When I get bands from Heirloom or Vintage I always pot them up first. I don't like putting something that small in the ground. A one gallon pot is fine, potting soil and no fertilizer. Then when it adapts to the environment outside (the bands are kept in a greenhouse at the nursery) and puts on some size, I plant them. Usually in the spring. They will bloom in the pot and I let them.

Other people plant theirs in the ground, and topsoil should be fine. I'd wait on the manure however. If you do plant them in the ground put something around them to protect them. Even the ones that I keep in pot for a year are so small they can be stepped on or destroyed by a wayward hose. I still have one of those little wire fence around roses I planted two years ago.

Lily, if you are planting small band plants, I would suggest that you snap off any and all buds before they develop. (In OUR experience, Heirloom band plants are among the smallest around.)

Preventing them from blooming will encourage the little things to grow both roots and topgrowth, rather than putting their energy into blooms.

I know, I know, that's hard to do.
I compromise. I let one bud develop and open, so that I can be sure that it is at least the right color. This has the added side-benefit of telling me whether what I have is likely to be what I ordered.

Blooms on very immature plants are rarely typical in either form or petallage -- but if you ordered a blush rose, and the first bud opens up screaming meemie orange, you can be pretty sure there's an error.
:-)

Jeri

Since they shouldn't be coming until next spring, you have plenty of time to figure these things out.

thanks for the advice to fence them and disbud them, i think i can do that the first year! I am not new to roses but ive read how small they come and that made me nervous.
MadGallica, why would you think they are coming in spring? Theyll be here next week.

Well, then you need to start working on your greenhouse to over winter them in.

August planting of small own-root roses in a colder climate is, um, shall we say a serious deviation from the ideal? Given the size they are likely to be, I'd think twice about planting something truly hardy like a rugosa at this time of year.

Could she not simply do as Buford said and put each one in a 1-gallon pot and then move the pots to a sheltered place when it gets cold? I don't like to see someone so enthusiastic get shot down. Lily, I'm sure you will find a lot of help on this forum. I can't really advise you, as I'm in California, so my climate is quite different from yours. But there are a lot of Old Rose lovers from your part of the country, and I'm sure they will chime in here with helpful ideas on keeping your new plants safe through the winter. Enjoy your roses!

Lilyfinch- I ordered three bands from Heirloom last year and they were small. I didn't realize how small, until I ordered from Rogue Valley Roses and Northland Rosarium this year. That being said, they were tough little roses (own root) and made it through the winter just fine :)

I ordered two Fantin Latours and a mini-rose. I planted them in the ground the day I received them. I've moved every rose at least once...one of the FLs got moved four times...long story. LOL Anyway, they have done beautifully. I planted them in 1/2 clay (our soil) and 1/2 aged horse manure. That might not work for everyone, but while they stayed small last year, this year the Fantin Latours bloomed and have grown like crazy. I did NOT take any blooms off, because I didn't have any. Try to find out what people do in YOUR area, before you decide to take off the blooms...IMHO.

All your roses should do fine in your zone 6 winter, so I would not put them in pots, unless you receive them too late to be planted this year. (They probably will need a little winter protection, though, while they're small.) If you have good soil (or at least good amendments) I always prefer to plant them as soon as possible (but I order mine to be delivered in June...when there's usually no more frost). I'm afraid that if I don't, they'll get too cozy in their pampered situation and never want to get their little roots into the clay! :)

I've ordered quite a few roses from Heirloom, & always planted them straight in the ground & they always lived through the winter and thrived. I too bought roses from them in August a year ago and they are doing fine this summer, but are still small & I'm not sure why - think I tried to amend the soil, fearing rose replant disease, and added some bad (nutritionally deficient) soil. Others I bought in previous years grew actually very quickly into full size shrubs. Where I live, my roses are still blooming through early to mid November & usually get a hard frost sometime in November, sometimes not until early December. I do live in an urban area, so it may be a bit warmer than the suburban areas in my zone.

We probably don't get as cold as you but last September I ordered 2 Lavender Lassies from Heirloom which I planted directly in the ground (one at home and one in the park rose garden). We had our lowest lows at 0 degrees this past winter. Their top growth in the Fall was minimal but they developed strong roots and each are 5 feet tall with many many canes. If your winters are much colder than we are you might want to reconsider but ours did fine at zero.

Yes, Heirloom sends small plants but I have never lost one and I almost always plant them directly in the ground. Years ago I did receive several wrong roses from Heirloom but my recent experience has been very good. A bloom for confirmation is a good idea.

I just ordered Rhapsedy in Blue and Braveheart from them and expect them later this week. I'm not concerned with winter. I'm thinking more about our 100-103 degree highs right now but I will give them a few days in the shade (potted up) to adapt before planting them.

Scott

I always abused roses I bought from Heirloom, planted them straight into the ground. Roserie de L'Hay is about six feet tall now, and Darlow's Enigma isn't that far behind....

My Heirloom plants were not noticeably smaller than bands received from other vendors. Our winters are generally fairly mild, and they've been planted directly in the ground in the fall. This has allowed them to develop good root systems, and most of my fall-planted roses bloom the next year. (They definitely aren't mature yet, but I can identify the plant and enjoy a couple of flowers.) Putting a tomato cage or some other protection like Buford suggested is a good idea--I did have a Francis Dubreuil from Heirloom until my neighbor came into my yard to look at my plants, walked into the bed and stomped it into oblivion.

Don't fret, Lilyfinch, I'm sure your roses will be fine! There's no use worrying about whether they'll survive the winter, worrying won't help anything. You already placed the order and they are probably on their way, so all that's left to do is be happy that your little roses are coming!! I guess I'm in the same boat as you because my Heirloom rose arrived today! And I'm in zone 5! I was beginning to regret my decision to order such a small rose this late in the season soon after I ordered, but now that it's here I am nothing but optimistic that it will survive. It's so cute and looks healthy. We need to get them acclimated to the outdoors quickly (shouldn't be hard with so many nice warm weeks of summer left), and with a pile of leaves to insulate them over the winter I think we will be enjoying our roses come spring :)

All of you folks in colder zones who ordered, tell us: What time of year did you plant? Was it late August? Or, mid May/early June? Just wondering.

Diane- As I already stated in my post, I plant my roses in early June. Since my frost free season is only early June through late August, I have to plant then :)

I would not order roses this late, but I am in zone 4, not zone 6. Mine were doing quite well a month after I planted them and should be fine for Lilyfinch, unless she has a VERY early frost, for her area. I believe most nurseries have cutoff dates for shipping, depending on the buyer's location. They don't want their roses dying over the winter, either.

I don't order from Heirloom as much as I used to do. They no longer emphasize the OGRs the way they once did, so they simply don't have what I want very often. However, I did notice that the roses I ordered from them in more recent years were bigger than they used to be. If my experience is typical, they have improved in that regard.

Having said this, I cannot offer valid cultural advice. I was born and raised near Pittsburgh, but my rose gardening experience is mostly from the time I lived here on the west coast.

Rosefolly

Too late to plant new own root bands here, in my opinion, but I have been proven wrong many times.

Lilyfinch, did your roses come? How are they? Give us an update, please! Mine arrived healthy and is putting out new growth. It is small, but has adapted nicely to life outside the greenhouse. I think I'll put it in tomorrow.

Well they did come and i was impressed with them! I was worried for nothing. I think madgallicas post made me worry too much but ive planted roses through sept last year and they are just fine . Im especially excited about my lavender lassiie climbers, i agonized over the climbers for a couple months! I was afraid theyd be super small but they arent as fragile as i imagined. Thanks for asking!

You're welcome! And I'm glad to hear you're happy with your order, too!