yes I have read that they often send the wrong rose. I have not had that problem but Ihave read it on here.

That is not memorial day. MD is a soft pink and has a strong scent.

Sorry,

Sunni

Once in a while they send out a mislabeled rose. I have gotten a few. I have another one now. It is supposed to be the yellow HT Luminosity, but what I have is a yellow miniature.

As to your situation with Memorial Day, the rose you have in your picture is not Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a soft pink with a lavender cast to it, has a good smell, and has somewhat scallopped petal edges. The flowers usually run on the larger than average size.

That's like asking "is water wet"?

Two out of the five I got this year are mis-marked, and I'm to the point between that and their practice of offering roses they do not even have, that I do not think I'll be ordering from them any longer.

What a shame! THIS is Memorial Day. Jeff

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Its one of the things they are best known for!!!

on some roses the maiden blooms look to be something totally different. I had a couple of sunshine polyanthas that were like that. I got them from sequoia, and sunshine is suppose to be more of a yellow, and the blooms were a coral pink. I called them and they assured me they were correct, and they were right, the blooms ever since have been the yellow. but that doesn't seem to be the norm.
But i have to say that personally i really love that color of bloom you have. very nice rose.

len - It should not be a maiden bloom anyway since it is grafted, and at least 2 years old. There is nothing more aggravating to me than;

1. Ordering a rose in September for delivery in April only to find out a week before delivery that they do not have this rose, and never did.

2. Ordering, paying and then caring for a rose you could only find via Hortico only to learn upon bloom that it is something completely different.

So why does everyone keep buying enough to keep this repeat offender in business? It boggles my mind.

It is as Mike says.

Also -- the vaunted business of budding onto seedling Multiflora -- well . . .
A friend received a rose which, upon the rapid death of the scion, turned out to be an
Austin rose which had been used as rootstock.
Add to all that, receiving dead or damaged roses, with no recourse.
That's why we quit ordering from them long, long ago.

well the picture isn't mine either, which is why I only posted the link to it and not the picture. I googled "memorial day" and "images" and looked for the one that was like mine, a sad sad thing. Perhaps she got the wrong rose too? I am not fond of the color because I bought Memorial Day not only for the color and fragrance, but also for the name as it was for my baby girl. (y'all know that sad story).
Pickering gets my order next spring.

In the words of good ole Captain Jack,

I feel sullied and unusual.

Jeri - You have an email...

Amanda - That is an excellent question! Let me explain. There are quite a few roses that are only available in all of North America at Hortico. For example, there is a rose called Paul Gaugin that I've ordered three years in a row now. Every year I get a call just before shipping saying they do not have this, yet it will say it is available on their website. Right this very instant, they (Hortico) state this will be available 11/15/2008. I will order again, but most likely this will never come to me as I don't think they even have budwood for it.

So back to your question. Why? Stupidity on my part I guess, but there are certain roses I really want and my only hope is Hortico.

Well, I must say, I have to eat my words. I never used to get (hardly any) mislabeled roses from Hortico. I've been ordering from them for over 15yrs off and on... mostly on. I used to get more frustrated with them not having the roses they say they have, than with getting mismarked ones. But this year I'm really upset with them. I placed proabably 5-6 orders from October to March. Half the time they had the roses, and half the time they didn't. That aside, I got many of the roses I did want. However, now that they are starting to bloom, I'm finding that many of them are not what they are supposed to be. The earlier batches are much more accurate. But the last batch I received in like April or May, many were mismarked.

I just this weekend wrote a letter to Amanda letting her know how disappointed I am. Hopefully she will replace the mismarked ones. But most likely they won't even be available in the coming season. The odd thing about a couple of my mislabeled roses is, they are obviously labeled with the correct name, but are roses of a different blooming class. I ordered the yellow-blend Kordes florist HT called ALOHA, and I believe the pink rose that I got instead is the climber ALOHA. I ordered a coral-pink HT from Kordes called FORTUNA, and planted it in the coral/orange/red/white bed I recently designed. It just bloomed a short little single-petaled light pink bloomer, that looks exactly like the Kordes floribunda FORTUNA VIGOROSA. I also got a rose called MARIA THERESA which also goes by the name CORAL FIESTA. It's a coral HT from Pedro Dot. The bloom that I just saw on this plant (which I also put in that same bed as FORTUNA) is a light pink cabbagey-looking thing. In just looking at HMF, it appears that I may have instead received Lens' 1984 pink floribunda called MARIA TERESA.

So, it appears that even tho most of my mismarked roses are in fact just the wrong rose with the same name... still, they are not what I ordered. Another mismarked one intrigues me tho. It's supposed to be a yellow w/red edged floribunda called VARIETY CLUB from McGredy, however it's this extremely vivid screaming deep red-orange somewhat ruffly thing that's really quite lovely. I have no idea what it could be tho.

Anyway, many of my newest Hortico roses still have not bloomed yet, so there could be more mismarked ones. I do know that I have enjoyed most of the roses I've gotten from them over the yrs, and would still continue to order from them... except that I truly have pretty much run out of room, so I doubt if I will order more in the future. They really are the only source for many roses here on our continent. But their reputation is not getting any better, and that's a shame.

So, Tripleb. do you have a picture of YOUR so-called MEMORIAL DAY? I'd like to see what yours looks like.

well the two that i DID get that opened (lost the first to thrips grrrr) were still thripy. They were the exact color of the one in the link. I have not been able to get a decent bloom for a decent picture. Now the one bud that is working on opening doesn't look too hot either. It looks rather dried and like someone laid a hot poker to one side of it. I don't think it will be much help.
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Well Beth -- you finally inspired me to quit the lurking and actually open a Gardenweb account -- which I had to do to respond to your message above.

It's really funny that you should mention today that Hortico sends roses with the right name, that are nevertheless NOT what you thought you bought from them. Just this morning I discovered that one of mine from this year's Hortico shipment -- that is just blooming for the first time now -- is the rose named TEXAS, but it is not the Texas that they advertised on their site (the Kordes Hybrid Tea). Rather, it is the mini that is widely available in the U.S. that is also named Texas. So now, instead of having the rose I wanted (and I wanted it to be able to pair them up for big/little class in shows -- both the yellow roses named Texas), all I have is two Texas minis.

I'm pissed. But I'll probably keep ordering from them just the same. We go through this every year, and the funny thing is . . . when that addiction/obsession bug bites -- gotta get me one of those "FILL IN THE BLANK" roses -- the only place you'll find it is dear ol' Hortico.

Kathy

I noticed on HMF that there are two memorial day roses. The other is just listed as "Miscellaneous old garden rose, pink." Beyond that I could find no other information. Perhaps I will try the antique rose forum and see if anyone knows anything about it.

Tripleb, I'll be anxious to see an open bloom on your "MD" rose. It would be interesting if it is indeed the older MEMORIAL DAY. At least we can say that Hortico isn't sending the totally wrong rose all the time!! It's just a matter of getting their pickers to grab the CORRECT rose of a particlular name.

Hey Kathy! Welcome to Garden Web. TEXAS huh? I didn't even know they offered the HT one. Figures...

Well, on a lighter note... here's a picture of one of their CORRECT picks. Been wanting this one for awhile. It's looking lovely and smells delish!!!

BLUE PARFUM
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Beth --

I don't think it's totally the pickers, either. For mine, there is only one "Texas" rose in their catalog at all, and it's the rare one they don't really sell. You order a rose you believe to be rare, and instead get an entirely common rose of the same name. Someone apparently screwed up when they were writing the catalog (or doing the ordering from their supplier).

For yours, there are several Alohas, and both Fortunas, but there is only one Maria Theresa that Hortico sells, so I think they probably described the wrong one in their catalog for that one also.

On Variety Club, have you looked at the Harkness version of that name on HMF. That may be what you have?

Yeah, I guess you're right Kathy. They don't necessarily list the rose they sent, but the ones they list they don't actually have! Somebody needs to go help them with their inventory. I don't understand why they can't get things right. It's been going on for many yrs like this. But it's the risk you take when you try to get something no one else has!!

As for my VARIETY CLUB.... no it's not even close to the Harkness one either. Here's a pic:
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First of all, HI KATH! Nice to see you out here finally.

Second of all, I think I got the 1965 version of Cherry Brandy! I've been ready to ring some necks over this. Mine looks just like the pictures on HMFR. I'll have to send a picture to Hortico, along with a pic of Expression, which is also mis-labeled (I believe).

Beth,
At one time, Hortico offered a lot of Ben WIlliam's hybrids. If your orange rose grows up to bloom like a floribunda, it might be his Orange Flame.

More like are they ever known to have sent the right rose within a reasonable period of time ... occasionally and sometimes.

Oh bummer Mike! I love CHERRY BRANDY. But, I got mine from Carltons before they went out of business. I almost ordered EXPRESSIONS. What does yours look like?

Mike and Beth -- the one thing you probably both can be happy about is that you never got the "Hello Dolly" rose they were touting. That was a disappointment waiting to happen. I would bet you money that if you had gotten it from them, it would have turned out to be the ugly solid pink version misnamed "Hello Dolly" that Home Depot had early in the year, and not the Christensen model. I have one of the ugly pink ones that I got at HD this year that I'll take a picture of for HMF and then donate as a "name unknown" variety at the next rose meeting.

Beth -- that "Variety Club" sure looks like Gingersnap from here. Mine also gets those vein lines in the darker color when newly opened and in the shade of the rest of the bush. And nothing else that bright would have escaped my notice. Is the flower the same size as Gingersnap? Whatever it is, I think it's gorgeous -- keep it. I've been wanting an unvirused Gingersnap for some time now -- the ones available in these parts are generally RMV-infected and have no vigor. Maybe you unwittingly found a good source?

Beth - I have a Cherry Brandy from Carlton's, one on its ownroot, but wanted to try one on multiflora. I think my Expressions had really light almost champagne colored blooms, but it has only bloomed once and I need to take a pic top make sure.

Kathy - I remember your disappointment with Hello Dolly.

Nah Kathy, it's not GINGERSNAP. I have it, and this rose is like waaaay more fluorescent solid red-orange. GINGERSNAP is more pure orange. Whatever it is, it's very pretty. The blooms are about 3-3½". It hasn't done a repeat yet. I'm anxious to see how the next one does.

Mike, maybe your EXPRESSIONS will bloom truer next time. But... maybe not. Let us know!

Knock on wood, but I always had good luck with Hortico. Order from them every year for the last 10 years. I order OGRs or species from them, I don't order HTs or floribundas or any other modern varieties. Could it be a reason, but i never got a mislabled rose from them?
Olga

Not only are they known to send mislabelled roses, often times they will send roses not ordered by you while ignoring your order completely. Trying to get an adjustment from them over the phone is just as frustrating. I have found the best way to get along with Hortico is not not order from them in the first place. If you want to deal with a great Canadian company selling the same roses as Hortico, but without the hassle, try Pickering.

I order from pretty much every vendor out there, every spring, Hortico among them. They have only sent the wrong rose once, several years ago. They sent Belle Amour instead of Celeste (my namesake rose) and DH had ordered 5 of them for me as a gift. Now I have 5 Belle Amour's and only one Celeste...(not including myself...lol). But Pickering has also sent me the wrong rose....as have several other vendors. The Paul Ricault I ordered 3 years ago from Pickering turned out to be Gros Choux de Hollande so I wrote them a long letter w/ photos of it and they sent me another Paul Ricault the next spring. Turns out this one was ALSO Gros Choux de Hollande so I still don't have Paul. Mistakes happen, and I have quite a few roses that I didn't expect and even the most respected vendors have sent a wrong rose upon occasion. Nonetheless,
I still take a chance and order from these same vendors every spring because I just can't stop collecting roses....
and here in zone 4 you can't find the roses I covet in any
garden center locally. And sometimes the "mistake" roses turn out to be a delightful surprise. The roses I ordered this year from Hortico came right on time and are all blooming profusely....and are exactly who I ordered, so no complaints this year.

Celeste

Here is Memorial Day starting to open. I had to hold it to take the picture as it was breezy out. The color doesn't pale upon opening either. And no sign of the lavender? lilac? undertones it is supposed to have. No scent worth mentioning.
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