I bought Lady Emma Hamilton from a nursery that stocks roses from Weeks Roses and I have found it to be superior to the Austin Nursery rose. None of the problems with weak growth and the first buds are forming on a bushy and healthy rose bush. The only problem I have had was that Vintage was sold out of two roses I wanted but both were available for a good while so it is more likely my fault.

Lance

Six bareroots I ordered from Rosemania are doing exceptional. All are putting out strong, healthy growth (although Legends is like watching a snail cross the street). Three from ARE and six from Chambless have been planted and/or potted and are taking off nicely.

Hey Chuck.

I like this question and I look forward to hearing from others about it. Glad to hear you and your roses are doing well.

So far my orders this year have actually been consistently better than last year or maybe I've just felt more capable of dealing with them. I have received in the mail from Roses Unlimited, Palatine, Northland Rosarium, and Nor'East. I've been extremely happy with all of them. My roses from RU and Northland Rosarium have bloomed (in the greenhouse) already. I also made a trip to Rogue Valley Roses and found Janet very particular about the quality of the roses she let me leave there with and concerned about my happiness with the product. I have yet to receive my first Vintage order as I asked them to hold my shipment until the end of May but I'm excited. I didn't order from Heirloom this year for the first time in three years but I did get Betty Harkness and Radio Times last fall and was very happy as always. In fact, I left very little time between when I received them and winter descended upon us and the little things overwintered buried in the garden beautifully.

For those who haven't ordered from Northland Rosarium in Spokane, WA before I really must recommend them. I also bought the rose 'Coffee Bean' for my Mom for Mother's Day and it arrived healthy and blooming. Have to add them to my list of nurseries to visit one day soon.

Finally a friend ordered several David Austin roses and by accident they doubled her order leaving her with 10 rather than the five she paid for. So she sent me the extra five and they have been growing in pots in the greenhouse. They came in great shape and most have buds now.

Thanks Chuck and take care.

Kate

My most recent roses came from the below vendors. All were growing on their own roots in containers:

Roses Unlimited - Great and friendly service. Shipment went out immediately. Beautiful, healthy, & ready to be planted directly into the garden upon arrival. Top notch company in every way, although their website is not as good as The Antique Rose Emporium or Chamblees ... no problem, just give them a call to order, they are extremely friendly and helpful. I highly recommend.

Nor'East - Oh my gosh this is a good company. THE source for miniature roses. Very impressive plants, already blooming right out of the box.

Vintage - the company that made me no longer afraid of "band" sized roses. Excellent packaging, beautiful, unpruned plants right out of the box. New growth foliage has not been removed, just perfect. The natural form of the plant has not been ruined (most other vendors prune before packaging). The people there are very helpful and friendly, but they may be a little under-staffed due to the economic slowdown. I think it's best to call for questions about your order, rather than emailing. They will answer email in a very polite manner, it just takes a little longer.

FYI, these orders were my very first from these vendors, and I am pleased to have gotten some hard to find roses from them. My normal supplier is The Antique Rose Emporium, which never fails to please. They're the first vendor I always check when looking for a new rose.

Randy

I ordered from 3 vendors.
Roses Unlimited: I bought around 15 roses. Everything was very carefully packaged and sent when promised. The roses were large and many had buds and/or blooming. Nice own root bushes.

North Country Roses: I ordered Stanwell's Perpetual. It arrived covered in buds. It was well packaged and a healthy, nice sized plant. I have always had great service from them. Very helpful on the phone.

Heirloom: My roses arrived a week later than promised. They are all extremely puny. I know bands are small...but these literally measure 6" with 4-6 yelllow leaves on 2 of them. These roses were a bit more expensive than RU, but I wanted to give Heirloom another chance after receiving poor service and a dead rose last year.

I ordered from Vintage and RVR. All bands are now either in 5g containers on in the ground. One of the bands died in transit and was replaced. Vintage bands were huge, I regretted buying 1g containers to pot them up, should have gone into the next size up. The band that died got replaced with a 1g container plant for free. Excellent customer service, just excellent, I have never had trouble getting through to them. The RVR bands have been very vigorous and healthy.

Masha

Only ordered from Nor'East. The ones that I received are great (Grace Sewell and a new Herbie), but they were not able to ship Sweet Arlene, which makes me sad.

The only other newbie is Lady Emma Hamilton, bought potted, locally. It is on notice...

Every year I go crazy with online ordering since its the only thing to do over our long, dreary winters. I showed more 'restraint' this year, ordering just under 50 roses. I explained to DH that roses I 'find' at local garden centers don't count because I discovered them AFTER I made the 'deal' with him to limit myself to ORDERING 50 roses this year. (I won't mention those roses here since they weren't ordered so they don't count.) LOL

Pickering - 25 roses
Hortico 9 roses
A.R.E. 2 roses
Vintage 9 roses
Ashdown 3 roses (but only rec'd 2 of them)

Here are photos of what I received......
I was pleased.

Celeste

VINTAGE

{{gwi:263404}}

HORTICO

{{gwi:256921}}

PICKERING

{{gwi:256924}}

Those Pickerings are pretty impressive! Thanks for posting those comparison pictures, Celeste.

I got two of 'Lady Emma Hamilton' locally, to support a local family owned garden center that's been struggling to survive. They are small plants, but blooming and doing well.

Oops...forgot the 2 beautiful bare roots I received from DA. This was a replacement for Just Joey that I had last spring and never broke dormancy. They gladly replaced it with 2 Harlow Carr's at NO EXTRA CHARGE! Wow...happy dance!
They are growing and look great.

I got three from Edmunds and was pleasantly surprised in their size and quality. They had very little harvest damage and large root systems.

My roses from Nor'East, immediately after receiving:
{{gwi:207239}}

Randy

I ordered from several vendors this year, and it was hit and miss.

First the really good ones--

Countryside: I'd never ordered from them before, but I'm really impressed. These were some of the nicest plants I've received mail order.

Nor'East: First order was fantastic. BEAUTIFUL little plants. Second order--they replaced a couple that ended up being out of stock, as is their policy, although a little disappointing. One rose I received this week was the wrong one all together--still waiting to hear back from them. Plants are great, tho, and I'll order from them again.

Pickering: Great plants, as usual. I ordered a plant that couldn't be shipped to the US (missed that fine print) and they very nicely let me substitute another to optimize shipping costs. One plant out of 9 or 10 was split at the roots--I let them know, and they made a note to my file in case it needs to be replaced. Very nice people.

Then the so-so experiences:

Vintage--my first time ordering from them, I placed 2 orders. They did a good job of adding to orders and replaced one band that was in rough shape when I got it. The bands were VERY well rooted, but some of them are really struggling--Lady Hillingdon arrived with no leaves (they said they stripped the leaves for shipping, so I wasn't too worried), but the leaves that it's managed to put out have died, and I'm not sure she's going to make it. Since she didn't try to leaf out until after the 10-day return limit, it's going to be a wait and see. Some plants arrived with mild cases of blackspot (maybe because of their trip in the dark) and both orders had plants with aphids. This is the only vendor I've used that had plants arrive with any sign of disease or pests. When other people from this forum post their photos of plants from Vintage, I have to shake my head, because compared to the photos I've seen, mine were scrawny little outcasts. Maybe just the varieties I've ordered. Would I order from them again? Not as my primary supplier, but they do have one of the best selections around, so probably I will for the rare item that no one else has.

Rogue Valley: A very big disappointment this year. I've been buying from RVR for a few years; they've been my primary supplier of rose bands. When their bands are good, they are VERY VERY good and grow extremely well--but it seems like every other time I order I get a dud. The "duds" are roses that never do well, and when they do finally die (past the warranty date), the roots are not well developed (Aunt Margy's rose was the latest casualty.) Plus they have made a habit of screwing up my orders--charging me for a plant that's then dropped from the order and many other problems, and it's been a nightmare trying to get things resolved. I'm still waiting for a rose that I ordered in December (was supposed to be shipped in February) that had to "grow a little more." Janet has always been very pleasant, but there seems to be a big disconnect between her and her employees who actually fill the orders. Sad to say I probably won't be using them much more--too many order mistakes (and while they kindly gave me a free rose for my troubles this time, my blood pressure just can't take it), and I've received one too many that just didn't have any kind of a root system when it died.

Well, as a novice I thought I didn't know squat, but seriously, my 2 Heirlooms were puny little things. What was worse, one had only one stem branching out of the bottom and you could see that the other had broken off! I didn't complain because I'm used to the grafted 5 gallons you usually find at the local nurseries and just wanted to try growing own roots for a change.
I am excited about my nor'east order because of the huge selection, those local minis bug me because they never have names.
I found that ordering bands is a lot more expensive than local grafted plants,and shipping costs on container plants are sky high! Do you all think it is worth it and why?

I'd really love to hear from folks who ordered from J&P and Edmonds.
Any more reviews from the former faves?

Edmunds was better this yr than last yr. Everything sprouted and are doing fine.

Pickering... "ok" but had some dieback on several of them.

Hortico had the usual mis-marked, and several that may or may not make it.

Roses Unlimited... excellent as usual.

S&W Greenhouse... good size and quality.

Vintage Gardens... mixed reviews on theirs this time around. I bought a LOT from them over several orders, to try and help them stay afloat, and besides they had a lot of rarely-seen varieties. At least four of them died, two due to being too small.

Regan's... all great, and all growing well.

Palatine... excellent as always. Probably the superior of the group.

Wisconsin Roses are always great, but one budeye didn't sprout. First one in many yrs of ordering.

Wayside Gardens... all roses doing great and sprouting growth to catch up to the earlier orders.

Witherspoon Rose Culture... only ordered two roses and both were huge and sprouted right off the bat. One is already over 4ft tall.

Mark of Excellence... smallish bands, one out of three died.

Parks Seeds... only ordered one rose, and despite being shipped late, she's popping budeyes & looking good.

Two Sisters always have excellent plants that take off like weeds!

All in all, it's been an "ok" yr for new roses. I'm most disappointed with the Vintage ones tho. I think all the ones I lost are sold out and probably for a loooong time too...

I got orders from three on-line vendors.
Palatine--Three top-notch climbers. Palatine always has the best bareroots to be found. Huge root systems and many green and plump canes. Well packaged and moist upon arrival.
All three roses are doing spectacularly since I planted them.
Salita and Roberta Bondar are in planted higher in 1/2 whiskey barrels on either side of bench/trellis combo. They are both supposed to be 8'-9' upon maturity.
Harlekin is supposed to get 12' tall and is planted in a container down low behind the bench to give it plenty of room to grow tall.

Hortico--Received 11 replacement HT/FL's for backorder and dead plants from previous orders. This was probably the best looking order I have ever received from Hortico. Smaller than Palatine--maybe younger?? Good roots and plump, green canes for the most part. All look to be doing well so far since potting them up 10 days ago. Keep up the good work Hortico folks!! I love their selection.

Wisconsin Roses--As always, Steve Singer sends out super healthy, moist, nicely packaged budded maidens. I got five--Just Peachy, Stephen Rulo, Artic Circle, Impulse, Here's Gert. I have cut tops off all except for Impulse. I am concerned as Impulse's bud doesn't appear to be alive and hasn't done anything. I notified Steve when I got it and he has promised to replace it if it fails to grow. I have about 100 bushes from Steve and very rarely have problems. When I do his customer service is always great.

J&P Roses--I always order the Hybrid Tea Test Rose Panel each year as I love evaluating the new roses and have fun with it. This year it looks like the orange blend "Sedona" test rose has died prior to breaking dormancy. It just dried up from cane tip to roots from the time I potted them up three weeks ago. I have asked for a replacement but haven't heard back yet.
I also ordered two floribundas-Tuscan Sun and The Disneyland Rose-on the order. These two floribundas are breaking dormancy quite well. I changed my normal routine of potting up roses for a year prior to planting them in the ground. I planted these directly into my bed of orange floribundas replacing Laura Bush and Outrageous floribundas that have not performed well at all despite my best efforts for three years. These two were pitiful and I just couldn't stand to see them another year in my garden. So, I planted their replacements right away, and so far so good. I hope they continue to do well this year. J&P has always sent me excellent quality bareroots and in the rare occasion something goes awry, they are always prompt to take care of things. I would recommend them highly to anyone buying roses.

Finally, I have 10 roses coming from my local nursery here in town. Moffett Nursery's rosarian Charlie Anctil always orders from the best nurseries--J&P, Weeks, Star, Pickering, Edmunds, etc... and you can order bareroot from him or buy what he orders to pot up and sell commercially to the public. Moffett's always stands behind their plants and will replace any that don't thrive. Charlie is the best rosarian around and helps out any way he can.

We should all do our best to support the on-line vendors and the local nurseries whenever at all possible. I stay aways from body bag roses from the big box stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart and home centers like Lowe's and Home Depot when buyng roses.
I also buy most of my garden supplies from the local nursery an on-line vendors when possible to support them that way as well. Rosemania, Primary Products, Lee Valley, etc...are just a few that I patronize on-line.

Just my two cents worth.
John

Palatine - all large and healthy, leafing out now and raring to go.
Pickering - also arrived in good shape, all broke dormancy and are leafing out.

Both orders arrived right on time, well-packaged and moist.

As usual, I am very pleased with the quality of the roses these two vendors provide, and their customer service is exemplary. We are very lucky to have them.
Judith

7 from Heirloom. Tiny tiny tiny. Holding my breath.

lots of them this year
J&p - 2 from them due to a gift certificate, both looked ok and doing fine (trying purple tiger again and abraham darby)

Vintage - 8 from them all doing great-still disappointed that one I ordered in the fall I was not able to get

Ashdown- umm..8 or more from them I think..lost track lol Picked most of them up my self. all doing well. I am continuing to grow them on in pots

Roses unlimited - 4 from them - huge roses love the size of their own roots -all doing well and large enough to go straight in the ground

Nor east- all doing well as expected :)

Rosemania- love their roses...monstrously huge bare roots all doing marvelously, minis doing great too

Edmunds- just received 2 from them...hoping they will do okay.I had to replace 2 that died

gosh...one of these days I need to slow down ...lol

Hehe. WOW. And I thought *I* planted a lot of roses this year. Now I realize it was just a drop in the bucket compared to everyone else. If your soil is anything like New England soil you must be very sore from digging all those 2' holes!

I bought 32 roses from David Austin direct and all seemed pretty healthy. A few had some broken roots and those predictably have struggled a little but all have leafed out - some are very green and leafy now - but no buds. I mentioned my concerns to David Austin about the broken roots, but they were very friendly and said if there were any problems with them growing they would replace no problem.

Here's the rundown:

Palatine: Excellent as usual; gigantic bareroots; superior quality; all broke dormancy well and were quick to leaf out

Pickering: Not as large as Palatine's; slower to break dormancy even though planted at the same time.

Ashdown: Lost their mother plant of Paul Cezanne during their move; roses backordered. Not a big deal; things happen and I'll get them next year if they can locate cuttings.

Hortico: Can't get their orders correct. Hope what I ordered is indeed Broceliande. We'll see..... Won't order from them again.
Vintage: Received my first order ever last week. Wasn't sure what to expect but was very happy with size and health of plants. I'll definitely order from them again.

ARE: Sturdy Texan roses as usual.

RU: Stellar; always dependable A+ and perfect.

Wisconsin Roses: New to me this year, it's a learning experience to try maidens. They both have little buds. It's fun to try new things.

My local Rose Chapter: Bought several mini roses nurtured and grown by our president. Perfect.

Heirloom: Their bands are too miniscule to survive. Won't order from them again. Have spent too many $$$ in the last 3 years on twiglets. I have dandelions taller than the bands they sent.

-terry

I ordered and quickly received two bands from Vintage...both being Jadis/aka Fragrant Memory. Since I usually get large bareroots in spring at a local nursury, I really have a hard time wrapping my brain around the small size of "bands". But I planted both directly in the ground. They seem to be doing ok, but nothing yet to be jumping up & down about. I hope I'll eventually be nicely surprised.

Made 2 orders from Vintage - very pleased!

Those bands all have new growth and most bloomed right away, despite being heat stressed from being in an unairconditioned delivery truck (carriers fault, not Vintage's). Even the smallest one (SDLM) has new growth and is showing spunk.

I will be making my orders in the Fall from now on - it's just too hot here in the mail trucks after February.

Roses Unlimited: the absolute best, in my opinion. Gorgeous healthy plants.

Asdown Roses: also excellent, but plants are slightly larger than bands and definitely need to be potted up for a while. Gorgeous and healthy.

Antique Rose Emporium: nice large plants. Most are gorgeous bushes, but a few have been Charlie Brown bushes (not real pretty and knarled). They all grow though.

Vintage: Seems to be a rather tough year for them, but they have great concern for customer service, and replace any not pleased with.

Rogue Valley Roses: Received some great Barden roses from them. Some were not ready to have been shipped out, in my opinion, but with babying have taken off in pots. I hope Paul Barden will authorize some other nurseries to carry his roses, such as Roses Unlimited or Ashdown. Still waiting on a tea that was not in my shipment. Tried two Aunt Margy's rose, neither have been healthy. Gave up.

Sandy

Chamblee's--they missed the ship date on one of my orders this year (where are my roses?), but sent them the next week, so no biggie--I don't expect perfection from anybody. They're consistently the best value, in terms of price, size, health, and shipping cost, in my opinion.

Antique Rose Emporium--fastest shipping, big roses, one however did arrive covered with blackspot and very defoliated. Don't know if that's the rose's tendency or that they just didn't get around to spraying.

Rogue Valley--healthy rose, well packed.

High Country Roses--smallest of the roses I ordered (but they make the sizes clear, so I'm not complaining). Underwent a great deal of shipping stress (and was on the delivery truck on a hot day here until late afternoon), and showed it--yellow/falling leaves, one cane broken off, cane dieback a couple days later. Verdict out on the surviving plant out of two ordered, but looks better after a couple weeks in the ground.

Roses Unlimited--Jury's out until I receive my order. Friendly customer service, big selection, wish I could order directly from the internet site rather than using phone and snail mail and checks, and wish I could set my own (earlier) delivery date (rather than having to wait for hardiness-zone-driven delivery).

This thread is a great idea. I've bookmarked it for reference when I order again next year. This is the first year I grew roses and I ordered from two vendors.

S&W Greenhouse:
Ordered several bare roots. Large, excellent condition, with many feeder roots and bud eyes. Came well packed. Took off as soon as they were planted and are thriving, covered with blooms. Customer service was friendly and professional with very quick responses. All-together an outstanding experience. Will order from them again and highly recommend them.

Rogue Valley Roses:
Ordered one band and was greatly disappointed. It was a 4" twig with a few baby leaves. I couldn't see any roots from the bottom of the pot. (I didn't take it out of the soil to check further.) For the high price they charged it was definitely not worth it and I'm worried it won't survive. I'm a bit shocked to see how big the Vintage bands are in the photo above compared to the one I got. When I called, they were only willing to replace it if I paid shipping and handling a second time, which was 50% of what I paid the first time. Will not order from them again, and can not recommend them based on this experience.

I'll never order from Rogue Valley Roses again either. Absolutely horrendous customer service. I can handle mistakes, and I can handle receiving a bad rose from time to time, if taken care of. I can even handle roses that were forgotten to be put in the box or having to wait for one to be ready to ship. I cannot handle ignored phone calls, e-mails, and a general lack of concern over taking care of the customer, and the attitude that the customer is an idiot that doesn't know anything about roses.

Sandy

Very interesting topic. For the past few years I've been lucky enough to make a yearly pilgrimage to Great Lakes Roses (a pleasant 30 minute ride on back roads). This year I ordered no new roses and prayed that all of my thorny babies would make it through the winter (all but one). This thread has helped me determine what to look for and who to avoid.
Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences.

Lots of orders this year --

Vintage -- I must've ordered 30 roses from them this year. Got one misnamed plant (Butterfly wings), but I'm sure they'll replace it. Am waiting for it to bloom again to show them what was actually sent. Also, got a "mistake" sent that they just told me to keep -- someone packed a Fragrant Cloud, when I had ordered a Fragrant Gold. They did replace that one promptly. Very pleased with the size and health of the plants received.

Palantime -- bareroots came timely and healthy. One, however, did not break dormancy (Lady Rose). Don't know what their policy is on replacing them, but I let them know -- it's too late here for bareroots now anyhoo.

Burlington rose nursery -- very pleased with the dozen or so plants I ordered. All are very small, but that's no problem here. In colder climes you would have to grow them out quite a while. But the prices are great -- $6 and $7 per rose and downright cheap on the shipping cost. For that, I'm happy to let them grow out here. And they have really rare ones in stock, which is always fun.

Hortico, ah Hortico. They try, but geez, I just don't know. They sent lots of roses after it was late for bareroots here (and after I had tried to cancel the order for that reason) and most did not break dormancy, even with a great deal of babying. I'm willing to do the babying, but I just don't know what happens to their plants. I've had bad luck with both the varieties sent and their ability to break dormancy. I think Hortico will replace the ones that didn't break, but, again, that will have to be in the fall, when the weather cools off again. Plants are smaller than Palatine's bareroots, generally. And it's always pot luck with them. I ordered probably 31 roses that their website said would be available "November 14 2008") and asked for delivery in November 2008, of which they only came up with 16 that were actually in stock, and those were not sent until March 2009.

Ashdown -- just got one there this year -- they have moved their inventory to mostly OGR's which are not my taste. So, all I got from them this year was an Alfred Sisely that was backordered from years ago. At least they remembered to send it. Plant quality is fine, as usual.

Interstate -- nothing good to say about them. Sent dead plants that were packed in a plastic bag (no shipping box at all), and with nothing around the roots to keep them damp -- no sawdust, no paper, no nothing. Dry on arrival and unrevivable.

Wisconsin roses -- great roses. Maidens ordered this year all have at least two good canes enthusiastically growing already, and one is getting ready to bloom. That was fast. These maidens seemed to take off faster this year than any other year. Don't know why.

Nor'East -- great little plants, as always. Timely sent and beautiful.

Two Sisters -- they send the Whit Wells plants directly from his place in Tennessee (which is why there is a 3 plant minimum order of his roses) and their other plants from their own growing area in Oklahoma. So an order from them will arrive in 2 batches. So far, the Tennessee plants have arrived, but the Oklahoma source plants have not. But these were recent orders, so I'm not worried yet. Good quality plants, so far.

Rogue Valley Roses -- only got one plant from them this year and that was a replacement for a mismarked plant from last year. So far, so good. The climber "Royal Sunset" I ordered last year turned out to be a white tea, which I think is probably Rubens. They had to actually grow a new "Royal Sunset" to replace that one, but they did it and remembered to send it almost a year later. I'm pleased with their customer service.

Heirloom -- bought plants at their end of summer "free shipping" sale. All good plants, and because they were from "end of year" stock, all decent sized. Maybe that's something to remember for all of you you dislike the normal size of their plants.

Also got one plant each from Cool Roses and K & M Nursery on Fortuniana rootstock, ordered through a friend that was placing orders at the same time. Very pleased with the plant size and health. But you have to REALLY want one of their roses to fork over that kind of money for shipping. Big plants = high shipping costs.

Kathy

My 4 roses from Edmunds were fine. Looked good and are growing well. I was hesitating ordering from them given a few opinions at this site and at Garden Watchdog, but I had no problems what so ever with either the rose quality or the customer service.

Vintage - no problems and everything is doing well.

Roses Unlimited - ditto to everything said above!!!

Roses of Yesterday and Today - first time ordering from them. I initially ordered three Lavender Pinnochio (this one is really hard to find!!!!) and a Distant Drums. We had several conversations about when Lavender Pinnochio would come in and I was finally told that they would not be receiving it (must be one of those "hard to propogate" roses). I then added Baby Faurax to my order. I received the Baby Faurax and the Distant Drums and was very pleased. The plants were all very healthy (bareroot) and since being planted, have all been blooming (wow - Baby Faurax is SO cute and covered with the unusual purpley blooms! So far NO trace of BS either!) Customer service was good........

High Country Roses - first time ordering from them also. I ordered four OGR's for my "experiment" of seeing how they would do here. The plants came promptly and were very healthy.

Heirloom - ordered 10 plants and they were small but are also doing fine ALTHOUGH it is looking like the "Desiree", which is supposed to be pink may be mislabled because the buds are appearing yellow!

Lynn

I went and met with Burling from Burlington Rose Nursery this morning and toured her nursery in Visalia, CA. Very impressive what she's put together and her plans for the future. Very healthy looking roses in stock for purchase, some of all varieties, including rose trees, not just minis. I bought some roses though to ship to my DIL in WI, it's too hot right now for me to plant.

I really loved the look of the roses she's hybridizing and hope they work out through her testing and I'll be first in line to buy:)

You may email her at BurlingtonRoses@aol.com for a catalog and she has a list of roses on HMF she tries to keep up with.
Leslie

Here is a link that might be useful: Burlington Rose Nursery

I figured I would chime in as I am making some later purchases for anybody that may be interested for knowing that in the future.

High Country Roses- I ordered an Evelyn and Winchester Cathedral last week(2nd week of July). They ship with UPS 3 select and ship orders out on mondays from Utah. I received a single box with both bands inside packaged with newspaper around the base to retain moisture in the soil(still moist), and wrap the entire bands in a couple sheets of newspaper, then fill the remainder of the box with shredded paper. Customer service was top notch, although everything went smoothly and their customer service person, Rosemary was really nice. The bands were both about the same size, but quite large and budded up both. I would guess they are about 18". They were pale on the ends of the canes and there was some yellow leaves, but I picked them off and they did fine after putting them in 20" pots(which they are staying in permanently). Within 3 days, they are back to their normal green coloring after a bit of sun and are looking good.

Heirloom- I have a Sharifa Asma and Pretty Jessica band being shipped out today. I will report after I have them.

Roses Unlimited - first time ordering, very healthy plants and most were blooming.

ARE - always strong and healthy looking. they sent on the wrong date a month early which required a lot of lugging into the garage but would always order from them again.

Nor'East - very healthy nice looking plants.

David Austin - only one this year, healthy Wildeve.

Burling - had a rose named after my daughter (thank you, Jeri!!) and some other interesting varieties. Would order again and a pleasure to deal with!

Burling? Never heard of them. Fill me in please!

Got a bunch this year.

Nor'east - 3 different orders all in top shape and growing like crazy.

Almost Heaven - picked up 3 mini at our district meeting, roses are equal to Nor'east quality.

Rogue Valley - 2 very small bands but looking at them now you would not know it. (JJ is over 3ft tall).

Vintage - a good friend sent me one. It is a large 2nd yr HM rose that was still in a band pot....once potted into a bigger pot it took off, I just planted it in the ground.

Roses Unlimited - good healthy 1gal container rose. Now repotted in a 5gal container.

Ashdown Roses - got a bunch from them. All very healthy plants in band pots. I potted all into 1 gal pots to let them grow on. Last weekend the 2 HMs were planted in the ground and and the others are in 5gal pots and all have taken off growing and blooming like crazy.

Euro Desert Roses - 2 very healthy plants in bands. Bukavu is in the ground and Diablo is still in 5 gal container (for now).

I have been very please with everyone I ordered from. The majority of my roses that are in 5 gal pots are going to stay in containers and will graduate into bigger pots this fall.

I tried Pickering roses and High Country Roses for the first time this year. They both died (although most of it was probably my fault, being a newbie rose grower). One was a John Cabot bareroot, which I did soak for a couple of hours (probably not long enough) and planted. Well, he did absolutely nothing in the month and a half that he was in the ground. The one from HCR was Ramblin' Red who came out of the box looking sulky and limp, and never did recover no matter what I did.
I bought one Westerland at Heirloom and it is already growing well and only two weeks in the ground! Westerland already has several new shoots. The other one is William Baffin. He is from Ashdown and is kind of small, but still looks good. I planted him about a week ago so too soon to know, but so far so good.
If anything, I have learned a lot this year about what I can do to a rose, and what I can't! lol. That's how we learn I guess!
I also bought one Maria Stern from Dutch Gardens and she came with RMV! She is still doing ok, but I'm considering replacing her. I'll never shop there again though.

Westerland:
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William Baffin:
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I bought all my roses this year from Raft Island Roses in Gig Harbor Wa. They carry many roses from Palantine. Great folks. I just scored a great Gold Metal rose from them. It is huge

All 5 of our new roses from Heirloom are doing really good.

JIM

Mike, go on HMF and look for Burlington Rose Nursery. You will see the list of plants she sells. Maybe Jeri can chime in about her background, I'm not fully aware of it. But she was very nice to deal w/.

Thanks redsox. I got an email from Kathy giving me the lowdown. Very interesting indeed.

My Pretty Jessica and Sharifa Asma just came in from Heirloom today. They came in a long box with opened holes to allow air circulation and then were wrapped in regular paper. I pulled them out and they both looked healthy as can be. No buds or anything but plenty of fresh new growth coming out and green as can be. They were significantly smaller than my High Country bands. My High Country bands were monsters that were every bit of 16" tall with actually woody base canes. The Heirlooms are easily 1/3 the size(6-8") and come in a smaller band container. Roots were well defined and both roses were perfectly healthy though, so I'm quite pleased anyways.

RU outdid themselves this year! All the roses I received were just huge. The canes were actually bent (nothing broke when opened) because they were too large for the boxes. Just unbelievable roses.