The most important thing is not to plant it directly in the ground. These roses are just barely past being rooted cuttings. Even in the summer they don't do well planted directly in the ground. Though there are exceptions, I've lost a number of band size roses by doing this. Put it in a gallon pot and grow it up a bit before you plant it.

Second Mendocino's advice.
We pot from a band to a 1-Gal
From a 1-Gal to a 5-Gal
From a 5-Gal to the ground.

If you have a more ORGANIZED garden, 1-Gal to the ground is probably fine.

Jeri

Kate,
I don't think most rosegrowers add fertilizer to a newly planted (in the ground) plant--they wait until the new rose has gone through a bloom cycle.

As for pots, I have no experience with them, so can't advise there.

You are going to love Viking Queen. Good luck.

Kate

As usual some very good advice from folks here. I have a couple more questions:)

Mendocino Rose and Jeri:

Thanks. What you say makes good sense. However if I put my new baby in a pot I'm worried about the roots freezing. Or should I pot it up and sink the pot? That is no problem. Storing it above ground is as I really have no place to house it outside.

Kate:

Thank you. I thought not but wanted some feedback on that. So no Osmocote and no steer manure? Just apply them next spring instead? By the way it was information from you that made me decide upon this rose. I'm excited to see how it performs.

Appreciate everyone's time.

Kate

Kate--if you plant it in the ground, a handful or two of manure is probably all right at planting time, but add the Osmocote later.

Do you have an unheated garage or basement in which you could store the potted rose? I believe that is what most people do. The idea is to keep it cool and dormant--might need a little water once a month. If you can't supply those conditions, I guess we will just have to wait til someone else shows up with a suggestion.

Glad I could steer you to such a great rose. I'll look forward to your pics next season.

Kate

Maybe you could remind us where in NorCal...Quincy, right? You're going to have to baby this plant through winter. Heirloom sends very small plants that will not make it through winter in the ground. I'm not even sure that sinking the pot will be adequate if we have one of those Alaskan fronts in December with lows in the 5 to 10 up there. You're going to have to eyeball how tiny the thing is when it arrives. Repot into a 1 gallon, even larger if you get a larger plant (I never have). If the weather turns really really cold in December or January, you might be better off putting the pot in the garage for a bit. It will handle hard freezes (it can't take them dry), but once the temps drop to 15 or 10, you'd be wise to take precautions to protect the whole plant.

Thank you Kate and Berndoodle.

Yes that's right I am in Quincy. Good memory:)

I'm starting to feel a bit of a fool however for my bold beginning into planting roses in fall. Sounds like this is going to be a project. But a learning experience. Kate, no garage or basement here. My potting shed is the next closest thing but since it is new this year I'm not real sure how cold it will get out there. It is not heated at all so probably not much if at all above outside temps.

Berndoodle in light of what you are saying I will do as instructed. Repot into a one gallon pot (I'll share a pic when the rose arrives) and maybe keep it on the front covered porch? It actually stays reasonably warm there considering it is you know, outside. NO sun at all on the front porch however with its northern exposure.

What you say about how fast our weather can turn up here is true. I don't mind applying TLC to this little guy as needed. So if the weather drops to 10 or so as you note I could then put it in the shed under a chair with maybe an old horse blanket over it? Until things warm up again and then back to the front porch?

Thanks for your patience. I'm guessing in light of the good advice I'm hearing that fall being a good time to plant generally refers to a fairly mature rose and not a fragile little infant like this guy is sure to be.

Kate

Hi Kate!

I'm a little warmer than you. I got a few bands this Fall that I have to baby all winter too. I also have a lot rooted cuttings that are now in gallon pots.
What I'm going to do is keep them in a protected cut-out area of my house. It is where the dryer vents are too. It's a big three walled cut out area that is very protected. If we get a deep freeze I'll also protect them with evergreen boughs. Hopefully everything makes it OK. You too! :o)

Right now I'm sitting here with flickering lights and 60+ MPH winds. We've got a heck of a storm blowing through here right now! Got a nice fire going in the wood stove and the generator on stand-by!

I put my new plants against my balcony door, there they have some protection and it is warmer. Brandy

More great feedback. Thank you.

Adrienne:

Know I remember your weekend at the Heirloom Roses annual sale. I'm still not over my jealousy:) Thanks for your well wishes. With the great suggestions you all have I am figuring out how I will get my little rose through the winter. Your weather sounds very dramatic. Personally I enjoy a good winter storm but please stay warm and be safe.

Brandyray:

That sounds like a perfect location for a fledgling rose. Does yours receive sun there or is that a concern while the rose is dormant?

Again much appreciated.

Kate

Good advice here. I don't purchase bands (which are VERY small) but the own-roots I do purchase all go into pots initially for up to a year. I move my pots to a sheltered spot near the house, as recommended above. I also give the plants a GOOD drink before a hard freeze. During winter it is as important to protect the roses from drying winds as it is to protect them from low temps. Hope your baby sails thru the winter!

Well, I wonder if I should receive 30 lashes with wet noodles because I never pot up my bands; straight into the ground they go. The ones I planted in the spring have all grown and most have bloomed (only one bloom on Casino, although I've pinched off several buds, but then he is a climber). I've recently planted at least ten bands and some have grown leaves, and Duchesse de Brabant even had three buds. I'm wondering what the disadvantages of doing this are. In the past at a different house I've put paper bags over the plants on freezing nights and they all survived and bloomed. I'd love to hear from more knowledgable rose growers whether this practice is keeping me from getting much better results. I hope this question is germane to this thread.

Thanks,

Ingrid

What I was told the problem is that the tiny root system can drown out in the big world. Once you lose roots on something that small it's hard not to loose the whole thing.Or at least growth will be slowed. We have heavey rains in the winter and cold wet clay soil. It's just too hard on the little ones.

Hi! Do you have any unheated room in your house? Around 70F would be good, not more. You'll also need a cheap florescent light fixture and bulbs. Place your plant directly under the lights as close as you can without touching the fixture for 16 hours per day. It worked for me.

I overwinter my pot ghetto plants in my unheated double car garage from about December 1st until the end of March or early April depending of course on the weather. When it snows I always fill a bucket full of snow and take it into the garage and water my bushes in containers with that snow. I think that really helps them. The very first winter I kept them in the unheated garage I neglected watering them enough and they-only two-both died trying to break dormancy that spring.
I have several roses coming to me this Fall that I will start in 1-gal or 2-gal pots depending of course on the size of the root system bing planted. I hope they do well and this will give them a headstart in the right direction.
John

Kate,
I've successfully planted roses in the fall. But band sized roses are different - more needy - than the 1 gallon sized roses I've planted. I order lots of bands, but I pot them up and watch them grow for a bit before planting them in the garden. I've lost baby potted roses due to winter before, so I definitely wouldn't let them sit outside during below freezing weather. Last year I lost every single cutting that I had worked so hard rooting that August.
This year we're building a little unheated greenhouse.
But if you don't have a greenhouse or a garage, you might could get by with putting the pots against a wall on the South side of your house and bringing them in on nights that it gets below 25 or so. I did that with some semi-tropicals last year and it worked.

Ingrid, you are not alone! I've always planted band sized roses directly in the ground as well, successfully. I just make a small "cage" for it out of chicken wire so it doesn't get trampled.
Priscilla

What Carrie said: against the south wall of the house. Even though your porch is on the north, that's always colder with the weather gets wickedly cold. Put them against a sunny south wall right against the house and check the soil every week or two to make sure it's just damp. They can handle more cold that people give them credit for, but once the threat of root freezing presents itself (around 15 degrees or lower) you're better off moving that pot someplace where the temps won't drop lower than that. Most people's unheated garages serve. Without a garage, an unheated porch or mudroom. Remember you're not protecting only the top growth because the plant is dormant. You don't want the roots to freeze. So covering with a blanket isn't really going to help if it's 10 degrees.

Try not to keep them inside any longer than necessary. You want them dormant and staying dormant. Temperature fluctuations in the Sierra are bad enough without helping them along.

Thank you so much everyone. Okay I have a plan of action now! I will pot this guy up and keep him outside as long as weather allows on the back porch which is where I have a more established rose in a pot hanging out just now anyway. I will watch the weather and when it drops I might be able to put VQ up in our attic. It is so far unfinished and can get really cool up there. We heat our house with a woodstove so upstairs can get pretty chilly. I will keep it inside at the absolute minimum and remember to water about once a week.

Everyone's guidance is great. It will be fun to see how well it does over the winter.

Kate

Mendocino Rose, thank you for your answer to my question. It made me realize that soil consistency and rain are probably the most important factors. My soil is very porous and rain fall is very predictable in that we don't have any most of the time so that I'm controlling the amount of moisture they receive. Also, it doesn't really get cold here until January and February (and I'm sure someone from Minnesota would laugh at our idea of cold). I think all these factors explain my almost 100% success rate in putting bands in the ground directly. We have no deer and the rabbits don't touch cultivated plants on our property for some reason so those factors are also eliminated. Being a naturally more laid back (read that as lazy) person, I'm going to continue doing this. I just hope the rose police don't come around!

Ingrid

Ingrid, I have always let new roses acclimate a few days then plant them directly in the ground. Mine came through the freezes just fine last year too. I just transplanted 5 roses and planted 5 minis the end of Sept and first of Oct. As hot as it gets here I don't have much choice.

I lost other plants but no roses.
I use freeze cloths and coated Christmas gift bags rather than paper bags on any rose that needs protection.
Leslie

For those of you folks in Southern CA I believe your success rate is owing to just how much warmer you are. If your temps dipped down as low as zero you might not be as smiled upon by Mother Nature:)

Kate

Leslie,

Christmas gift bags! What an absolutely brilliant idea. Of course that would give better insulation. Thanks for the idea.

Kate, you're absolutely right. I lived in Sacramento for five years and know what you mean. We're incredibly fortunate in Southern California and I never lose sight of that.

Ingrid