Dr. Brownell roses are a little hardier than most hybrid teas but not hardy enough to grow in zone three. Zone 5 would be the coldest they would survive in.
Its simply a branding from back then when hybrid teas were more finicky. So they set out to introduce Rosa wichurana in them to broaden the amount of places they could be grown. Can many of them live at or below 0F? Probably. To what extent is highly variable per cultivar. But they are still from Rosa wichurana and not Rosa acicularis or similar, which are native to much colder biomes than Rosa wichurana is.
I received a mislabeled rose that I suspect is Dr. Brownell. It is buff/yellow with some apricot coloring to it, fragrant, and mostly thornless. The rose I got was supposed to be Garden Party, but this is clearly not that. I will add pictures and maybe someone can tell me if I’m close.
Is Dr. Brownell pretty thorny? I have a mystery rose from a source with a small inventory, and I think mine is the doctor. His yellows are paler than the pictures, but in my climate that fits. Mine looks most like Cass's.
Beautiful and floriforous rose if that's what mine is!
