I always feel bad when I read how other folks have picked up great roses or have a great selection in their hardware stores - my Home Depot and Lowe's never seem to get much in the way of roses anymore. Did rescue an Abe Darby from the clearance rack at Lowe's a while ago (potted) and very happy with it. This year had better luck at Costco with their $20 2-rose boxes of Jackson and Perkins - which included pink double KO's if you are looking for disease-resistance. Good luck with your roses, I am a lazy sprayer myself, mostly because I don't like mixing the stuff, and I try to use organic products - my summers are always bad I'd have to spray every 3 days to really keep down the blackspot.

katortott, if you do decide to repot it eventually, try to follow karls advice on not disturbing the rootball when taking the rose out of it's pot. Here is something that'll help. It worked great for me Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Mon, Jun 29, 09 at 14:37 If the soil was lost, the feeder roots were lost also. The small white roots you saw were anchor roots. Feeder roots are tiny and almost invisible that fall away with the soil. To plant a potted bush without losing the soil cut the bottom off the pot with a razor knife, but first dig the hole making it half again as wide as the pot. Cut up opposite sides of the pot half way. Secure the cut sides with masking tape wrapped around the pot. Finish cutting the pot the rest of the way to the top, then secure it with masking tape wrapped around the top. You'll end up with a pot cut into three pieces but held together with masking tape. You can also use rubber bands or string to secure the two pot halves. Pick up the pot holding the cut bottom in place to make sure the bush and soil don't fall out the bottom. Place the pot in the hole and slide the bottom out from under the pot. Pull soil in around the pot to just below the lower piece of masking tape. Cut the tape on both sides. Continue pulling soil in until just the top tape is exposed. cut that tape on both sides. Pull the two pot sides straight up. (The soil pulled in around the pot will hold the root ball together.) Finish filling the hole and water to fill in any voids. If done properly, the bush will not know it's been moved and should continue to grow normally. Keep it watered well until it shows signs of growth, then water as you normally would. If done correctly, it'll experience no planting stress. You should water the potted plant well before you transplant to help keep the soil together, not so important if planted as directed above. I'd get them transplanted as soon as possible to allow plenty of time for the roots to grow into the surrounding soil and get well established before winter. For plants in thick vinyl pots that won't cut easily with a razor knife, I use a saber saw or Dremel rotary saw to cut away the bottom and up the sides.

Thanks for the post. I recently bought some lids at Lowes because they were cheaper than my usual source. I hotfooted over there this morning and stocked up. I wasn't lucky enough to find everything as cheap as your Lowes, but it was still a bargain. Regular mouth lids = .65 Wide mouth = 1.05 Fruit pectin = 1.73 Pickle Crisp = 2.78 Thanks again! I would have missed out on this if you hadn't shared this information. Jill

One thing to remember - At least at our Lowes - is - Corporate only allows a certain percentage of stock to be clearanced. They typically only get a repreive on that on the weekends. Saturday early am is the best time to hit it. We lucked into several thousand dollars worth of lighting and bathroom cabinetry for only a few hundred a few months ago this way.. thanks to that information and a tip from an employee.