I have a few. Zepherine Drouhin, Sombreieul (probably really Colonial White since it's a climber), Ballerina and the Austins collection. They are all doing quite well. They were large when I received them, much larger than bands or even Chamblee roses.

miriam, I got Pope John Paul II and Sweetness own root from J&P this winter, because I wanted both roses to grow on their own roots and couldn't find them anywhere else. I believe Sweetness is carried by J&P exclusive anyway and since I am such a sucker of lavender colored roses, so I had to try it!

The roses arrived in a decent size, but some of the canes where damaged and also some of the roots where broken and even split, I guess because of poor handling. I cut the roots back to a healthy part and also the canes, that were damaged. Then I potted both roses up in containers. The roses were having some cane die back, but it stopped after I had cut the canes back to a healthy part, again. I have to say they by now they do reasonably well. Still I would not order from J&P again, if I have a chance to get the same rose from another vendor own root, because I felt they didn't treat their roses very well and I don't want to support that.

It's quite a pitty, because J&P were carrying really nice roses in the past and some of them exclusively. Their quality standards seemed to have come down after the company was sold. Their was also a long thread about that issue here on GW. I have heard, that they will deliver own root roses to the nurseries from next year one. I may consider to buy their own root roses directly from a local nursery, though. This way you can at least check out the canes, the strength of the plant and if the roots are badly damaged you can return it easily to the nursery and get a substitute.

'Pope John Paul II' -- excellent! Nearly as big as a grafted one.
'Jubilee Celebration' -- excellent! What a wonderful little rose.
'Tuscan Sun' -- good. Small plant but despite that, a heavy bloomer. Slow to get going but a little better every year. This is year 3 so hoping for the 3rd year "leap".
'Honey Perfume' -- weak, but it could be in a better spot.

If I had my choice between grafted and own root I would take the own root, but a serious caveat: I'm in zone 9b. You are in 5. I can manage a smaller plant easily due to our long growing season. The own roots seem to need an extra year or two to reach some size. You in zone 5 have a far shorter growing season and a tough winter to get through. Something to keep in mind.

Eeks, hi, Miriam! do you mind if I hijack your post? I too was considering getting a J&P Own Root Rose, but then read OrganicGardenDreams concerns... I will be checking out local nurseries as well, but was wondering then if not J&P, what is everyone's favorite bare-root roses to order online in terms of reliability and good rose "practices" ...in terms of the final overall rose health once it's been planted... Alas, with all companies that get bought out, many times things go for the worse... It's a scary, sad thought especially considering our economic times...

well..just had to jump in here...I have 200+ roses, and a good 150 of them are own root...I have no problem with them here in zone 5, as long as they are spring planted...I would never dare try to plant an own root here in the Fall. (an interesting experiment for me , maybe...)
I water them very deeply so they can set deep roots to get them through the winter, they get about 3" of mulch late in the Fall, and they do very well. So...don't let being in zone 5 deter you from own roots, I think they'll do fine. You are closing in on the window where you need to get them ordered and in the ground..roughly June 15th at the very latest..the sooner the better, though...Donna

I ordered Enchanted Evening (bare-root) via a special deal our rose society has with a small local garden center. I only buy own-root so I figured the price was right and the garden center was doing the ordering. I was very please with the condition of the rose when I picked it up. It was very big and had healthy canes and roots. I potted it up and kept it in a coldframe until the weather broke. I have to admit the rose is going great and has a lot of buds.

After reading other people's problems, IMO, I think J&P sells one the top quality roses to the retailers that order bare-root and then pot them for resale. If I want a J&P rose I will go through the local garden center, and never directly through J&P.

You can plant hardy OGRs in the fall. I planted Baronne Prevost (2 gal. own root from local nursery sale) in the fall and it survived the winter without protection. On the other hand, I have had lots of own root roses die, including Bucks and Austins.

I just received Jubilee Celebration and Bishop's Castle, expecting them to be own root, but sadly they were grafted!

It does vary from one variety to the next. But overall, the bareroot own-root arrive smaller than the budded and take longer to break into new growth. The plants are slower to establish but do eventually make up. For the So Cal climate, I still prefer budded.