All of my roses are shipping week of April 14. Some will be bareroots; most will be potted. At the rate this darn weather is not cooperating by warming up, I don't know when the potted ones will go in. It worries me about I have about 75 potted ones coming; that's a lot to just be sitting around waiting. And about 20 coming will need to be potted up. It just needs to warm up and stay warm.
We had hail last night down around Peoria. I'm just getting impatient; I know. I want summer!
-terry

Mine are also shipping week of April 14. For the last few years, that has worked out fine. This winter we had record snowfalls, and my backyard (and frontyard) are still covered with 3-4' of snow. Our temps are still below normal, so not a whole lot of melting going on, just very, very slowly. I guess that's good for flood concerns, but not so good for getting into the garden. Even with good drainage, my yard will probably be very soggy and I don't want to damage the structure of the soil by digging too soon. And if I end up having to pot them all up temporarily, unfortunately, all my big foam pots are in the shed, which is still pretty buried - I'll have to do major shoveling to get that door open. I'm a little worried....just have to hope for a miracle!
Judith

I think mine are shipping from Pickering week of April 14 also. They won't arrive til about 5 days later. It seems worrisome right now, as just when the snow was beginning to recede, we got another 3" this morning so far and it's still snowing.

But in the past, that third-fourth week of April has been fine for planting. The snow has melted by then, no matter how much we had piled up. The days are getting warmer even though it doesn't seem like it ever will. We get plenty of rain around here, and once it's May it starts to get summer-like weather.

I wouldn't worry too much in zone 5 if they come later. It's best to get them in the ground asap, but I have planted bareroots the beginning of June (received from a DA clearance sale) and they did fine too.

I'm getting mine sometime in April. I can't remember what dates I picked. I've been trying not to think about it too much and just hoping that the ground will be workable by then. The weather can be very unpredictable up here and maybe (just maybe) we'll get a bit of a warm-up sometime soon.

well ditto on the week of april 14.

Mid March to mid April. Hortico said they put shipping date for April 1st and they would arrive around the 4th. They arrived today. SURPRISE!

April 25 for my bareroots. Due to our move to PEI last spring we didn't get our bareroot order shipped and planted until about a month later (around May 24 or 25) and everything did fine anyway. We didn't get frost until a week into November, which helped.

Ruth

I always request early April, because the season is so short here, and I just can't wait to get started. So I put them in large nursery pots, and drag them in and out of the garage everyday until early May. I spray them with Wilt-Pruf to keep them from getting dried out by the wind. When the danger of frost has passed and the ground isn't too muddy, it's time to plant.

Mike

Ditto April 14th. Although I did get bare root Marmalade Skies today. It is soaking in a pail and I will plant it tomorrow.

This is so good to hear. If we can not plant in April I will not be the only one with piles of roses soaking. I wonder what my husband would think of filling up the jacuzzi and "bathing" many, many, roses.
I put a shovel in the ground yesterday and the shovel went in about 8 inches. I can't wait!!!!!

Next Thursday I'm getting two grain trucks delivered with 80 cubic yards of wood mulch. So starts my big hillside planting project; about 75 roses (not sure...I keep ordering and I've lost count how many are coming); way too many daylilies, irises, and perennials). I'm so excited. I just hope the weather cooperates next week when we have to spread the mulch.
-t

I just got my invoice from Pickering, I requested a ship date of April 11, so they're being shipped on the 8th. The 11th is a friday, so that I could soak them overnight and then have some help (hubby) digging all the holes and transplanting on the saturday. I can't wait:D! The snow has melted off all the beds but one, and that is a non-rose bed...will be nice when ALL the snow is gone, but I'll take this!

April 14th for my roses
If the ground is still frozen
They will just have to sit in water til the time is right.

Niecey

Marmalade Skies?? I need to check that one out.

'Lucy in the Sky' is my favorite Beatles tune. My dad used to play it on 8 TRACK when we were kids. (man I feel old)

I usually request shipping for either the 2nd or 3rd week in April. I have a small greenhouse, so if they arrive too early, I just pot them up and put them in there. Sometimes when I don't get around to potting them up, I leave them in the plastic bag them came in - Pickering roses usually arrive in a cardboard box and are placed inside a dark black plastic bag. I just wet the roots slightly and make sure they don't dry out. I do try and pot them up within a weeks time. Good luck!

Triple, I planted Marmalade Skies today. I did a great job, if I do say so myself! Funny how careful I am with the first few bare root plantings. Perfect weather and soil. It should be overcast and drizzle/rain this week. Tonight I went nuts and ordered the following Buck roses:

Quietness
Folksinger,
Hawkeye Belle
Mountain Music
Prairie Star
Prairie Sunrise

I still have these coming...
Lady Emma Hamilton
Just Joey
Pat Austin
Brother Cadfael
French Lace
Enchanted Evening
Sally Holmes Climber
Happy Chappy rose in hanging basket

Happy Spring!