Hi folks, Ran into a busy time (taxes, etc.), so it took me a while to get back here. Thank you for all your comments! I got several bands last spring (first year as a rose grower), plunked 'em directly into the ground, and all not only survived but prospered. That prompted me to do the same this year. It seems to me that, if you have a regular watering routine and fertile soil, who needs a pot ghetto? That said, I find myself agreeing that it is "my bad" that caused the problem in this case. I assumed that, since three out of four rose growers sent my roses to me the end of the first week of April, ALL growers in the industry have a way to make good judgements. I will not make this assumption in the future. I remain hopeful all three will pull through - Alba semi-plena, Francis Dubreuil and Papa Meilland. Francis I am almost certain will make it, a new bud has started forming; the jury is still out on the other two, but the stems remain green. Thanks again for your feedback! Rick

May 15, 2017 - I'm posting this as many places as I can to warn people. Apparently RVR is under new management and they just stole $32 of my money. Details follow. AVOID ROGUE VALLEY ROSES, NEW MANAGEMENT DISHONEST. I've had excellent experiences with Rogue Valley Roses in the past. However, they are under new management and they just stole $32 of my money. To be precise, I ordered two roses this spring, they were healthy and grew well, but when they bloomed, it became obvious that one of them had been mislabelled - they accidentally sent the wrong rose. No big deal, just send me the right rose or refund my money. I sent three emails, got no response whatsoever, so I went to phone calls. Got a man who never gave me his name and wasn't particularly polite, made it clear he didn't really want to be bothered. He told me the company was under new management, they'd been backlogged and were struggling to catch up and would get to my issues as soon as they could. I waited a week, nothing, so I called back. Same again. Last week, after three emails and three phone calls, I told the guy I wanted my money and I wanted it within three days, no more postponements. He said, "Okay, I'll use PayPal and send you an instantaneous transfer so you can have it right this minute." I said fine. But, it's been three days and the money isn't in my account. So I called back and he said, very self righteous, "I refunded your money last week." But he didn't. I don't have the money. I even logged into PayPal to see if anything was being held in PayPal rather than put in my bank account. Looks like Rogue Valley Roses has stolen $32 of my money.

Well, as a little update, I think I figured out what my NOT 'Mme Platz' actually is. The blooms opened white, and looked a lot like those on the baby 'Mme Hardy' I got for the cemetery. But the rest of the plant was totally different. I checked alphabetically, and I'm almost certain that what I got is 'Mme Plantier'. And that's a good thing, because I was considering it for the cemetery, anyway, but didn't order it. So one less for me, one more for them. I'm not contacting RVR about a replacement, since the error is something I'd have wanted, anyway. On a related note, the second error from RVR arrived with the tag 'Duchesse de Rohan', but the plant looked a bit odd, being rather stiffly upright and showing China-influenced-but-still-OGR foliage. Then it sent forth flower buds, which began a deep dark purple-tinged red, opening "old rose red". Looking through the alphabetical list again, I think it's 'Duchesse d'Ossuna', which was another I was eyeing but didn't actually order. So, again, since the error turned out in my favor, I'm keeping it, and will re-order the other eventually without mentioning the mix-up. :-) ~Christopher

Pulease...you guys. I am laughing so hard. I can think of so many forum members who make much better bouquets than I ever could. The thing about RR and Ascot is you just need a lot of blooms to stuff in a vase--the blooms do it all for you--plonks for the lazy. I just looked up Jude a while ago to see his parentage, if possible. No, it can't be...Abe Darby is a parent. My little runt Abe which grows next to my 8+ft tall Jude. Something is wrong here. Diane