Yes, quite like the minis from NorEast, I would say. I have received bands that looked like no more than recently rooted cuttings, and then have had some that arrived with a 2 ft. long cane waving from the top. It really varies. I've had the best luck with potting bands up into a 1 gal. size pot for a little while and not planting them out in the ground right away. (I tend to forget to keep an eye on them when they're out in the garden.) They do better with more TLC and a chance to grow up a bit first.

Stanc, you sure can grow them no problem. Before they come in get some pots in the two or three gallon size range. I use five way top soil and add alfalfa meal and some blood or bone meal for the potting mix. Center the cute little new rose and plant it just a little lower than it is in the band. The rose should be ready to plant in early summer and grown to five times its original size.

I use three gallon pots because the soil temp does not go up and down as fast as a one gallon and there is less stress from the soil drying out as it can do quickly in a small pot.

Lance

So long as they are zone appropriate, they'll be OK. Don't trust the nursery on zone appropriate, though. They have no idea. They also have no idea when the rose should be shipped. If you order them a month before you'd be planting a leafed out rose, it can spend that month growing in a pot and be an older plant when planted out.

Oh, and if they delay the order past July 4th for any reason, cancel the order. It's just too late.

One thing to think about is the temperature when they are shipped. You don't want to order them too early if they have been in a greenhouse somewhere or they could freeze in shipment. But like mad gallica said a month early is probably ok. Same thing with shipping in summer with hot weather. I have had good luck getting them about the 1st of June and planting them directly into the ground. It seems everyone does it a little bit different but it all seems to work.
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They really do vary--and a lot of them look like cuttings with barely any growth. But they are HAPPY to get in the ground and start growing!

For the most part, I've tried to get mine in early fall and put them in right into the ground before really cold weather hits. That way they can focus on growing roots during winter, which is our rainy season. Plus there's the advantage of blooms the first season on some of them! I've also put some out in early spring, but you have to watch out for late freezes.

Be sure to harden them off for a few days before you put them outside for keeps, whether in pots or in the ground. You will be amazed at how quickly those tiny little stubs will turn into happy little bushes.

If you don't want to pot them, but rather plant them directly in the ground, I would have them arrive a week or so after your last frost date.
As mad gallica said, if they are zone appropriate, they should do fine unless they should get dry or something. I've killed more bands in the ground by accidently mowing, weedeating, or even hand weeding and pulling the tops off than anything else, or planted where they drowned. I've even had good luck, maybe better planting them in the fall, but you are in a different zone than I am, so I would stick with the advice of those more like your area.

This is a timely thread.
I have four bands coming from Vintage and 3 bands from NorEast.
I've only purchased one band before these new orders ... the china rose, "Spice". It took off growing right away, no problem.
That gives me a little confidence with these new ones coming.
I'm sure we'll both do fine :-)

Randy

At least 200 of 250+ roses started as bands. I just plop them in the ground when they arrive and they grow. But I order them no earlier than April and no later than Sept.

I purchase bands regularly, but only if the variety is unavailable as either a regular own-root or a grafted plant. I've been very pleased with the bands I've received from the few vendors I've dealt with; if given an option, however, I order from Northland Rosarium. My experience has been that Northland's bands are invariably larger than the norm and have comparatively strong, dense root systems.