No one is interested? Really???

I am! But living in Northern CA a bareroot plant in February would be kindling in a matter of days probably. Can't even work the ground until mid-March at the earliest. I see they have Julia Child which I would love three of. Shame they don't ship later.

Kate

They can be held for a time without a great deal of trouble. We used to order bareroots from ARE with a fair amount of frequency. They stopped shipping bareroots at the end of February. We said we wanted it to be about the last package out the door, then put the roses into a spare refrigerator for a few weeks. Alternately, they can be potted up and left in the garage. It's really only a month we had to get them through before April and 'reasonable' planting time.

Hmm. Thanks mad-gallica. We don't have a garage so for us the only option would be soak, pot up and store on the front porch. If they shipped say 2/25 and arrived let's say 3/1 I might be able to get them in the ground within two weeks or so. Or not. Really depends on our fickle winter weather.

I'll think about that though. Thank you.

Kate

Diane, thanks for the heads up, because of which I placed an order yesterday. I got quite a huge order from them a few years ago and had no problem with the early shipment date. I always pot up bareroots anyway - my soil does not allow me to do otherwise. The pots get clustered in a sheltered area and they do just fine. Kate, your climate is milder than mine by at least a half zone. You could do the same if you wished.

Regina, in Reno

Regina.

Thanks. You are quite close by in fact. We're in Quincy.

A question if you will. You receive your roes bareroot, soak them for 24 hours or so, and then pot them up? Into how big of pots if I may ask? I realize the rose will still be dormant at this time.

Kate

Diana, thanks from me too; I just ordered six yellows I'd been wanting. :)

Kate, I stick the roses in a big garbage can full of water so they are completely under until I can get to them, in an unheated garage. When I find time (could be 24 hours, or much longer), I pot them up in good quality bagged potting soil in 5 gallon pots. They then go into a sheltered spot where they are clustered together, out of direct sun, and get watered only at first, then very infrequently until they show signs of growing. I have done this many times - never had a problem. They seem to stay dormant until the weather warms enough, and seem to figure out the timing on their own.

Thanks Regina.

How interesting. I would have never thought to submerge the rose. I mean I knew about soaking the roots but the whole (bareroot) plant? I like the idea of being able to order when bareroots are available so I will really evalute your suggestion. Again my only problem would be we don't have a garage or covered area. Just our front porch which is covered and it does get wickedly cold out there.

Thanks again.

Kate

Kate, as long as the temps are moderate enough that the soaking water does not freeze, you should be fine. You can set out the can of water in advance to see whether the covered porch will work. At this point in the season, my dog water is still thoroughly iced over each morning, so I do use the garage for the soak - and yes you do want to submerge the entire plant, canes and all.

By late next month, I seriously doubt it will be a problem in Quincy (you might recall, I used to live there). And if there is an unusual cold snap, the unsoaked bareroot plants can go in the refrigerator, as mad gallica suggests above, til the weather moderates. I have never had a problem with the roses once planted in pots in my also very cold breezeway. The wind roars through there and the snow drifts in. But the plants have always done fine. Kept like this, they don't seem to break dormancy til the weather warms.

Thank you Regina. I'll try it!

Kate