they will more than likely recover.
They might have sent them too early for your area, which is just a guess anyway, but you are the one who went ahead and planted them. I've always figured that if they arrive in good shape, it's not the nurseries fault if they die.

Rick, what varieties?

Always be specific on the dates. Some vendors might not really know the "proper time" especially if they are in warmer zones. I wouln't get an own root delivered before mid-April (more like late April), but I'm hyper-cautious on that front. Bareroots in mid-March are fine.

Hey Rick.

First, if the had "pencil thick" stems, this doesn't sound "small" for a band.

Second, you know your climate better than a nursery that's over 2000 miles away. If you know you shouldn't get roses until mid-April it should be on you to tell the nursery.

Third, and most critically, putting them in the ground (rather than potting them up and keeping them sheltered until they had reached planting size AND conditions were favorable) was your decision.

I don't see how the nursery was at fault on any of these issues.

Rogue Valley might replace them if asked (just because), but would that really be fair to them? In my opinion I'd have to say no.

The good news is if the weather is warming, and the stems are green, you still have a fair chance of these roses making it.

Wishing you and your roses good luck,

Bill

When purchasing bands from Vintage, I always pot them up to one gallon pots for a few months before planting. This is what Vintage recommends. They recommend that bands not be planted straight into the ground until showing substantial new growth in their new one or two gallon pots. Some bands already have 'substantial' growth and look like they could go straight into the ground. After losing one band to direct planting, I always pot them up a size for a month or two, no matter the size of the band delivered.

I hope your roses recover. If you contact Rogue Valley, tell them exactly what happened and they might offer to replace the plants. However, if the plants arrived in good health, it does not really seem that it would be their fault. Good luck!

Joanne

Rick, it's "your bad" in this case. And I wouldn't put the nursery under any consequence at all. The safest approach with bands is, as Aprille and jbfoodie have mentioned, to pot them up in 1 gallon containers until the roots emerge from the bottom of the container. I keep my replanted bands in a protected place where they have optimal water and heat, having learned my lesson just as you did. I had about a hundred bands that I placed directly into brand new beds and borders and lost so many. They're just too vulnerable to make it at that size, not even considering the snow and weather in your zone. Don't give up, just get wise! Can't wait to hear how you do. If it were me, I'd get them out of the ground ASAP and pot them, put them in a warmer place with light. They're pretty sturdy most of the time.

Sue

The instructions I've always gotten from nurseries selling bands is that they should always be potted up in at least a one gallon container for awhile. The one and only time I didn't follow those directions and planted a band directly in the ground, it died, despite irrigation.

I don't feel it is Rogue Valleys' fault if the band arrived healthy. In regards to requesting that plant material be sent out at the proper planting time for your zone, all they can do is a rough guess. The responsibility for that still falls on the consumer.

That said, I would try to nurse the roses along and see how they do before giving up.

Sandy

What I do is I never plant bands. For instance, I have a Comtesse Cecile de Chabrillant that I received as a band 3 years ago. It is now in a larger pot and ready to plant. My bands that I received last week from RVR were great and I'm expecting another shipment from them. Those bands are grown in greenhouses. It seems to me they would shriek at just the shock of being out of their small homes. I acclamated mine little by little because of our horrendous weather patterns.
When they are used to the weather here, I will pot them to a 1 gallon pot and they will stay until fall or maybe next spring. We have voles here and I'm not going to lose another one to those varmints. Knock on wood.

Carla

I always plant the bands in the ground. I planted 40 something last fall. I've lost a few, mainly the little tiny cutting looking bands. But i have no trouble if it's a good healthy size band, and a good rose to begin with.

Hi folks,

Ran into a busy time (taxes, etc.), so it took me a while to get back here. Thank you for all your comments! I got several bands last spring (first year as a rose grower), plunked 'em directly into the ground, and all not only survived but prospered. That prompted me to do the same this year. It seems to me that, if you have a regular watering routine and fertile soil, who needs a pot ghetto? That said, I find myself agreeing that it is "my bad" that caused the problem in this case. I assumed that, since three out of four rose growers sent my roses to me the end of the first week of April, ALL growers in the industry have a way to make good judgements. I will not make this assumption in the future.

I remain hopeful all three will pull through - Alba semi-plena, Francis Dubreuil and Papa Meilland. Francis I am almost certain will make it, a new bud has started forming; the jury is still out on the other two, but the stems remain green. Thanks again for your feedback!

Rick

If I'm ordering leafed-out bands in Z6b, I normally specify early to mid-May for delivery.

Rick, it is still worth discussing the situation with Rogue Valley, and see if you can come up with some level of satisfaction with them, (especially since you needed some guidance from them, and had requested it). This is not to say it is their fault, or yours, but they are very customer oriented.

Sandy

Sandy, when you say "discuss the situation with Rogue Valley," I wonder if you mean "make an effort to have them replace the lost plants." Why in the world would anyone even attempt to have a nursery, already running on love and not much else (true of all the specialty nurseries), carry the additional cost of one's own errors in judgment? This is one of those situations where we learn as we go - that if we want to receive our plants at a certain time, WE have tell the nursery and that if we plant vulnerable greenhouse-grown plants in weather that is way too cold for survival, WE have to take the loss, not the nursery.

Sue