Hi, Barb. This thread's unfortunately from 4 years back - sorry! (Often wander into old threads myself, mistaking them for current ones.) Sale this year was from June 6-14. New website for Roses Unlimited is https://rosesunlimitedsc.com/ Phone 864-682-7673 from 9-3 EST - Email rosesunlmt@aol.com Closed Monday & Tuesday this week for the 4th of July holiday, but back on Wednesday. The good news is that they are still shipping on July 10. May be their last shipping date until the weather cools down sometime in September. Use the "Browse" tab at the top right of their homepage for their categories & collections. "About" tab gives info on shipping rates. This year's sale thread - http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4679378/rose-unlimited-having-sale?n=28 Gail's thread with photos of her roses -http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4701838/i-picked-up-my-roses-unlimited-sale-roses-yesterday?n=5 They grow a wide selection of roses very well & are held in high regard by many on this forum, including me. Always a treat to get roses you want on sale, but their regular prices are good, too. My order this year was split 50/50 between regular prices & sales. All arrived in great condition & are putting out new growth. Many budding up or blooming already. Sue

Vaporvac: I bought Shocking Blue, Zeph. Drouhin, Savannah, and Orchid Romance. Really kick myself for NOT getting those huge bags of MG-garden-soil for roses sold for $4 each at Walmart early spring. Walmart is sold out, same with HomeDepot, and Lowe's selling it for $9 per bag !! My roses which were grown in MG-moisture-control potting soil had wimpy roots and didn't survive my winter, but my roses which were grown in heavy & wet soil like MG-Garden-soil for roses developed THICK & SOLID roots that survive winter and flower lots. It's even wetter than my clay !! For the record: every own-root (be it tiny band-size) or gallon-size which I planted right smack into my dense & alkaline clay survive many winters, but the ones which I babied in pots (with potting soil) grew wimpy roots that didn't survive zone 5a winter, no matter how I did it: be it putting potting soil into the ground, or grow in pots 1st, then transfer to the ground (my alkaline clay) later. MG-garden-soil for roses (pink-bag with pic. of roses) was on sale at Walmart for $4 per huge bag. That soil is AWESOME in moisture-retention. I had 3 bags opened in hot sun over 90 F: Hyponex potting soil, Scott's premium bagged soil, and MG-garden-soil-for roses. Hyponex dried up into hard-granules, Scott's-top-soil dried up to hard-black-pellets, but MG-soil-for roses STAYED WET AND FLUFFY. I moved W.S. 2000 (own-root) right before winter, and planted that in a bag of MG-garden-soil for roses (only $4), plus mixed In gypsum. W.S. 2000 was the 1st rose to bloom (despite being moved), and having 20+ buds right now as own-root. Own-roots have short roots, so they can't reach down below for minerals, best use a HIGH-MINERALS & HIGH-NUTRIENTS soil like MG-garden-soil-for roses, which has black-peat (de-composed humus), plus peatmoss & pH-balanced to neutral with lime. Fluffy potting soil like MG-moisture control can't enable solid roots for winter-survival, like heavy clay or heavy soil like MG-garden-soil for roses. For newly bought own-roots I have to use a HUGE amount of soluble-fertilizer NPK 20-20-20 weekly to get blooms. Potting soil has zero-nutrients peatmoss, plus a few chemical granular-fertilizer. Too much hassle to fertilize frequently so I would rather use a rich & fertile soil like MG-garden-soil for roses, which is dense & heavy & black peat mixed with peatmoss, rather than fluffy-peat-moss-potting soil which produced wimpy alfalfa-sprout roots and thin canes. I have never seen any black soil which retain moisture as long as MG-garden-soil for roses, see below pic. In contrast, there's the lousy rating for MG-garden soil with mostly wood-chips. Below soil has perfect rating everywhere: Walmart-site, and 33 perfect reviews at HomeDepot site:

I had to restrain myself. I just thought about the fifteen roses sitting in water that I have to pot up to go with the other 14 I got from Breck's, plus the other 25 that have been in pots since 2009! I was tempted, but I forgot my check book and only have the cash for the ones I had ordered! Actually had to get it from my DH! Good thing he was with me.

To echo Jeri's comments, I don't think Sophie's Perpetual is a good fit for zone 6-ish. I put a free one from the Rogue Valley mystery roses into my virtual zone 6 pocket in my yard, and it sort of limped by after a very mild winter last year and totally disappeared this year. I think it's marginally hardy in zone 6, and better in zone 7.If it's in a container, you lose a virtual zone of winter protection and so you'd be a virtual zone 5 in a pot and not a good fit for Sophie's Perpetual. Pink Pet is the only China-type rose that survives well for me, but it's more of a Polyantha than a China in effect and it doesn't climb or get much beyond 3-4' for me. If you're looking for something from the RU sale that would climb well in zone 5, Awakening is rock solid hardy and has lovely pink flowers. It blooms just fine in part shade, and the only concern might be that it gets too big for even a half whiskey barrel. Mine was pretty thorny too. Among hybrid musks, only Lavender Lassie would be reasonably hardy in zone 5 and it would be a good fit for part shade. the mini climber Jeanne LaJoie survives fine in a typical zone 5 winter and is a much better fit for a pot. I think she'd do OK in part sun, though any rose blooms less in part sun. Antique 89 and Harlekin are both nicely hardy but they do die to the ground in my zone 5 and they only bloom sporadically in the year for me. Mine aren't particularly happy in part sun. Viking Queen survives fine in zone 5 but seems to die to the ground each year so you wouldn't necessarily get a ton of bloom. Veilchenblau would be an absolute trooper and climb or bush out huge in no time, and it's in dry shade under my oak tree. It's a once bloomer but gorgeous lush blooms for several weeks once established - here's mine in more or less full bloom with an admiring bunny that my daughter pointed out: Purple Splash and Stormy Weather both seem to survive OK in zone 5 and regrow from the ground reasonably well, so they'd be worth a try if you want the purple striped climbers. I haven't overwintered Quicksilver yet but the odds are good that it will be a good one for winter survival, being a Kordes. Paulspride is the only other rose listed as a climber on the RU sale that survives the winters well for me. Ghislaine Feligonde comes back reasonably well but it has tiny while flat blooms that aren't the attractive shapes others have, and I'm wondering if mine is the correct ID. Among the Austins, most of them are hardy but the ones that tend to be climbers on the RU sale list are the ones that survive the least for me - I can't keep Golden Celebration overwintered, nor Strawberry Hill or James Galway. Lady of Shalott is rock solid hardy as is Scepter'd Isle, Carding Mill and Heritage, but they get at most 5-6' tall by the end of spring since Austins rarely have surviving cane for me. Crown Princess Margareta is a climber and hardy, but I never get blooms from mine without surviving cane and it never has any. Rebecca in zone 5 has tons though and lovely blooms from hers. For other OGRs, Baronne Prevost and Mme. Isaac Periere are both fully hardy here, though BP would be better for a pot. She does Ok in part sun for me but would bloom more in sun. MIP prefers sun and doesn't bloom on new wood for me, so I don't get much bloom most years. Among shrubs, Alchymist is very hardy but a once bloomer. Autumn Sunset would survive fine in a pot and climbs well, but blooms very little in part shade for me. Belinda's Dream would survive fine and seems OK but not happy in part sun. Dames des Chenonceau is totally hardy and in my top 20-30 of roses I grow, and can be spectacular in part sun. As you move into part shade though, I'm not sure how well she'd do. Morden Sunrise is totally hardy and would be very pretty in this context, and White Meidiland would be a low-growing spreader in white and also very hardy. Among the RU sale roses, those are the ones I'd recommend for what you're asking. I'm all in favor of taking advantage of the RU sale!! Cynthia