thanks so much for reminding me about this nursery. I have several books written by the owners, and the books are great. 15 years ago, when I had no idea what I was doing, I ordered 5 roses from them, and unfortunately, I noticed 2 years later (I am slow) that three of them were the wrong variety. I decided that was way too high of an error ratio, and never ordered from them again. However, seeing that they are still in business, I will try again - trying to support old rose nurseries that have survived.

Jackie

Judith, I order from them, but I've never visited. It's on my to do list. They've always sent me beautiful plants. Glad to hear this good report.

ARE is very customer orientated.....I am sure if you had told them they sent the wrong variety, it would have been corrected in some way. Hope your roses are all still thriving! So many wonderful rose nurseries have gone by the wayside in today's slow economy - I am finding in this Texas heat that own root old garden roses are tough and can handle it. I just pulled out 5 young roses, not old garden roses, that I had grown to maturity from bands and that died from extreme heat - certainly not from my neglect. There was nothing I could do. But I did not lose a single OGR. If you can visit, by all means do so! But if not, give them another try - you wont be disappointed! I love the Pioneer roses.....FJ Lindheimer is great....so many others! Get a copy of their new catalog and have fun!
Judith

This is a GREAT time of the year to visit ARE!
Check to see if their fall event is coming up. SHOULD BE! I've rarely spent a happier weekend than the one we spent there, a few years back.

Jeri

I've always enjoyed my trips to A.R.E. and suggest it as a nice day trip to my relatives and friends. It is a wonderful place for gardeners and non-gardeners alike and it provides a realistic view of old garden roses growing in an informal garden setting, not to mention the availability of wonderful roses, great perennials and beautiful ornamental trees.
Molly

We have a 50'wall of ARE roses and they are pumping out the roses right now. Yes, they shut down w/80 days over 100 this summer, but they held on and look gorgeous now. I'm so impressed. ARE has a great reputation here in Texas and among Central Texas gardeners. They always have beautiful plants and very healthy.

Mike Shoup's book, Landscaping with Antique Roses, is what hooked me into old roses, back in the early 1990's while we lived in Dallas. I was so excited over learning that a rose is more than the hybrid teas I'd only seen. My goodness, go there if you get a chance and read his books too.

I'm so jealous of everyone that lives near the big rose nurseries like ARE and Vintage! The closest one to me is S&W Greenhouse which is about 3 hours away...I still might stop by there in the spring...its a good excuse to visit Nashville if anything else :) Glad you enjoyed your trip to ARE...you sound like me, when you said you came home with 11 roses and some other plants! fun!

Not to brag, but we once spent a weekend at ARE, "camped" in our motorhome in their "back-Forty."
We had the incredible privilege of being able to walk by ourselves through their display garden, by ourselves, by moonlight.

It remains one of the handful of my favorite places.

If you get the chance, GO!

Their Fall Festival this year is this coming weekend! Their website says:
.... a wonderful day of festivities and fun planned. In addition to the free classes and demonstrations listed we will be hosting a select group of local artisans for this year's Art in the Garden, with beautiful pieces you may wish to purchase. Don't worry about lunch; there will be tamales and other Mexican specialties for sale on the grounds. Make a day of it and join us! Free

What an offer!

Jeri (In Southern California, NOT in TX)

Here is a link that might be useful: ARE Events

I love the ARE. Mike has been very helpful.
My roses are beautiful, and I think they are outstanding. They come in good condition, and in my case, they love my area even though we are 8 hours north of their nursery.

I would love to take a rose trip to visit them, and would love to plant some roses now, but my zone is not good for me to plant roses in the fall.

I hope all of you who are able have a very enjoyable visit. Please share your pictures when you return.

Sammy

I've ordered from them several times and been happy with the results. About two-thirds of my roses come from Vintage, but the rest were purchased from a variety of OGR vendors. Most of them are excellent. The two I had problems with are no longer in business. Unfortunately, that is also true of some superb nurseries that I will miss.

Rosefolly

I would love a chance to visit and see the roses. It must be beautiful!

Its not just the roses.....but the beautiful beds, the old church and another house, the log cabin - all wonderfully landscaped. They are doing new things all the time - they were erecting another huge metal "umbrella" for climbing/trailing roses [like on the cover of their new catalog] the day we were there. They had added huge borders that I really admired - crepe myrtle trees underplanted with shrubs, perennials....that formed a living fence. So many ideas! I could wander around there all day, feeling creative. I am just now getting my roses in the ground - they look so healthy and am sure they will take off and start growing right away. It is so wonderful to visit these places to refresh the spirit and nudge creativity to another level. The 3 hour drive home is spent planning new things in my yard. This was a badly needed shot in the arm after surviving zero rain and nearly 50 days of 105 temps every day.

You're absolutely right Alameda.

I only wish I could be there for the fall event again. Maybe, with luck, we'll get to TX again next spring.

Jeri in Coastal SoCal

"The 3 hour drive home is spent planning new things in my yard. This was a badly needed shot in the arm after surviving zero rain and nearly 50 days of 105 temps every day." Alameda, you put that perfectly! Every rose from ARE has been wonderful for me, really no problems at all. I am looking forward to going one of these days and spending the day (or two) just browsing and, of course, buying!

Harbourrose, that's what got me going in antique roses, too, was the book by Michael Shoup. I do have my first rose, though, Las Vegas, a very puny hybrid that has come along pretty good with the help of alfalfa, and does have beautiful flowers, but it will never rival my OGR's!

Good post!!