I think Pickering starts taking orders for fall shipment in August, but the shipping doesn't take place until November.

You can order the roses as soon as Pickering opens orders, and request shipment in the early spring. I've tried it all ways ... fall shipping with wintering in pots (lost about half), fall shipping and planting directly with a hill of soil (lost every cane above the hill. Poor Mrs Oakley Fisher and New Zealand took two years to recover) and fall ordering with spring shipping (late March here in Va. turned out to be much better for me) It's best not to wait to order, if you want a rose that may sell out ... been there, too.

Connie

Connie, I think you problem was the type of roses. You can't in our climate plant modern or tender roses in November. I also tried it many times and it doesn't work. But, gallicas, albas, mosses, rugosas, etc CAN and they love it. In fact,I believe, it is the best time to plant them in zone 6b/7a.
I do it every fall and never lost a single one. The difference I believe is the reaction of roses on temp swings in winter. Roses that start waking up in Jan/Feb when temp suddenly warms to 60-70, caan't be planted, but roses that are smart and don't get provoked with a warm spell are completely different story.
Olga

I too have tried every which way. I even ordered in the spring and rec'd them mid-May, with the temps already creeping into the low 90's. Never lost a one, though a couple were touch and go. I agree with Olga, the very best scenario is fall planting. Gives them a chance to put on good roots in the winter for abundant spring top growth. Pickering roses are awesome.
I know I in a very small minority, but my one venture with Horitco has been very successful as well. Great plants, prompt shipping and all true to variety. Plus, all that were planted last fall as bareroot are blooming now. Hortico has varieties that you can't get anywhere else.

yes, i would always go for autumn planting but have planted as late as Feb or even March. If planting later in the season, a mycchorhizal (sp?) treatment helps root developement but the roses need very careful watering throughout the entire summer season when planted late. Lucretia is right, ordering starts very early but you should be able to specify delivery dates and favoured roses do run out so it is best to get in an early order.

Thanks everyone.

Lucretia, you're right, they don't actually ship until November. Thanks for pointing that out.

Olga, just to be perfectly clear on this....you've put bareroot gallicas/albas/mosses/rugosas in the ground as late as November with no ill effects? Do you protect them over the winter in anyway? Cover with leaves or mulch or anything?

No, I don't winter protect but I put grafts below soil level (at least 2", could be more). For spring planting I do approx 1".
And as I mentioned before, it doesn't work for roses of other clases, only rugosas and old european OGRs (gallicas, albas, mosses, damasks, centifolias) are samrt enough not to start growing during winter warm spells. All others get canker and die.I killed many roses this way, HTs, ramblers, hybrid musks, etc. But hardy old european OGRs survive w/o any problem.

Olga

hm... well, if you live somewhere like zone 9 that doesn't freeze (mild winters) then... should you be planting in fall rather than spring? D:

Thanks, Olga! All I'm buying are rugosas and old European OGRs so I'm a-okay.

Now the difficult part....making my decisions. :D

Aimeekitty, when I lived in Florida (zone 9) I ALWAYS planted in fall. It was the intense heat of summer that killed newbie plantings down there.

I'm still learning the ins and outs of gardening here in zone 6 (and liking it a lot more!).

Thanks also to those of you who suggested I go ahead and place my order so as not to miss out, especially since I just missed Pickering's spring deadline. Arg.

Thanks teeandcee! I'll do that this year and see how it goes then. Much appreciated!

(I hope all my plants survive this summer! eek!)

Olga, I know you're right in my case. My OGRs are almost all own-root, and I plant them whenever I get them. The only one I of these I have that's budded is St. Nicholas.

The rest of my budded roses from Pickering or Palatine are modern HTs or Austins. Fall planting for them here in Zone 7 hasn't been good for me. Spring is much better.

Connie

Connie, most of my OGRs are own root too. But rugosas and gallicas, I prefer them grafted. Prefer not to deal with millions of suckers :). I still have more than half of my gallicas own root, just because I couldn't find them grafted.
Olga

Aimeekitty, maybe I should have phrased that differently. :) The summer heat was the most stressful time. In Florida you CAN plant in spring/summer but you have to baby the plants a lot more than fall plantings unless you get them out in early spring (January/Feb) and even then it's still not as good as fall planting. At least that was my experience. Hope that eases your mind. :)