Can we Have pics please! Looking forward to mine as well but it'll be over a month, like to see the RVR ones especially since I have a big order coming with them... so excited!

I know that wonderful feeling, especially when the newly arrived ones look really nice already. My Pretty Jessica band from last year has done very little, but after a year in the ground I hope it will be blooming quite a bit this year. Some of my more rare roses have arrived looking very undersized, but I'm willing to put in the extra time and care to have those particular roses. I'm glad yours are looking great already. You'll probably have a respectable amount of blooms this year already. What fun!

Ingrid

Speaking of getting undersized roses, I received my first Heirloom order yesterday. Now, I am very inexperienced purchasing roses that need to be sent. My first two bareroots shipments were from David Austin and S&W. Both were very similar in size, looked like 1-2 year canes, with at least 8" of thick roots. They took off like gangbusters.

I thought it odd that my 4 from Heirloom came in such a small package. They are each in 2"x2"x4" little pots, with what look like cuttings in soil. Two are about 6" high, with canes that look like ... well ... recent cuttings. Then, Amazing Grace, looks almost identical to the cuttings I'm rooting that I started rooting in December.

I'm certainly not going to put them in the ground as I had planned, as I wouldn't put my recent cuttings into the ground.

The roses are SDLM, Frederic Mistral, Mme Isaac Pereirre and Amazing Grace. I'm sure I won't get any blooms this year, and hoping "maybe" next year?

Is this to be expected? I'm fairly shocked, and confess really disappointed... I thought I was getting bareroots and not cuttings.

As followup, to be fair, after reading on the website (I should have done this and not "assumed" anything) that they send out their roses as cuttings in 3x3x6" pots, I did measure. They measure as 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 5 1/2" (not the 2x2x4 I estimated in my prior email). Please tell me they'll grow really fast, I have nothing to worry about and I'll be happy. These are my first own-root purchases...

I couldn't believe the size of the own root roses from
DA. They shipped with roots that were over 4 feet long! I had to cut some of them just to pot them up in 2 gal. containers! I truely was expecting bands from them not full gown plants. A couple lost their tags during the mailing. I hope I can identify them correctly. Can't wait to get them in the ground.

I have two plants of 'Pretty Jessica', purchased as bands from Heirloom, and they are VERY slow-growing. However, that rose has a reputation for being a small and compact plant, so I'm not worried. The fragrance is SUPERB! On the other hand, the stems seem pretty weak. I'm very curious to see what they do this year, as opposed to last year. I put them straight into the ground, and they have been fine, and the same is true of my band of 'Glamis Castle' which REALLY took off, and almost immediately started to bloom. However, if 'Pretty Jessica' smells like heaven, 'Glamis Castle' smells like HELL!

The Eden I bought from Heirloom last year is growing so slowly.
However; the foliage is green & healthy.

The recent rain might give it a boost!

The most impressive size rose shipments are from The Antique Rose Emporium in Texas.

That being said, I love the dainty bands & packaging from
Heirloom. The variety they offer is outstanding.

Bands do seem to require some extra coddling but if Heirloom has something I really want and can't get elsewhere in a larger size, then I order. I have several Pretty Jessica roses (LOVE THEM) and they were slow to start but are now sturdy, stout little plants. I think her size is great and it is such a pretty flower.

Don't be afraid of bands! True, some will arrive a bit further along in growth than others, but I've come to learn that the best bet is to order in the Fall for Spring delivery. That way, the plants set aside for you were at the minimum stage of development for sale when you ordered them, but spend an extra six months growing in the greenhouse before they're shipped to you. My most rampant grower of the bands I kept for myself from last year was the Bourbon 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' from Vintage Gardens. It had about five thin canes maxing at 6" tall upon arrival in late April 2012 and was potted up into a 2gal nursery liner, and by August, this is what it looked like:

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:-)

~Christopher

Don't be afraid, amazing grace will grow very well from a small band. Mine had hardly any leaves on just a little twig. Put it in a gallon container and let it grow comfortably. My Amazing Grace grew tall and robust- more tall than wide. The plant needs some time before it can make the big superpetaled wonderblossoms. Completely worth the wait. Fragrance is strong damask. Best in a morning sun spot but worst in a partly shady spot.

I am editing this to add that this photo is not the best because the camera overexposed the pink color, it's actually a richer pink with subtle variations to the pinks and not just plain light color pink. Wish I could share the fragrance too.

This post was edited by kittymoonbeam on Fri, Mar 8, 13 at 12:01

Thank you, Kitty, for that great shot of Amazing Grace. I still kick myself for NOT getting that one when Roses Unlimited had a sale for $10 per gallon ... I will watch out this June, to see if they have that again.

Oh Kitty, thanks SO much for that photo. I am so happy to have her - that photo is everything and more than what I was hoping for. The 4 girl band(s) are all in pots, and growing more rapidly than I expected. I'm anticipating that they'll be ready for planting in fall. All will get good, mostly sun spots.

After seeing what has happened to Vintage, I take back any negative comments I had about band size from Heirloom. The roses are perfectly fine, extremely healthy, and were packaged beautifully. And we NEED to support all of these remaining rose businesses!