I agree this sounds pretty lame. Looks like whoever bought the company just hired someone to answer the phone and give a set list of responses - just like public utilities do! The person probably knows nothing about roses and cares less. If you are still exercised, you might write a letter - it might not accomplish anything on their end, but it will make you feel better!

Jackie

OR....the letter might get to someone who actually does love roses. I mean, you would hope that there is someone like that on the management end since the company was actually purchased. Maybe they need to hear what their customer service is like from a long term buyer like you.
If it was my company, I would want to know.

I am actively planting and transplanting roses this week. I have about thirty newly in the ground and more to move.

Reason for planting now: this is our rainy season. If I were to wait until April to plant and transplant, what I'd have would be about four weeks of good growing before the 80s hit (most first two weeks of May get that hot.)

Yes, I'm ready to cover and protect if a cold freeze (below 20F) happens, but when I see the other roses in my gardens, they are growing now, they are not going to wait until later.

I want those roots to be established well before the heat and dryness comes.

You might want to rethink some of your "everybody knows" info, in light of what nature is doing in your garden and when it's happening. (I grew up on the Piedmont in Virginia, so your growing conditions aren't foreign to me, FWIW.)

That's odd? I ordered from Jungs and was able to pick my ship date with a confirmation of that fact. AAMOF, I ordered again and, after sending an e-mail request, was able to have both orders combined to save me shipping. Again I received an e-mail confirmation.
Im in zone 5a and request my roses in mid March. I pot and keep them in an unheated greenhouse.
Try e-mailing your request and complain about the poor service on the phone. Don't hesitate giving the name of the person if you have it.
I always request the name of the person I'm talking with when they answer the phone and write it down.
I also tell them I'm recording this converstion for training purposes. I find I get better service that way.
jacqueline3 may have the answer.

All you can do is take your business elsewhere next year.

Sounds like poor customer service to let a customer go for $15. I would not have have allowed that as a manager.

BUT... I think they have a point. You can pay the $15 to have it shipped when you prefer, otherwise it will be on their schedule. You knew that. If they ship too early that's not really a big problem. Keep them potted in your garage until the weather allows.

I'm in z6a and routinely plant bareroot roses in mid-March. Once the ground was still frozen--they waited in garage until the weather warmed up.

Any good rose vendor will let you pick the time the roses arrive. Was this Edmunds/Jungs? I know they have some customer service issues. I'd recommend either calling or emailing them again and hopefully you'll get a different person. I believe they've been having some financial issues and this might be one of the ways they're trying to make more money. And if you want another place to buy roses from, try Palatine. They'll let you pick any date you want.

Like Zack, I also start planting bareroots in mid-March if the ground isn't too muddy. I usually have them shipped to arrive at that time, I may leave them in soak for a week (or two), but mid-March isn't too early for me.

I do agree, though, that you usually can request when to have them delivered, but some vendors (like S&W) ship on their own schedule, and they state as much on their web page.

Those are some good ideas. Thanks all. I think I'll do that. Not because I'm irritated (which I am), but because there's a chance it will be of benefit to everyone.

With regard to putting them in the garage, my back won't allow the double work unfortunately. I did think about that :)

With regard to shipping early, I didn't know that. They typically send in accordance with 7A - which is later. Not much later, but enough to make a difference.

In regard to Ann's comment, the experts broke some Zones into A and B in an effort to more accurately reflect a region's weather. To expect them to accurately reflect a person's micro climate in their garden would be unreasonable. Perhaps not all gardeners know this or need to know this; however, . . . a nursery most certainly should!

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate your thoughts.

The zone designations are to predict coldness: as in the coldest temperatures expected in a measured-in-years interval.

Here in east Tennessee, there were three nights in the mid 1980's that the lows were -25F. That killed most of the HTs in many folks gardens. It also killed the wild muscadine grapes and mistletoe on our farm. The mistletoe is slowing coming back. The muscadines are becoming re-established because a neighbor has muscadine grape production fields. But that is not our zone. Our zone gets defined mid January, which are historically our coldest temperatures.

The speed at which the soil heats up and the roses' leaf axils start to swell depends on which roses we're talking about. Tea roses and china roses and their offspring are already active. Some of the OGRs are not, yet.

What the experts don't do is talk about damaging heat and when it begins and how long it lasts. For example, heat kills chickweed, and the chickens miss it. Heat will put some roses in near dormancy, in spite of careful watering taking into account increases in evapotranspiration. Too much heat means we have to grow Cajun tomatoes. Too little heat means that none of our tomatoes will mature to great tasting fruit, if they set at all. And if we know this about tomatoes, do we know it about roses? No.

All we can do is keep records of our own gardens and use them in subsequent years. (And go to weatherundergrounds' almanac for yearly summaries and historic trends.)

I prefer to plant bare-roots March 7th or 15th. As the rose books have said for generations, you can plant in spring whenever the ground is thawed. So there is nothing wrong with the vendor's timetable--whatever we may think of their courtesy.

I am in zone 7A. I've planted roses at all times provided the ground isn't frozen (which is rarely is). Even if I went by the March 15th date, we've had hard frosts later than that, so you really can't go by that. You can plant the roses or keep them in pails in a garage or basement.

I order my roses so that they will arrive the first day of my spring break. This year it is March 14. I tell them and put in writing that I am responsible for their care, and that is when I want them.

I would be very upset at a charge for something that I request.

When my roses arrive, I have a pretty good idea of what the weather will be for the next couple of weeks. Often I delay putting them in the ground, and every so often I take them into the house overnight.

I am under the impression that the vendors I purchase from are not responsible for freeze damage. Even though they recommend a certain shipping date, if they ship at that date, and if there is a killing freeze, they are not liable.

There have been times, not too often, that I have pulled the plants out of the ground, and put them inside. Usually that does not happen, but they are easy to take out if suddenly the weather will really harm them.

I am concerned about the heat more than the freeze, and like Anne said, I want them to be established as soon as possible.

I would call, and ask for the manager or owner. If I wanted to remain a customer, I would give them a chance. However, I live in the middle of the country, and my options are few. I would work hard to let it be known that I am in charge. I would not like paying for early delivery, and would not go back on the nursery for winter damage for the delivery. Even if we had a hard freeze in April, I consider it my responsibility.

I think the big question is, do you really like the nursery and their roses?

I hope this helps. You deserve good quality products.

Sammy

I am in 6b, I usually request deivery for bareroot roses the first week of March. If the soil is not ready, I keep them in the bucket of water on my deck. In my experience they can soak for 2-3 weeks w/o any ill effects, I don't even worry if the water goes through multiple freeze/thaws. Never saw roses harmed by this. I am doing it for many years. Probably 100+ roses were delivered and planted this way.
Olga

Hi guys,

Good question Sammy. And yes, it is Edmunds/Jungs guys. Before this, I would have said that I really did like the nursery and their roses. Now . . . I'm not so sure. If the customer service now lacks quality, do the roses as well? I just don't know. Happy to hear everyone's thoughts.

As we can see from several of the responses, the climate in 7A varies quite a bit depending on where you are and we each have different conditions of concern. Unfortunately for me, March is out. The weather is just too iffy where I am.

I agree 100% that we should be able to request our ship date, as we used to in past years. With the exception of S/W. They have such a great selection though! I love going to their nursery when I'm visiting my family.

On a positive note: I did get a letter from Edmunds stating they're very sorry for the inconvenience and will refund the full amount. Part of me is thinking "no you're not" and the other part gives them credit for sending something. They could have just given the credit without writing to me. I was rethinking contacting them at all, but now I think I will give a phone call.

I'll let you all know the response I get.

P.S. We all don't have to agree on everything for our thoughts to still be of value and I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond.

Thanks again.

M

Melanie, I still don't understand why you think your area it too "iffy" to plant dormant bareroots in Mid-March. Can you elaborate? I am well north of you, and Zack is 3+ hours north of me, and both of us have no problems planting dormant bareroots at that time. What can we do to help alleviate your concerns? And yes, several times I have planted bareroots in March and had it snow on them in April, and they have been just fine.

Bareroots are not planted in 'spring'. They are planted in 'winter'. The theory is that they go dormant in the growing fields in falls, and come out of dormancy in their new home. So in theory, they should probably be planted around now. However, most places either still have frozen ground or sodden ground, so planting is put off a bit.

The kind of cold that is of concern is single digit, cane killing cold. Many people here have planted bareroots, and gotten temperatures in the high teens the next week. That isn't a problem. A much, much bigger problem is planting them, then having highs in the 70s or 80s before the roots are established. Unless they are properly covered, that will kill them.

Melanie, Do you want to continue to buy from this vender? Do they, for esample, have roses you like which are available no where else? Or, are their roses bigger and healthier than anywhere else? If so, you might want to contact a manager or supervisor about your experience. It soulds likely to me that the customer service (sic) person might have been trying to save him or herself effort by simply giving a no we don't do that answer, of which the translation might be something like, My boss might approve this, but then I would have to track him or her down, and then get into the computer and change your ship date, and then the shipping guys are going to be on my case about having to move your roses from shelf A to shelf B, and if there is any kind of mixup it is going to get blamed on me so if I just say no, so what, big deal.

You might have immediately asked to speak to a supervisor during your initial conversation, sometimes that can get cooperation which might otherwise not be forthcoming.

Me, I likely would not buy from them again. I take the view that especially in times of high employemnt, there is no excuse for tolerating poor service and disdainful attitudes. The person might have at least asked the supervisor whether, for a long time customer, the $15 charge could not be waived. If I were the phone person, I would have taken it on myself to waive the charge and been dismissed probably, but then I never did have much respect for tin hat authority.

I'm in northern Virginia like Melanie and our soil is heavy clay. Yeah, I know the mantra "amend, amend, amend then amend some more" but I've still got a yard that's water logged from winter precipitation. It will be quite a while before I could dig a planting hole for anything here. Potting up a bareroot and planting in April would be best for me but that's not feasible for Melanie hence her dilemma. Maybe the clay in other parts of the country drains better?

My place is all heavy clay and just few miles from NVA border. I do plant in the first half of March every year. Cecily, did you try to dig a hole in March and couldn't or you just think it is impossible. If you just think, I encourange you to try it once, it should work and it is much better for roses. Bareroot roses are not afraid of cold, even very hard freeze in March will not harm them.
Olga

Olga, my lawn is absolutely saturated: it feels squishy to walk on it. The winter snow melt coupled with spring rain drains very slowly (and we live on a hill side). Amending a flower bed doesn't do much good when the whole area is saturated.

Cecily, I understand what you mean. My lawn is the same wet mess now. I think I know what is the main difference in our planting approaches. I don't amend soil much when I plant my roses. Amending will promote pool effect and can be bad, when the soil is wet. I usually put good compost on the top, but I plant in the original soil. In my experience roses love clay.
Olga

Thank you Cecily. I couldn't figure out how to explain it any better for Olga and Diane. I forgot to tell everyone about our clayey mud. You did a great job! P.S. We're expecting snow on Tuesday here.

Ya know, it's so interesting that some of you who are north of us, where the weather is supposed to be colder, can plant earlier than we can.

Nastarana, I would have done the same. Still haven't made a final decision yet. I don't want to hold the entire company accountable for one employee, but then again, they are responsible for their employees. On the other hand, if I don't tell them what happened, then they can't fix the problem. **Sigh** I will call. Whether I purchase from them again is still undecided.

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts.

Melanie
If you can work the soil, you can plant a dormant bare root rose. A dormant bare root will stay dormant in cold soil until the soil warms up. Just make sure you hill up the exposed canes to protect the buds and keep it watered. It's not any different than storing it in a refrigerated storage warehouse except you get an early start on your rose.
I've even planted bare root roses during a March snow. My soil, in zone 5a, is often workable by early March.

Um, I still have snow in my rose beds. I know squishy. I'm assuming that things will dry out over the next month, and will be planting next month as usual.

Do what you like, but recommend you don't wait too late, I suspect that April will be hotter than usual, which isn't a happy situation for bareroots.