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But don't assume because it shows up in your internet search it is a trustworthy site
So true! But sometimes you get lucky!
I just received the following email:
We hope this spring is beautiful so far for you! We want to let you know that your GRF Exclusive roses are at our farm, are potted up, and are starting to push beautiful new growth! They will be shipped to you once we have made positive identification of the varieties in your order.
"We had hoped to have these roses ready to be shipped in early April, but issues on the grower’s end delayed harvest until mid-March. Further, the grower failed to tag all the plants, so it’s especially important that GRF identify the varieties once they’re leafed. The last thing we want to do is send you roses that aren’t the right variety."
Now I'm really worried that I won't get the rose that I ordered, Jubilee Celebration. I don't want just any rose, I want the rose I ordered! Should I cancel? How sure can they be of the variety by looking at the foliage?
Windowsill, I rechecked some of the things my source told me and most I'd better not repeat here, but apparently Grace ordered the wrong size boxes for the 2 gallon exclusive roses and the boxes were too short. So GRF chopped off the tops of all those roses. I'm not sure if they were the "unidentified" plants, but what a debacle. I'd better zip my lip at this point. Diane
I received my GRF Austin roses last week. They had Otto & Sons tags that were dated December and January for potting up. I essentially pulled out a bare root and buried it. (After I defoliated all of the leaves with blackspot, which is common in shipping). I am really glad I paid $36/each. I also received two ’Colette‘ roses’ and they had a good root system. All plants were nice looking and most had blooms! I chopped the blooms off and tossed them just in case they had thrips, which I currently do not have and do not want.
I was really disappointed that they cancelled three of my Austins. I got one replacement and two refunds. They also cancelled an exclusive and I opted for a refund. If after a year you can’t deliver, I am not so trusting.
After all this and Garden Roses LLC, I will never order another ”pre-order” again (except from David Austin). That marketing tactic has burned itself out. I also won’t pay $69 for an Austin rose. I really don’t see the benefit unless GRF has a DA rose I can’t get from DA.
Moved my Earth Angel into a little more sun and it's starting to bloom, along with Koko Loko and a 12 foot tall Firefighter
Carla in Sac
That is beautiful! My Earth Angel is entering her third year here. She had beautiful but small blooms last summer that shattered. We have very hot and dry summers here. Also usually very windy.
Melissa
I bought it last year and kept it in its pulp pot in the shade until a month ago. It bloomed all summer-- small blooms but they were lovely. Our summers are so hot I definitely think the shade was the way to go, so where it is now has a little more sun, but the roots are always in shade.
We will see if it keeps blooming!
Carla
Thanks. I will be shocked and amazed, but will shout from the rooftops if it does work.
My grafted Free Spirit bloomed today!!!
After 2 years of trying to root it, unsuccessfully, I'm beyond thrilled grafting worked.
The honeysuckle fragrance is like Life of the Party but so much stronger!
I adore this rose!
Carla in Sac
Could it be this?
"Orange Circus" ?
Well that is really weird, beautiful but weird.
So both of them just bloomed again and I'm thrilled to report they have kept their sport color, while still smelling like Pretty in Pink Eden!
They look a lot like Eden but Eden doesn't smell.
I've been having a bug problem so they're kind of chewed but they are not dark pink!
:)
Carla
Here’s some current overall bush action on two of mine, Melissa and Artist. Small blooms but lots of them and both nice shapely shrubs..
Marie Pavie, my best wafter. I have two pots of her either side of my front door:
Cramoisi Superieur, no fragrance to speak of but a good pop of colour in the border:
Fighting Temeraire..7 inch fun flirty single to semi-double blossoms! They glow. Reminds me of a Mutabilis on steroids but prettier! Mine is still a baby but she will be stunning next year! I just know it lol.
Abe Darby
More Summer Romance
Bathsheba
Snoozing on the deck in the morning light lol
My garden is starting to wake up! Here are Margaret Merrill, Golden Unicorn and two photos of Distant Drums.
That’s just gorgeous, Carla.
I bought three of them last year from Paul, and am about to see the first bloom. In pictures it's supremely beautiful. He sent some Dakota Redwing cuttings which all rooted so I have ten plants of it. Have not seen that one bloom yet. My Oshun plant , which is only a couple of years old, is loaded with great big buds. I really like his roses.
First Marianne bloom looking very graceful! Second Marianne bloom, a few days old and holding up well to the 90F heat.
We have plenty of hot and dry so most of my white whales like wet and cool conditions:
- primrose
- lobelia
- trillium
- corydalis
- delphinium AND larkspur (can't get that started)
- sweet peas
- Toad lilies
I used to lament that I couldn't grow Morning Glory until I found a lovely dark purple Grandpa Ott's that took over my entire wall of fence meant for climbing roses. I finally figured out why no one grows it in any spot where another plant needs to be because it reseeds relentlessly once established. When I had to dig out all the climbing roses I also ruthlessly picked the germinating seeds of the morning glory. Never again - it gets ratty after about noon and I'm rarely in the garden before noon so only my neighbors enjoyed it looking nice.
Rosecanadian, I have a clematis that I guarantee you can grow in your yard but you don't want it. I have no idea what variety it is any more but I seem to remember it had scruffy little pink flowers. I long since dug up the parent plant but it put out seedlings into the lawn and all over other beds. Mowing it weekly for 8 years has failed to kill it so I'm reduced to digging and/or poison. it's not sweet autumn clematis which is also a thug and no longer in my garden. It's lovely in fall but again reseeds relentlessly. I had it in my old house and resolved never to plant it here. Seeds have blown in from a yard at least 4 houses away and it has spontaneously come up in at least 3 spots of my yard. Never again on either.
Cynthia
@prairiemoon2 z6b MA - I think the extra drainage might be what’s hurting your astilbe, mine are in clay soil along the edge of my rain garden. Astilbe hate to dry out.
Mine are all end-of-season sale, almost-trash plants so they may be growing entirely on spite as well. I hadnt planned on planting them but, you know, cheap plants …
For me, it's the ericaceae family. Rhododendrons, ericas (except Erica verticillata) , enkiathus, vaccinum, all die quickly. It took me a while to figure out my soil is not acidic enough to grow them, although my neighborhood has some grand old rhododendrons around so maybe it's just me. Enkianthus cernuus is the one I spent a lot of money on to watch die slowly.
Contrary to many in this thread, I seem to have the perfect conditions for lavender. It reseeds itself almost too aggressively and will grow happily alongside roses. Lavandula dentata popped up under a magnolia and is growing fine in a shady spot.
That’s First Prize. Once in a while you get a beige center, but most often a huge multi-tone rose pink.
Good job Ben
Diane
I hope you’ll get a J&P Golden Zest, they would be fools not to bring back a rose that sold out so fast. I am trying to console myself that Golden Zest, Chantilly Cream and Larger than Life have all been wonderful. Trying not to dwell on the dud (Bring Me Sunshine) and the dead (Candlelight).
Carla, Quest for Zest definitely has good fragrance. Color is basically a less-fading Julia Child, with growth habit similar to Secret. So far I like it, good not great. I really wanted a yellow to complement some roses in the area and I already have a lot of the highly rated fragrant yellows with moderate growth habits (there’s not a lot!). We’ll see if QfZ fits that bill.
Brittany
I may be too quicke to judge Bring Me Sunshine, but so far stems have been long and sprawly with no buds in sight. Hoang Ton reported similar, his has buds at the end, but some canes drape to the ground (he is ahead of me by a few weeks). DA also put out a note saying the variety didn’t meet their standards in the US, it was rather cryptic whether the variety was substandard, or their crop of it, seemed to be both. Maybe it will mature into a beauty, some Austins take their time, I sure hope so. If not, we might all be on a Quest for Zest.
This is probably the pic Susan if referring to from Sacramento’s Capital Park rose garden:
Nicole Carole Miller seems an average height HT, maybe 4-5 ft.
Another thing, when a beautiful bloom presents itself with its head hung down because of a weak neck, and does so under ideal weather conditions, as Summer Romance's blooms do, expect trouble when the weather turns for the worse. No stamina during good times, means falling out during tough times. 😁
Moses
Kitty, please see the screenshot below where they said they will no longer be offering refunds
There have been mentions on this thread of Fisher misappropriating funds from the Lehigh Valley Rose Society (or was it the American Rose Society?) and being expelled from the group as a result. Are there any public-facing sources relating to this, or has it all been word of mouth? I'm just wondering where this info came from (sorry if I missed it somewhere in this thread).
If he did in fact misappropriate funds from a rose society, it would make it even harder for me to believe he had pure intentions when he set up his rose business, so that's why I ask.
TheGableGarden, thank you for giving clear direction to everyone on this forum about how to recover funds lost to this unfortunate venture. You have repeated the directions thoroughly and often and completely absolved yourself of any responsibility in the matter.
Carla, I also got this rose in the HD coffin, it was on sale, leafed out & the tallest rose there so I snagged it. Mine bloomed already so no pics, but my blooms were on the small size. Very fragrant. Hopefully it'll bloom again soon.
I’ve had my Scentous for several years now and I’m very fond of it indeed! It’s just beginning to bloom this spring, big fluffy ruffly pink blooms! Unfortunately, the thrips haven’t completely left it alone.
Judi, thrips like Augusta Luise, too. Nothing like a nice, fluffy pink rose to tempt the awful thrips. They usually leave pretty early in the season here. Do you have photos of your rose to share? Diane