection last summer: It just withered & died while other Canadian winter-hardy roses flourished (Morden Centennial & Morden Blush). What do I need to do to protect the other bushes, already showing leaf buds, and can we plant & protect another Winnipeg Parks, as close to a cutting rose as you can grow up here in the land God gave to Cain.

Also: Had black spot on a Morden Sunrise in another bed toward the end of the season.I've drenched it in dormant sulfur spray already. What else should I be doing to protect it?

Answer
It has been proven that using a dormant oil and sulphur apray is the best way to control black spot. Giving the roses two sprayings spaced one month appart is even better protection. Winnipeg and Sunrise are both prone to black spot and so will have to be monitored for it. You may even have to spray every two weeks to keep it under control. I assume that you are growing the cold climate roses because you garden in a very cold zone. In my experience the Explorer Series of roses have much better disease resistance. If the problem that made a rose die is in the rose itself then you are okay to plant another one but if it was caused by a soil problem then you shouln't plant another rose. I would put in a bag of potting soil in the hole before I planted Winnipeg so that it has clean soil.
If you find that a certain rose is disease prone then I will get a different one because it usually follows that once a rose is prone to something, you will always be fighting it. Many of the old garden roses do okay in very cold zones. Hope this helps. Lynnette