I have way too many HOSTAS , plain green, variegated, and giant leaf in green.

I used to have The Alnwick Rose. I've attempted growing this rose twice and in conclusion, there are three things that I don't like about it: 1) Most of the time, the scent is not always present. A huge let down. 2) the flower form is small and the petals scatter quickly. 3) I don't like the colour - it fades quickly to a glistering white/ pale pink colour. The only good thing about this rose is that it repeats quite fast.

I haven't planted any bare root roses in a couple of decades now, but I have some that I planted bare root in the 1980s that are still alive and bloom every year. (I dug them up and moved them with us when we moved here in 1999 and they also survived that.) I plant bare root roses pretty much the way Hippie Homemaker described. I do want to add that if you have dense, slow-draining clay soil, you need to either mound up the soil and plant the roses on the mound or berm or build raised beds with stone or wooden edgings to hold the growing medium in place and plant in those raised beds. Roses do not live long when grown at grade level in dense, heavily, highly compacted clay soils that are so common here in OK. They do great in raised beds or berms made by enriching the clay by adding lots of organic matter to improve drainage. The most common mistake with bare root roses is that either the stores or the purchasers let them get too cold or too dry while the plants still are in the packaging and I think that is one of the most common reasons that bare root roses fail to sprout, leaf out and grow after being transplanted into the ground. Good luck, Dawn

I actually prefer growing them in containers. When I first started growing roses, I lived in an apartment and didn't want to plant them in the ground, seeing as how I only rented the place and didn't want to leave them if I ever moved. Later on, I did decide to try planting some in the ground, and only one survived. It does seem better to start them off in their own pots first, letting them become somewhat established with more of a root structure. It would give them a much better start at growing bigger and stronger, better able to handle being planted in the ground later on, should you decide to do so. My neighbor loved my roses and he would always come by and buy some from me for his wife. There is one drawback to growing them in containers. Theft. I had this absolutely gorgeous rose called "Royal William." It had deep red, fragrant roses, that was my favorite. I came home one day and someone had come by and stole the plant right off of my porch. I've been wanting another one of that variety ever since. But where I live now is a much better and more secluded neighborhood. I joke around with my friends about how I could leave all my doors wide open and leave for the day, and no one would bother my stuff, lol. I love my neighbors, and they all love my garden.