I'm counting on unusual weather to help my late bare-root plantings....... I really have no way of knowing, but here's my story: I received a Redhaven from Stark Bro's on 5/16/14, it had some HUGE roots, but virtually no little "feeder" roots. It had a tiny green dot at about 2" above the graft. Now (25 days later) that little dot is a couple leafs about 1 1/2" long. But nothing going on anywhere else on the tree - nowhere! If it doesn't get better in awhile I'll get it replaced. Stark has a good policy that way. After that I got 2 more peach trees and a cherry tree on 5/24/14 from Stark Bro's. They were just starting to show some real tiny green leaf in several places upon arrival. All three of these are looking PERFECT 17 days after planting. Lots of growth and all that. So, given that I went on ahead and ordered two more apple trees that will ship from them on 6/13/14. I don't know if they'll work out, I'm just going by the fact that a big place like Stark is still shipping so I figure they must think they'll survive. BUT.., if they don't - they'll replace them. So for me, at the bargain basement sale price that some of these trees are coming in at, I'm taking the gamble. I may be missing something (like stress on the tree and future impact of that, etc) but if I'm not, I figure all I'm out is the time and effort to plant them. If it doesn't pan out, I get to do it all over again. It's no big deal. But sometimes I just can't pass on a bargain.....

Clip the leaves down to fans abt 6" high. You can plant now in well drained soil, making sure the rhizome is sort of setting with its top surface just peeking out of the soil, and its roots buried in the soil. Water well every few days for about 2 weeks, and they should be fine. I don't know if there is any advantage to clipping roots. The old roots keep the rhizome anchored until it settles in, but I think the rhizome grows new ones. Good luck, Laetitia

Quick answer, buy where you get value for your money. Know what value looks like. IF you decide to buy bare roots, there are three things I think you should look for. 1) are the canes green? It they are black or brown or green with black/brown splotches, KNOW that those canes are dead already and imagine the bush without them. If the canes are coated with a greenish wax, use your fingernail to flake off a bit of the wax and check the color of the canes. Greenish wax makes a lot of canes look ok. 2) have the canes already broken dormancy? Are there leaves at leaf nodes, even if they are dead? Can you see where the dead leaves from earlier this year are fingerpruned off? Are the canes starting to get wrinkled from lack of moisture IN the plant (that was lost when the earlier leaf break happened?) Each leaf axil on a healthy rose cane has three buds. Two are backups. But does the cane look as if either of the two backups will make it? 3) does the bagged up root mass that you can't see have enough roots to support the canes you can see? Two stories. I had Don Juans growing on my porch in Algiers Point, and I wanted to add a fourth one. I found one bagged with really good canes, and I got it home and found that there was a huge bright scar where half the roots had been pulled off in processing. I should have returned it. I didn't. With the same care that had supported the other three, #4 died. I remember that mistake. And how I confused densely packed sawdust for good roots. That lead to my not making a mistake several years later when I saw (insert music) from across a crowded room/nursery a mass of seven of the best looking canes I had ever seen on a body bag rose. Perfection. It was Purple something and it was a climber. And I grabbed the base of the bag, and there was close to nothing there. Not even much sawdust. Maybe one woody root. I knew that that root hadn't supported seven one inch canes in the growing fields. I put it back. And remember it to this day. Ann, putting off going out weeding.

Thanks, Patty, you said it even better than I did! Lily, If you have ever ordered from DA you will know why they charge so much. The canes and roots are long and huge. See my hole that I dug for 2 Evelyns. 22 x 36 and 22 inches deep to bury the graft. In my opinion and experience, they are amazing. I also order from other companies like Northland Rosarium and Roses Unlimited, but I order from DA when I need DA roses that are current stock (ones that aren't discontinued). They come with great canes, great roots and jump up and grow big right out of the shoot. They don't know the meaning of 1st year sleep. Here's my comparison, taking into account the growth rate of each rose is different. Below are 2 DAR A Shropshire Lad... planted last spring from own root gallon pots from Heirloom Roses. Below is DAR Crown Princess Margareta 2 own root from DAR. They had total cane survival after being under a 4 foot snow bank all winter. The snow came in a huge storm that arrived before we had a hard freeze. The leaves were still green when the snow thawed this spring. I included the chair in the photo so you can see size comparison. AMAZING growth for 1st year and FABULOUS blooms. I already pruned it and removed all the leaves so it could start over. Bottom line for me is... If I want David Austin Roses and the ones I want are available at David Austin Roses, I buy from David Austin Roses to get the most for my money. Rebecca