Why not to order Compassion and climbing Fairy on-line? They are available from multiple sources.
Olga

'To everything there is a season.'

Rose ordering is a winter activity. That's when the planning occurs, and the orders are placed with mail order nurseries. Rose planting occurs late winter, for bareroots, and spring for potted roses. Summer is for growing the plants, autumn for preparing for winter, and then the planning starts again. Doing things out of order is going to be hard. In just about anything, doing things out of order is hard. That's why it's considered to be out of order.

Roses aren't something you buy locally. It just doesn't work that way. So you have to allow time for the rest of the process.

We buy roses locally.

Knowing something about depression myself, I can understand your frustration. It takes a lot out of you just to get a project going and then when things go wrong, not just once but several times, it drains your energy and will to go ahead. I've found the best thing for me is to find two or three good on-line nurseries which ship within a week to ten days and provide excellent service and to supplement this with trips to local nurseries in the early spring when their stock is ready and see what they have available.

Don't let this discourage you. Once you get involved in the process you'll derive lots of satisfaction from what you've done and how you've been able to change your home environment for the better.

Warm regards,

Ingrid

Ashdown Roses carries "Lady Carolina" which is an alternate name for Climbing "The Fairy," and they also carry "Compassion." They have a website where you could order online.

I'm sorry things are not going as you hoped -- I hate getting mislabeled roses and having to try to figure out what they are.

Maybe it will all turn out better than expected in the end. Best of luck!

You are lucky, Dave. If I had to buy roses locally, I would have to limit myself to HTs, Fls, Austins and Knock Outs.
No gorgeous ramblers, no oriental yellows or spinosissimas, no my favorite gallicas and Albas, no bourbons or beautiful Teas.
Olga

janegael, I'm so sorry things aren't going well.

One more thing you might consider when it comes to landscaping, most of us had to take several years to work out all the landscaping details. In fact, years later, some of us are still modifying that design and selecting new plants. It is usually an on-going process, in other words. Perhaps you tried to take on too big a task all at once, and that is part of the reason it is becoming so frustrating. Why don't you pick one or two spots for now that you want to work on right now, and then spend the winter checking out online rose nurseries and working out more of the landscape specifics. That way you may find that things so much more smoothly next spring when you get ready for the new planting season.

Just a thought.

Good luck, however you decide to do it.

Kate

I order many of my roses from the on-line vendors. However I always try to find them from my local nursery first before resorting to the internet. The nursery here--Moffett Nursery--has a very knowledgeable rosarian Charlie Anctil who is a world of help and knows his roses. He puts out a list each fall of roses he can order from various suppliers like Weeks, Star, J&P, Pickering, and hopefully starting next year from Palatine Roses in Canada. He pots up what he doesn't sell bareroot and sells them that way for the rest of the growing season. He takes very good care of them and you can find good healthy roses at the nursery most all of the time and at a reasonable price. If Charlie doesn't have a rose I need/want, then I resort to the on-line vendors. Wisconsin Roses, Hortico, J&P, and Pickering, and now especially Palatine Roses are usually where I get most of my bareroots from. I have had good to excellent results from them all, even Hortico. They have roses that cannot be found any other place in Canada or the USA. You just have to hope they are in stock and they don't stick on the dreaded BackOrder list. You can be on their BO list for 2 and sometimes 3 years trying to get some hard to find roses.
John
John

janegael, I agree with everyone and I especially resonate with dublinbay Kate.

This is a process, not a race. We get there slowly. Actually, we don't get there are all, we all are tweaking and tuning our gardens every year. Sometimes you find the rose you want right away and it is great. Sometimes you never find it. Sometimes you find it, get it and it doesn't work out. So, you move on to anther rose that does work out, even better than you thought. I don't even talk about how many roses I have tried and lost. I wanted to grow every purple/lavender rose on the planet (I don't like red roses). Most of the ones that I have tried, and there have been many, have moved on to the compost heap. No problem, I have found a world of other, pretty, fascinating, blooms that make me very happy. And there will be more to come.

It is OK to order online or by phone. There is a whole world of vendors out there. While it is great if we can keep the local vendors viable (especially if you have treasures like John has nearby), our friendly rose vendors could always use our help. We lose so many of them every year.

Step back. Exhale. You will find the plants that you want (and there are more out there that will be great for you), they are out there.

Don't try to get it perfect in the first try. In my front garden, the first year I never found the plant I wanted to base the whole rest of the garden around. I found it the second year, but it didn't do much. This year it's huge and looks like it will be great. So it might look a little odd (at least to you) to leave a spot open that might be a focal point, but it will eventually work out. Or you can substitute something for a year, and move it later. I'm always moving plants around when they get to be larger or shorter or floppier than expected.

Just today in my new cutting garden I discovered two of the roses had been planted in the wrong spot. This left a gap - luckily I had ordered an extra rose so the gap won't last long. And I'm not sure anyone other than me would notice that the rose at the top of the garden is out of its row. Actually, it probably looks better that way since the disorder makes it seem a like a fuller garden. (That's what I'm telling myself anyway, I hate to try moving it right after it is planted.)

So try to stay positive, look for an excuse to visit a new nursery that you haven't been to yet, and maybe even pick out a new plant that you've never heard of and have no idea where you'll put it. That always helps me :)

I agree. We are lucky :) Part of the fun is looking for the roses we want. Imagine our delight finding Brigadoon and Secret at the same time after looking for both for 5 years. The same thing nappened in 2000. Deb had been looking for Helmut Schmidt for 5+ years. I had been looking for Elmhurst for almost as long. Found both at a local nursery on our first visit that spring. Some of our best roses are ones that were mislabeled. We just nickname the ones we can't i.d. and enjoy them. I reckon Deb and I have different expectations than most do.

Jane, I deal with depression also. Last year held some horrible things in my personal life. This spring my garden has been very healing, with the beauty taking away some sadness. It did not happen overnight. I buy all of my roses from out of state vendors. Like Olga, if I bought locally it would be HT's and nothing else. I have two unknowns this year and one that I couldn't possibly have ordered. Luckily they're both beautiful. My garden is a work in process as we all say. I understand about your frustration. If you stick with it there will come a time when you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Carla

I am also unable to buy roses locally. I wish I could. But every potted rose I have bought at a local nursery has been far less vigorous than any of of my mail-order roses. The variety is very limited here locally. Mislabeling is also an issue.

I've had very good experiences ordering from both Vintage and Roses Unlimited. Roses Unlimited has roses that are ready to put in the ground when you receive them. Vintage sells bands, but they grow quickly once potted up for a bit. I can usually plant them within 2 or 3 months after potting them up. (However, things grow fast in our climate).

It's nice to obtain things locally if possible, but when that isn't an option, mail order works well IF you order from a great place. I understand your frustration. I don't have a tolerance for poor service either.

Go ahead with your garden plans, leaving the spot open for what you really want in there. If you have to wait for the roses you want, perhaps there is a short lived perennial you can plant there in the meantime to fill the space.

Sandy

Thanks for the replies and the hugs. Unlike most of you, my backyard is pretty much a desert. The previous owners were elderly, did nothing and allowed their kids to take down a big tree and poison the ground to get rid of the stump. I have very very little grass and mostly dirt that is very dusty. What I look out on is very ugly and bare.

Until my husband became too ill, we rescued abused dogs. They pretty much trashed whatever I planted. So I decided on roses and put these only along the fence. My New Dawn turned out to be root stock, my Golden Showers isn't doing much showering and the dogs pretty much trashed my clematis last year playing tag and knocking over the fence around them. The clematis are coming back slowly, we dug up the "New Dawn" and did replace it with some lovely climbers I bought on line this year. Unfortunately, like all bare root they are twigs that will take time to grow and bloom.

I really wanted...no make that...needed something pretty in my yard. That's why the local ordering so I could have a few plants in bloom. I did get 2 Veteran's Honor and a Pope John to go up by the house. The order they haven't called me back about is a Compassion, which I was hoping to have bloom a bit for me. I don't have a lot of places I can put roses, so I have to be choosy what I put in. I wish I could do like some of you and order a bunch at a time.

I ordered several clematis on line and bought some at Lowe's but they won't be ready until next year. It's not that I don't know that it takes time. It's just that what I needed to have here for my soul is proving incredibly hard to get. I probably will never be able to afford to actually landscape but I did so want some color and some roses to look out at when life is gray.

I'm only way down to Wal-Mart to get a trellis to plant some morning glories up on my deck. I guess its just for me that roses are very special, not just a hobby, but a need, so I guess that makes it worse when things go wrong.

I was having a bad day yesterday. Depression is like that, but you do what you can to make the next day better. I have my dogs -- all 10 of them -- and what flowers I've been able to find and you lovely folks to keep teaching me new things.

I hope you all have a marvelous Sunday!

Peace,
Jane and the Hole in the Wall Gang

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Rescue Dogs

I'm so sorry you are facing such frustrations. I agree with others about limiting your goals this spring/summer. Roses Unlimited carries both Compassion and Climbing Fairy own root. The plants will be healthy and ready to plant. Chamblee's carries Climbing Fairy. I would try Roses Unlimited first since they have both listed on their website. Roses Unlimted doesn't accept credit cards so you email them with your request. Pat Henry will respond immediately, then you send a check. The plants are well packed and some are already in bloom. This will surely lift your spirits!

I loved your website. I have a dog from a local Kansas City rescue organization. My little girl was rescued from a filthy puppy mill and was a "breeder". I love her dearly.

Right now I'm facing some challenges in my life. It is taking it's toll. I seek solace in my garden. I hope you can get the roses you want and will find happiness in them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Compassion and Climbing Fairy

Jane, I know what you are feeling in needing something pretty to look at NOW. I think you can still do that, but don't take on too much at once because in reality, it is physically impossible to do so.

I have been doing some major stuff in my yard, and thought I would be finished by now (before it got unbearably hot out). Well, it's unbearably hot out, so I need to just get into the ground what will not survive otherwise (many pots of ground cover), and pot up the rest of the roses in moisture control potting soil and pace myself. Until I made this decision to back off a little, I was one depressed crabby woman. I hate working in 90 degree and plus weather.

Take the section you feel needs the most color immediately, and focus on that. Call Roses Unlimited, and let them know what you have in mind. They are wonderful and will not rush you on the phone. Stephany has patiently helped me with many a decision, as has both Pat and Bill.

Believe it or not, just doing things in baby steps is enough to lift the spirits and spark enthusiasm. Starting a rose garden helped me more than words can describe, with getting through my dad's death and some very difficult teenage years with a couple of my children. It is amazing what a couple of plants can do for the soul.

Take Care, and God Bless. Things will get better. By the way, it is wonderful that you used to work with rescue animals. You made some lives much better for doing so. (I have helped some with rescue kitties).

Sandy

Jane, I've looked at every picture on your site of rescued dogs and can't tell you how I admire you and your husband for everything you've done for these animals. It takes very special people to make the sacrifices and do the hard work that such a venture entails. You both have all my respect. Your dogs are very, very lucky.

Ingrid